bing181

November.

... or mental health issues in general for that matter.

As I understand it, suggesting that Melksham's contract would/should be paid by Essendon. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/subscribe/news/1/index.html?sourceCode=HSWEB_WRE170_a&mode=premium&dest=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-could-be-forced-to-pay-the-salaries-of-banned-players-at-rival-clubs/news-story/f2ec419c9cfad4301ada984679405a09&memtype=anonymous

Could be a tactic they're working on to use in the season? Swapping Gawn and Garlett's number will really put the cat amongst the pigeons. Goodwin's influence? The mighty Dees: always one step ahead.

He was on holidays. Like a number of people, including professional footballers, and including Melbourne Football Club professional footballers, they are known to take holidays and go away on their ... holidays. You're one of these posters who jump up and down about players being professional, but then complain when they are. One of the main differences between amateur and professional athletes is that their loads are managed ... professionally ... which means that they have both "on" and "off" periods. The bull-at-a-gate approach can work well on the internet, but is a recipe for burn-out and injury when applied to fitness.

It's not a fact, and even putting it in capitals won't make it a fact. It's an assumption on your part. None of us know what discussion took place around taking Melksham.

Currently, the single best analysis of the CAS decision. A must read for anyone following this thread. And a few other people as well - yes, looking at you Peter Gordon.

You originally said: "Most players change clubs with not a care in the world" I never said that he was, or even should be "distraught", and there are huge range of emotions between those two extremes. I know it's Demonland, but you usually manage to stay clear of the "it's not white, it must be black" crowd.

I think you'll find that's not the case. I don't begrudge anyone doing what they think's best for their career Even outside of football, career change can cause collateral damage.

He would be pretty devastated not being able to play. Money isn't everything, and if you're a professional footballer, no amount of money would make up for having your career destroyed by injury. Sure, he's well paid, sure he can do other things, but we should at least acknowledge how difficult and frustrating it must be for him at the moment.

Not too sure how many pre-season games he's going to get. Could have to come back through Casey.

Sad times. All made contributions, like them or not, and all missed. Of the musicians, Bowie's the one who was more influential and had by far the more substantial output, but Frey was no slouch as a more traditional songwriter, which is no mean feat in itself. Alan Rickman - carved out his own distinctive niche. I met Alan Rickman (charming) and Bowie briefly (charming, but fey and distant). I saw Bowie live a couple of times (late 70's, early 90's) and was just blown away on both occasions. He was the genuine article, and I'd be surprised if we see his shapeshifting like again.

Re Burgan, I appreciate the club making an effort. I don't look for much more than that, and am not disappointed.

Isn't that more or less what Daniel Cross is doing?

These days, it's never about one person being The Coach. It's a team of coaches, a coaching department, and responsibilities within that team shift around according to capabilities and requirements. The person I'm happy about as having a greater role is McCartney. But also very happy to have Roos as The Coach. Having Goodwin taking more of a hands-on role comes down to great coaching and man-management by Roos (and Jackson).

Don't know about track and field, but banned cyclists just ... cycle. By themselves. There's no "getting around it".

Demonology? I'd forgotten it even existed ...

In order for the charges to stick, WADA/ASADA had to show that the players actually received TB4. While they managed to place TB4 at Essendon, they still needed to establish that the players were actually injected. Which is what the consent forms confirm, given that they'd been able to show that the Thymosin referred to was TB4. Without a signature on the consent forms, short of a positive test or confession, there's no way of confirming that a player was injected with Thymosin/TB4. So Hal Hunter walked free. Kind of.

We've just had an appeal. They lost.

You're basing your whole argument on an assumption. It's not "obvious" to anyone but you. It would be interesting to see the difference in the lengths of Melksham's contract vs those of Frost and Bugg. I'd be surprised if they have 4 years. Once again, I've always felt that Melksham's 4-year contract specifically acknowledges the possibility that we might lose him for a slab of time.

Nailed it. CAS made the point that you don't have to establish manufacture and supply chain details, and that it's basically irrelevant to the key question of use. (also paraphrasing ...)

They can come back in November because that's when the bans end. 2 years till March 2017, subtract the 4 ½ months they already served (provisional suspension) puts them in November. Training allowance is the SHORTER of 1/4 of the ban or 2 months, so in this case, it'll be 2 months. They can start training mid-September.

Back dated to take into account delays not the fault of players. For this last season where they competed, in individual sports, all results would be cancelled, and prize money forfeited. Ban is closer to 10 months, Jan to Nov, not sure where 23 weeks comes from. Also, they've already served 4 ½ months provisional.

That's about the crux of it right there. They didn't get it back in 2012, and they still don't get it.

They weren't as duped as all that. Either they knew and kept quiet, or they went to some lengths to make sure they didn't know. As for the players, their behaviour only confirms they knew that what they were doing was dodgy as all hell.