Ted Lasso

Geez Nibbler is on a mission isn't he!

I suspect they are being paid to keep their mouths shut.

Not as much of a fan of this years range but i like to grab 2 things per year to support the club a bit extra on top of my membership, Polo and Shorts pre-ordered.

What's the point in contesting the lifetime ban from AFL? it's not like anyone would consider hiring him again surely.

I write this being very confident Dank is all talk and has absolutely nothing, but even if he did have smoking gun evidence somehow i would have thought the players were still in breach - failure to keep records is a bannable offense on it's own isn't it?

I reckon you're overthinking it, i get the impression Roosy is done with club land. Having said that by round 12 this year if the Suns, Tigers and Pies have had rubbish starts to the year, they may all be shopping for a new coach and all three are capable of offering big $$ his way, so who knows. Wonder if Roosy will talk about us constantly like he used to do with the Swans?

Really hoping all is good with H, but to have lingering symptoms after this long isn't a good sign! fingers crossed he can get back and play a role.

I find this all very strange, i mean the only way i could see that he could come out on top is if he produces new evidence like records of the program that would not only clear him but the 34 players as well, and then the players would quite rightly be asking why they had to wait until they'd missed a year of footy and so on before he bought this out. otherwise i can't see him overturning it and he's just wasting money and time.

Brayshaw looks set for a huge year if the start of pre season is anything to go by, showed up in fantastic shape, running extremely well, looks clean and sharp, i reckon he could really bounce back strongly this year.

In my opinion the GIANTS should do what you've suggested and the AFL should have very little involvement at all until the relevant parties have determined what happened. ASADA investigate, working with the Giants to ensure there are no breaches and pass the information back to the Giants and the AFL, if after all that it's deemed there needs to be a sanction, they work through it, but until that has happened i'd say it's between the Giants and ASADA. The AFL need to take a lesson from PJ, the best management teams are not seen or heard, they pull strings in the background, the AFL are way to involved and always protecting the bottom line.

Not sure how this works so the legal people on here will be able to help.. With Jobes compensation claim and all the other players, do they have to prove they weren't complicit? for example do they have to produce records showing an alternative to what they've been found guilty of to prove they were duped? or do they simple get compensated because EFC officials ran the program regardless of whether they were in on it or not

I think the line should be awards, All Australian isn't fair because a player has missed out on the honor because he's cheated.

Surely if he isn't able to win the brownlow that's the league admitting he cheated, and making his entire season a write off and all achievements like the Brownlow and AA void, can't be shades of grey here, either he did the wrong thing and loses it all, or WADA have no idea and he keeps it all, playing games like this just makes the league look silly.

The AFL is upset beccause they were made to look stupid and corrupt, and didn't get their own way.

That one sounds right! still Whitfield should have been given at least 12 months imo

Great news! getting back to work seems to make a massive difference to those with depression. all the best Gaz.

So he doesn't miss a game? 6 months and 0 games for actively avoiding a drug test? they can't be serious... wasn't SAAD given 2 years because he bought something and didn't even drink it?

I reckon if we were going to move someone else on to create a list spot for a DFA we'd look at a ruckman before someone like this. he's probably a good fit for the Suns or Lions who don't have the senior bodies.

It's amazing how many supporters still believe Jobe has done a brave and noble thing by handing the brownlow back, and those supporters are saying Jobe has more integrity than Cotchin or Mitchell. I still feel strongly if he was doing this by choice and looking to honor what the award stands for and all that he claimed he would have done this the day the appeal failed, not months later when talk is getting around that he's going to lose it anyway, it's pretty obvious in my opinion that the AFL have tipped him off and given him the opportunity to look good.

what a shame. hopefully he learns from it.

you raise a good point but i don't think it should come into this, Watson and his votes should be struck from the 2012 record and they should just move on to the next best in my opinion.

Jobe giving the brownlow back, rather than it being taken does provide the AFL with an opportunity to simply write off the award for 2012. It really seems to be a question of, is the award void for that year because of all the muddy water and the time that has passed, or will he be treated as a player who didn't qualify for the award and so it should go to the next most worthy players i believe Mitchell and Cotchin should get one, because to not give them one really would be a penalty on two clean players when Jobe is the one who has done the wrong thing here. Mitchell and Cotchin shouldn't miss out on the games highest individual honor because it might hurt Jobe to see them with it, or because it's a complicated situation or because x amount of time has passed, they didn't appeal the decision multiple times, or run a dodgey tribunal. does giving Cotchin and Mitchell the award open up a can of worms with betting agencies, for example those who placed large bets on those players being annoyed and those who won big on Jobe being nervous or anything like that? i've got no idea. very interesting day ahead of us.

I am still quite hopeful H can get back and play a role, if nothing else he's a smart guy and great clubman and the sort of guy who if not in the best 22 you know can step up to AFL level and play a role whenever he's needed. in modern footy i reckon top 4 teams have between 30-35 players ready to come in and play a role at any one time, the long term projects seem to be a bit more rare. worst case scenario provides good depth and a wealth of experience to the casey boys, having a former premiership player and i think he has been All Australian before? working with the young guys at casey is a very handy bonus.

I have posted on here before that i know players who write down the serial numbers and take photos of the bottles of any substances they take for their records, this is strongly encouraged by their management and taught at under age level. i find it extremely hard to believe that 34 Essendon players didn't know exactly what they were taking, if they were lied to that's a different thing but the evidence and results in the cases doesn't at all point to that being the case, it points to a whole club effort to muddy the waters to the point no one can be sure what happened, and hope that means no one can be found guilty. lets remember that if any 1 of the 34 players could have produced compelling recorded evidence that they took something other than TB4 they would have been found not guilty, but clearly they had absolutely no idea, or they did and they hid it, either way it's the same outcome, they miss a year of footy and they're known as drug cheats, Jobe has handed down the brownlow, so i'd say they've served their time.

My biggest issue is that he's pushing a message that doesn't make sense, Jobe himself claimed he handed the medal back to protect what the award stands for but that's rubbish, if that was ever his real concern he would have handed it back the day the appeal failed, not months later when word starts getting around that the AFL was going to take it. the thing Jobe is clearly missing is that if he doesn't know what he took, he doesn't know he didn't do what he's been accused of and therefor he doesn't KNOW that he hasn't cheated. but he swears black and blue that he's done nothing wrong, implying that he knows for sure that he hasn't taken anything illegal, or feels that he's been duped, but he didn't ask questions, or bang WADA's door down to make sure he was clean, as players are instructed to do if they aren't sure. if it were me i'd be really keen to hand it back if i wasn't 100% sure what i'd done was within the rules, so i can't understand why he would feel he has any right to keep it if he couldn't prove he's done the right thing ( keeping in mind that providing accurate records of all substances he's taken is in his agreement and a job requirement and there is absolutely no excuse for any player under any circumstances not doing this )