Macca

That's the point in a lot of ways 'cfh'. What will the 'Sports Scientist', Mr Ageless and 'The Weapon' say to WADA, ASADA and the ACC? It's been reported that 'The Weapon' won't return to his former position at Essendon which means none of them have any ties to the Bombers going forward. Those high up at Essendon should be plenty worried. If any one of the 3 aforementioned happen to 'Strike a Deal' then the proverbial will hit the fan (that is of course, if there were any illegal substances injected into the players) Sounds awful doesn't - bit like "The Island of Doctor Moreau'

ASADA, WADA and the ACC have wide reaching power. The thought of criminal prosecution has been known to make people talk. Remembering that a lot of these PED's have come into the country illegally. In other words, if the promise of a more lenient sentence is in the offering, then many might choose to take the lesser of 2 evils. We saw it in the Armstrong case. Many of the cyclists that Armstrong was involved with took a '6 months' sentence (reduced from 2 years) and by doing so effectively created more evidence against Armstrong. In the end Armstrong had to come clean. He had no choice. The same thing in theory could happen at the Bombers (if illegal substances are involved) ASADA, WADA and/or the ACC only have to 'break' one person and that can create a domino effect. Considering there are so many involved it's quite feasible that at least one person will 'talk'. (assuming of course, that illegal substances are involved)

Stumbled across this article on modern day journalism ... it's from the States but it's quite relevent (even though it might contravene the rules of this thread with the references to B$ !) Journalisms New Mantra is Get It Now, Fix It Later

If we do escape sanctions then many of us will feel vindicated. In many ways we will still have been punished in various ways. Not the least being the cost to the club in monetary terms. The way the club has been treated has been shambolic. The football world will view our club in a far different way after all this is over. Some of those views will stick like mud. And we're going to have to wear it. It's been said a thousand times but what we did in '09 was allowable at the time. The AFL 'rubber stamped' it back then. Apart from Connolly's 'flippant' comments just about everything else was known about at the time. Many teams have practiced what we did before and since (for instance, GWS last season when they 'rested' quite a number of players for their clash against the GCS) The investigation is of a retrospective nature. The media haven't highlighted the retrospective nature of the investigation because in some ways it kills the story. Why would they take our side? It's all about the story. The media will possibly/probably be biased against Essendon. Many of their fans are already ropeable about how they've been treated by various media people. Caro, Robbo included. They are looking for balance but it's not forthcoming. They are as frustrated as what we are. Don't kill the story with a balanced view is often the 'Motto'. Keep the story alive.

Someone will spill the beans. Especially to save themselves. We are almost guaranteed to know what was injected. Might take a bit of time but it will come out. Remembering that the various authorities are calling on people to come forward to reduce their (possible) sentence or liability. One person talks and it will have a snowball effect. All of the people involved will have their own version of the truth. That will most probably create conflict and even contradiction. And that could easily lead to the real truth coming out. There are too many involved for it to all go away. Of course, if nothing illegal was injected then we may not have a problem. (though you would think some of the 'practice's' would have to come under question) A positive drug test is not needed (as we've found out with Armstrong and others) There are various ways to find out. WADA. ASADA and the ACC are not to be trifled with. They will find out.

Happened back on Sept 28. Would have been handy if the news of it had broken at the time. The case against us would have had to have lost a bit of credibilty. Still might, depends on how Gillon McLachlan views things.

It's hard to believe in a lot ways. I've tried to imagine how it would feel if it were us. The repercussions would be enormous if they've transgressed. Worse case scenario is they don't play for 2 years and because of that, they'd be set back 6-10 years. WADA have said there will be no deal done if there is guilt.(re the PED's / Peptides)

They can sure swear a lot on that 'Bomber Blitz' site. Very unbecoming and rather uncouth like, I must say They're probably feeling a little stressed so in some ways it's understandable. Reading the main thread over there is eerily like reading some of our threads (in the early days of our investigation) Have never liked Essendon but I genuinely hope they somehow are absolved of guilt for their sake and for the game's sake. Not looking good though as each day passes.

Meanwhile, the bloke who is in many ways responsible for the launch of this investigation, is in the news again ... Carlton footballer Brock McLean caught in police inquiry after big night out

I don't why we don't have the old way of revisiting a thread but I'm getting used to the 'New way'. Btw, gotta give the credit to 'Jack Jack' for the hint. He helped me out when I was having the same problem last week.

I've had the same issue 'GrandOld'. To overcome this problem first click on 'Forums' then click on 'Melbourne Demons' (the footy threads). Once in there (it looks like this btw... Melbourne Demons) click on the little star or circle on the far left of the thread. You will then be taken to the 'next unread post'.

You could be 100% correct rjay. Hard to argue with anything you've said. Most people in the industry would know what injections to the stomach means (that's if that bit is true,of course). However, what about all the 18. 19 and 20 year olds? Would they necessarily know what was going on? At that age you may not have the life skills to make a properly thought out decision. If they are guilty, I'm not sure they can all be guilty in the same way.

There are any number of permutations 'dl'. Depends on how cynical we want to be and/or whether we can take these people at face value any more. Not sure I can trust any of them now. Sad really, but it's not just our sport. Not a big fan of Patrick Smith but he was right on the money when he talked about the lying that goes on in footy. Ditto for Dale Lewis re the drug issue (Dale's comments were made about 10 years ago). We were warned (in some ways). Looks like those who said that there was a probable likelihood of a correlation between recreational drugs and PED'S were correct as well. A form of 'zero tolerance' could be an answer but what if an athlete is set up? We may have had a whole team that has been set up, though I hope it isn't true. It's an unholy mess if it is true.

The 'Weapon' has known Dank well since the end of '06 . Hird worked with Charter for 12 months in '04. Charter and Dank have known each other and had dealings for a number of years. Thompson worked with the weapon for a number of years at Geelong. They are all connected and it goes back quite a number of years. The following article is from 'you know who' so make of it what you will ... Players' boss comes out swinging at scientists For those not familiar, Matt Finnis is the AFL players boss ...

3 possible outcomes 1: An 'agreed' settlement where both the club and the AFL walk away with their dignity intact (avoiding any sort of court action) 2: There are a number of charges against either the club and/or individuals (in which case we most probably end up in court if we take McLardy at his word) 3: No charges to answer. All 3 options are quite feasible and at this stage we've no real idea which way it will go. The PED issue and the organised crime issue etc may or may not help us. That major development could have the effect of making our issue quite trivial or it may make the AFL punish us because of the whole integrity thing (in their eyes) If news breaks that the Essendon list were definitely injected with PED's then I think that helps us. That issue then becomes so big that the AFL would not want the distraction of a protracted court case when they would have much larger fish to fry. This is possibly the reason why it is taking a bit of time for the AFL to make a decision. It's already apparent that our matter is being seen in it's true light (by the general public) Quite trivial compared to the stuff we've been hearing about in the last few days. Vlad has admitted (yesterday) that there has been no match fixing going on or indeed that there aren't any games under investigation (re match fixing) What we know that the AFL have got on us ... 1: A few flippant comments from Connolly. 2: Some fumbling and Watts not getting enough game time in '09 3: Some ramblings from an ex player.(who has since backpeddled from what we hear) 4: Playing certain players in different positions. 5: A worried look on Schwab's face after one particular game. And ...... other trivial stuff along those lines. Still no smoking gun after nearly 7 months. Now, compare the above to the events of the last few days. It pales into insignificance. Edit : Spelling

That is interesting with regards to Toronto being the richest NHL team. Might explain a few things Suppose the corporates are throwing in the big bucks though you'd reckon they should have set aside an area close to the ice for the 'non corporate' fans. The Canucks won again today and I see that the Maple Leafs beat Winepeg with a late goal. The Penguins and San Jose are doing well so far this season. The Blackhawks and Anaheim are another 2 teams who are performing well. What's the story with L.A?

Thousands of clubs in a stack of sports have 'List managed' for over 100 years. Describing what we did in 2009 as tanking has sinister connotations for a few reasons. Not the least being that tanking can equate to match fixing. Tanking doesn't have a clear definitive meaning so therefore shouldn't be used as a description for what we did in 2009. Edit : Spelling and grammar (I blame the phone)

Vlad went out of his way today to mention that there aren't any AFL games in question with regards to 'Match fixing'.So, where does that leave us? Throwing games or fixing matches = manipulating results. Bringing the game into disrepute, draft tampering and not coaching to your utmost in many ways amounts to match fixing or manipulating results. And Vlad has just said today that no match fixing has happened or is under investigation. If this whole saga ends up in court then Vlad's 'No match fixing' comment could easily be used in our defence. This is apart from his oft-quoted phrase "There is no such thing as tanking"

Thilan Samaraweera (SL)

From that article ...

I saw a fair bit of holding in the match. Probably at least 8 - 10 times. I couldn't remember the one they called but you make a reasonable point. My reasoning was that 'generally' the officials were consistent. You'll never get it perfect - in any sport. I can remember thinking at one stage that 'They're not calling much'. If that last call was made, then I've no doubt there would have been Ravens fans complaining that the officials had let things go all game - why change now? Not sure there's any right or wrong here. I can fully understand those who reckon that that last play should have been called pass interference. It will be talked about for years.

Footy Classified tomorrow night 9.30pm "A special Footy Classified as they investigate the drugs probe surrounding the Essendon football club" Garry, Barrett, Kero and Lloyd.

The last 2 rounds could make for some interesting choices, Biff. Comments such as "He hasn't played for years" or "Who's that?" or perhaps even "You can't have any more South Africans!" Punter and Mr Cricket may be forced out of retirement. Warnie? :-)

If only our footballers were as competitive as some of you blokes. An endless run of flags would ensue ... Who are the 'mystery' adjudicators? And can they be 'influenced'? Can gifts be given 'a la' the IOC ?

In a few days it might be remembered as the Super Bowl where holding was vitually 'legal'. Wouldn't surprise me with the analysis that goes on in their sports. There were 23 unsuccessful pass attempts with only one call of pass interference. As I intimated earlier, the officials set the pattern early in the game and were consistent throughout. If you were a Niners fan you may see it diiferently. Must admit, I haven't looked at that run back in detail. Will have another look - I'm sure you're correct about it, Cards.