Diamond_Jim

The West Coast allegations deserve consideration but not in a way that detracts from the Essendon saga

Good to see a little resistance 13 runs behind ...... 20 minutes until tea on the last day and six wickets in hand the next hour's play will be fascinating As an aside... I know we don't play Khawaja because of his difficulty with spin ... but Warner's tour has been diabolical

GWS..... premiers forever.... that will make AFL happy ......... they would be even happier if Brisbane and GCS could snag a premiership or two Did you notice that notwithstanding the opening round being played over many days ... we won the graveyard shift of Saturday twilight and just for good measure up against qualifying session for the Melbourne GP

As Guru Bob once so famously said: "When two big men fly for the ball... only one can find Nirvana"

Well it is the biggest game of the year (as seen through the eyes of the EFC)

So very true Cannot help but wonder if in a few years we will be reading about all the disqualifications from the recent Rio Olympics. The performance of a certain female swimmer definitely raised my eyebrows and sent me off looking for her past performance record. On the Wiggins affair just like the Bombers it needs to be made an offence for the player to ingest something without proper records. This might stop the fiasco of the dog ate my homework excuse. Finally what does this say about the recent dominance of the UK in track and road cycling. Naively I was thinking that the sport had cleaned itself up.

A blistering well written article... well worth the read.... another snippet: "Those who were at Windy Hill at the time recall the chain of command and attitude of those running football was so inappropriate to that of a professional organisation that if the injecting and dangerous drugs regime hadn't happened some other scandal would have eventually brought them down. "

Interesting ..... if that recording was done in NSW it would have been illegal but in Victoria if one of the persons present made the recording it is legal irrespective of whether the others in the room knew about it. Frankly it is an amazing development.... not in what it reveals but as proof that there are many with different agendas who will not let the matter rest. I still think Danks wants to tell all but perhaps he would like to be paid for his version. Maybe we could start a crowd funding to get Danks' story!

Justice for the 34..... the new Winslow boys ! Perhaps a movie by Oliver Stone could re-write history

The sale by Lloyd and Hird of their domain names has been known for years.... Here is a long discussion about it on Big Footy in 2003 https://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/bombers-web-sham-exposed.70515/

There you have it Sherlock. my friend.......... Only a matter of time until he does the paid expose.... it won't be through mainstream media but I am sure someone will come up with a pay per view equivalent that will net him a few dollars

Go back to day one when the big D phoned EFC and..... http://www.smh.com.au/business/andrew-demetrious-links-to-james-packer-at-centre-of-betting-industry-stink-over-clubsnsw-deal-20170214-gucpbk.html fascinating reading No illegalities but naivety at the very least

Out of interest has anyone found a link to the appeal judgement transcript. Wonder if it was ever published cheers

Interesting article Bombers have just posted a one off loss for 2016 of just under $10M. They attribute $4.5M to legal fees and compensation. (Sounds light.... perhaps the insurers have footed a rather large bill.) https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/nov/16/essendon-post-98m-loss-in-wake-of-cas-ruling-over-players-doping-bans

Of all the players.... he is the most culpable........ he was the Captain of the Club.......... he was THE leader

I think you have hit the nail on the head. None of the above admitted wrongdoing and other than "resigning" none have been punished and if anything they were financially rewarded Anyway you should feel free to move on but for me it continues to be one of footballs darkest moments

But isn't that the problem Saty... people just want to forget it and move on but you can't do that until the perpetrators have admitted guilt If you want a fantastic example of the required process look at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission chaired by Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the end of the apartheid era. (And just to make it clear there is no comparison between drug taking in sport and the crimes of the apartheid era but there is a lot in the process of admission of wrongdoing, forgiveness and moving on )

Sainthood faster than Mother Theresa perhaps ........... he deserves no less !!

For anyone who is fluent in German here is the link to website of the Swiss Federal Court. I had a quick look at the English section but so far no luck. My understanding from the AFL site was that the judgement was in German and had been embargoed until the players were informed. That time has obviously passed. http://www.bvger.ch/recht/00551/index.html?lang=en On a lighter side... I found the Swiss court link via an article (below) on a Swiss news site..... Has a heading .... "Not a G'Day" and features a picture of a Melbourne player being tackled by an Essendon player http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/not-a-g-day_swiss-court-rejects-appeal-by-banned-australian-rules-players/42508834

Those quotes relate to the AFL tribunal which found them not guilty. Bit like the argument that because the CAS decision was 2-1 that more judges (counting the AFL tribunal members) found them to be innocent.... (flawed logic)

Main reason is that the AFL tribunal applied the burden of proof argument in a completely different way to CAS (chain vs string) To extend that statement: AFL tribunal looked for proof that what the players were given was Drug X CAS said Danks ordered it.... Drug X was in the fridge..... players were given drugs.... reasonable to assume it included Drug X (Simplistic but the AFL Tribunal looked for direct evidence whereas CAS was happy to rely on circumstantial evidence)

http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Arbitral_Award_WADA_ESSENDON.pdf

I think the Court of Appeal decision is required reading for every fan who is interested in this subject. It is not that long and as far as legal judgements go it is in relatively plain English. The Court deals with each argument and then dismisses it with unequivocal logic. (They even look at the youth argument.)

ah... you are getting it... that was the question they were asked...... are you taking any supplements..... and they answered.............. NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Actually they left the section blank) Here's the link to the form .... you will find the relevant question in the large white box under Section 3 headed "Information for Analysis" https://wada-main-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/wada_doping_control_form_v6.pdf Then have a read of the Appeal Court's judgment at paragraphs 161 and 162 http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Arbitral_Award_WADA_ESSENDON.pdf Sorry Saty but the evidence against them was damning

From the AFL site: "Those still hopeful Watson will retain his medal point to the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal verdict in March 2015 that cleared the players. The AFL Commission must decide if it sides with the rules governing world sport it has signed up for, or if there are extenuating circumstances for Watson and he proves to be an exception." They are kidding aren't they !!!!