bing181

Yes, and now they're being penalised for it. But once those penalties have been served, they deserve the same opportunities as all of us, or at the very least, the benefit of the doubt.

I think you'll find that CAS agree with you on the first point, but not the second.

That's one way of looking at it! The bans were backdated to take into account delays that weren't caused by the players. When it comes to CAS, the dating of when bans start is something of a black art, and somewhat opaque.

If anyone wants an easy-to-read summary of the main points, work backwards through these tweets. Really damning of the players: https://twitter.com/ChrisKaias

Re Goodwin, this from ASADA: "The CAS result brings this matter to a close."

It's already taken into account. They were banned for 2 years from the date of the Tribunal results (31 March 2015), which would take it until March 2017. But they've already served 4 ½ months provisional, which brings it back to November.

Melksham out till November 13. But can start training with the club 2 months before, so pre-season next year.

Some gems in the report - makes for edifying reading, and for anyone who thinks the players are somehow innocent victims in all this: On 20 April Mr. Melksham sent a text message to Mr. Dank asking, “Do I need to have a drip? Haven’t had one this week.” Mr. Dank replied, “No. Did I inject you this week?” Mr. Melksham said, “Two Thymols”.

Report, all 48 pages of it are here: http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Arbitral_Award_WADA_ESSENDON.pdf

Always felt that the 4 years for Melksham factored in what we're now confronted with. Hopefully the payments took this into account as well. He still has plenty of football left in him, and will be available from next year when we start to get a decent tilt at finals etc. He'll also come back mad as hell and ready to tear the heads off live chickens, which will come in handy.

Closest to the pin? Guilty 18 months less provisional = 13 ½ (god knows when the start date would be though ...)

Smokey of the year: Brendan McCartney.

There's a report on the Melbourne Board at BF.

All will be revealed in the fullness of time I imagine. But not sure who we'd top up with ... give James Magner another run? Come back Mark Jamar, all is forgiven?

Week of the 11th - next week. Will come up here somewhere: http://www.tas-cas.org/en/index.html

He's been running and training the whole time, just no contact.

Agree, but at this age, all of them are still growing in one way or another.

Going a bit early with the "prone to injury"? Both Christian's injuries were the result of accidents, as opposed to a player like Hunt who has spent two years on the sidelines with back issues, or players like Taggert or Tapscott who kept breaking down. As for Chris Dawes ...

Frustrating for all of us, but he's only a kid, and in the scheme of things, this won't have any impact on his career, or in reality, this season. I would have been surprised if he'd played all games, so maybe he'll have to ease into it. He wasn't even in full training as it was. In the meantime, he gets 4to6 weeks in the naughty corner to reflect upon the responsibilities that come with being a professional athlete. We all learn from our mistakes, and presumably Christian will as well.

... Roos sounds suitably p*ssed off: “Christian’s rehab up until this point has been going really well, but when you’re an AFL player, you need to understand that everything you do impacts your ability to prepare and contribute to the team and this incident is clearly an interruption. ... It’s a harsh lesson for Christian, but one we are sure he is going to learn from as he develops as an AFL player.”

Confirmed on club site

Didn't stop him getting 40 goals. (just saying ...)

If there's an interview with a player, they're criticised because it's "only words" and meaningless. If there's no interview with players, the club is criticised because of a lack of communication. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. (Not sure what exactly people expect them to say ...)

My dad's football acumen is bigger than your dad's football acumen.

None of the above. It was reviewed, it was discussed, and the club (obviously) came to a different conclusion to you.