Ahmed Saad suspended for 18 months (ASADA appealing)

[DrEvil]

If you had asked St Kilda fans what the worst potential thing that could have happened was...

Rohypnol and viagra found at club would be worse.

 

[Bubbalicious]

Rohypnol and viagra found at club would be worse.

....below the..ahem....belt...

 

[questionable]

if it's milne, this could turn out to be good news for the saints

 

[IggypopsTshirt]

The thing that I, and most likely most non-Essendon fans don't get, is that when you look through history, whether it be Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong or whoever, people who try to take drugs in sports deny everything, try to blame others where possible about spiked samples and basically try to obfuscate things at every turn to make people believe they are innocent. But history tells us they never, ever are. I don't know how Essendon fans think that their team will be any different. Seeing their delusional responses to drug accusations really shows that there is an unhealthy personality-cult surrounding Jame Hird at that club.

I highly doubt that the Saints player in question, as much as he may claim he unwittingly took a drug, will be innocent. That is just the way it is with drugs and sport. People and teams deny, deny, deny, often even when caught. I honestly believe the vast majority of football fans would think the same if it involved their club - although it seems we have found an exception when it comes to Essendon.

S2 is a black and white case. If the Saints player tests positive to a known banned substance than he should expect to go without too much fuss.
Essendon players stand accused/suspected of S0 substance use. Furthermore speculation continues that the club may have been misled (as the ACC and AFL have indicated they were) as to the status and classification of that S0 substance?

Comparing the StKilda and EFC cases at this stage is guess work at best but it would appear their are very few similarities. Comparing either of the current AFL cases with prominent athletics doping cases from the past achieves very little other than to highlight a lack of understanding of doping in sport. Equally as ignorant is the perception that professional football clubs do not strive to achieve an edge on their competition through cutting edge supplementation.

EFC supporters will direct adequate anger toward those who deserve it when the facts are known and the findings are delivered, at present the club is not clearly in breach of any of the regulations that govern supplementation in the AFL. So while the StKilda lads bask in the glory of BF as they scurry over each other in the race to crucify one of their own, we at EFC will await the findings of the appropriate authorities before we make our decision. We'll stick by our boys because that's what supporting a side is all about, and its far more honourable and respectable than seeking recognition through faux outrage and back slapping your back stabbing brethren in the quest to achieve 'beacon of morality' status as bestowed on you by figbooty.

 

[Nutsngum]

So if a player, lets say an Essendon player in your case, tests positive to performance enhancing drugs that... you should do nothing or demand nothing?

Hide behind your bullshit "high and mighty, stick by your team no matter what" attitude all you wish but the reality is that St Kilda has spent far too long and often in the spotlight for culture issues and the like, some warranted and some not, and frankly we are sick of it. If one of our players knowingly took PEDs then they deserve to be delisted from the club.It is simple and I do not think is unfair.

 

[Napier_Street]

The other clubs you've mentioned won't be punished at all because they have done nothing wrong.

Wake up and smell the coffee princess, other clubs just haven't been caught. Don't be so certain that Essendon or one or two other clubs are the only ones with a taste for "Black Ops"

Essendon may be the worse offender but I hardly reckon they are alone.

Am sorry for Saints fans - seriously hope this issue amounts to nothing.

 

[Napier_Street]

So if a player, lets say an Essendon player in your case, tests positive to performance enhancing drugs that... you should do nothing or demand nothing?

Hide behind your bullshit "high and mighty, stick by your team no matter what" attitude all you wish but the reality is that St Kilda has spent far too long and often in the spotlight for culture issues and the like, some warranted and some not, and frankly we are sick of it. If one of our players knowingly took PEDs then they deserve to be delisted from the club.It is simple and I do not think is unfair.

That's not what he said. Have another read.

He is saying allow the proper processes to be implemented. Support your club/player or at least reserve judgment until you have a clear set of findings. The holier than thou routine of damning your own player to appear morally superior to nasty Essendon supporters is very transparent, especially when you have no facts on the matter

 

[gutsroy]

Her insinuations were not PEDS though, which I think is what she is implying here.

That was my recollection, too, similar to the angle she took on Dane Swan, from memory, so recreational was the assumption.

 

[blackcat]

The thing that I, and most likely most non-Essendon fans don't get, is that when you look through history, whether it be Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong or whoever, people who try to take drugs in sports deny everything, try to blame others where possible about spiked samples and basically try to obfuscate things at every turn to make people believe they are innocent. But history tells us they never, ever are. I don't know how Essendon fans think that their team will be any different. Seeing their delusional responses to drug accusations really shows that there is an unhealthy personality-cult surrounding Jame Hird at that club.

I highly doubt that the Saints player in question, as much as he may claim he unwittingly took a drug, will be innocent. That is just the way it is with drugs and sport. People and teams deny, deny, deny, often even when caught. I honestly believe the vast majority of football fans would think the same if it involved their club - although it seems we have found an exception when it comes to Essendon.

i hope it aint SM. he would be an easy target. too easy. Or Kosi. Or Schneider.

 

[SunshineBoy]

If an individual player is found guilty they can f*ck right off, doesn't matter who it is. If the club is somehow involved...

.......thestandbyhird.......

 

[blackcat]

So if a player, lets say an Essendon player in your case, tests positive to performance enhancing drugs that... you should do nothing or demand nothing?

Hide behind your bullshit "high and mighty, stick by your team no matter what" attitude all you wish but the reality is that St Kilda has spent far too long and often in the spotlight for culture issues and the like, some warranted and some not, and frankly we are sick of it. If one of our players knowingly took PEDs then they deserve to be delisted from the club.It is simple and I do not think is unfair.

i think essendon members are within their right for the AFL and Players Association to come forward and tell the complete truth, and not make one team or half a dozen players scapegoats the entire AFL union.

no more Justin Charles.

 

[SunshineBoy]

I will be very interested to see the reaction if it should be a player like Lenny Hayes or Nick Riewoldt.

Well the AFL will probably not try and cover it up with the assistance of the club chairman......

 

[SunshineBoy]

go read our board

our members and supporters are sick of this shit. every single poster has said they do not care who the player is, they have to be named and stood down

it might be hard for you to accept that, but thats how our supporters are dealing with this. they are taking responsibility for an individuals actions and chosing the club over that individual

Isn't that what essendon are saying as well?

I thought thy wanted the players and officials stood down or am I missing something?

 

[Graffy4242]

Isn't that what essendon are saying as well?

I thought thy wanted the players and officials stood down or am I missing something?

No they want statues made of them, Hird's gold of course.

 

[blackcat]

Isn't that what essendon are saying as well?

I thought thy wanted the players and officials stood down or am I missing something?

no more AFL competition this year.

 

[ColinWood]

Exactly right, there will be no personality cult like reactions from Saints members and fans with this. As a member, I know that whether it is Lenny or a new draftee there will be no ridiculous excuses and obsfucating that we see from the Bomber fans on a daily basis and I am really confident that it will be the same from other Saints members and posters as well.

Hat off to you & all Saints posters so far. I'd feel the same if it was Collingwood- get the offender/s out of the club pronto. Serve time and come back or not as the case may be. The Club is bigger than the individual and we as members deserve a fair comp

 

[blackcat]

Hat off to you & all Saints posters so far. I'd feel the same if it was Collingwood- get the offender/s out of the club pronto. Serve time and come back or not as the case may be. The Club is bigger than the individual and we as members deserve a fair comp

well, your theory breaks down when it is a top-down doping program. so you gonna go and support hoola hoops, or get perspective on the new playing field, that is not that new at all

 

[Suma Magic]

Great response by Saints fans.

Hopefully it's nothing, or if its something, it's not Jack Steven.

 

[Nutsngum]

That's not what he said. Have another read.

He is saying allow the proper processes to be implemented. Support your club/player or at least reserve judgment until you have a clear set of findings. The holier than thou routine of damning your own player to appear morally superior to nasty Essendon supporters is very transparent, especially when you have no facts on the matter

Ah no, thats exactly what he said. He called St Kilda supporters "back stabbers" because we advocate sacking a drug cheat. Sorry but every single club in this league would do exactly that.

What both of you seem to have looked over is that is only under the assumption of worst case scenario that one of our players HAS knowingly and purposfully taken PEDs. Would you accept a known cheat staying on your team, knowing what it may do to the player group and how it would effect public perception of your club?

If it turns out a kid has taken a drug/medication was otherwise fine but could also trip a test without them knowing then the club will hardly throw them under a bus because that would also be unfair.

*edit
Just reread your post and noticed the bum hurt air you give off. Sorry mate, but you bring the "nasty essendon bullshit" on yourselves with that kind of attitude. Personally I have yet to be convinced through proper proof that Essendon has done anything wrong and will continue to regard them as another good team until official things occur. How about you let us attempt to deal with "our" issue in the way we see fit without comparing it to your own when others even admit that they arent similar.

 

[Jay Masten]

i think it will probably be a first year defender

just my opinion. will see what the clubs says

We're on the same page

 

[SwampCreature]

Lol at the contrast of the mature, realistic saints fans in this thread to the toys-out-of-the-cot, blame themedoa bombers fans.

Or maybe it just reflects St Kikda's history with scandal and this kind of thing.

 

[SwampCreature]

Also, somebody PM me the player's name or I WILL CUT YOU

 

[NarklesHelmet]

S2 is a black and white case. If the Saints player tests positive to a known banned substance than he should expect to go without too much fuss.
Essendon players stand accused/suspected of S0 substance use. Furthermore speculation continues that the club may have been misled (as the ACC and AFL have indicated they were) as to the status and classification of that S0 substance?

Comparing the StKilda and EFC cases at this stage is guess work at best but it would appear their are very few similarities. Comparing either of the current AFL cases with prominent athletics doping cases from the past achieves very little other than to highlight a lack of understanding of doping in sport. Equally as ignorant is the perception that professional football clubs do not strive to achieve an edge on their competition through cutting edge supplementation.

EFC supporters will direct adequate anger toward those who deserve it when the facts are known and the findings are delivered, at present the club is not clearly in breach of any of the regulations that govern supplementation in the AFL. So while the StKilda lads bask in the glory of BF as they scurry over each other in the race to crucify one of their own, we at EFC will await the findings of the appropriate authorities before we make our decision. We'll stick by our boys because that's what supporting a side is all about, and its far more honourable and respectable than seeking recognition through faux outrage and back slapping your back stabbing brethren in the quest to achieve 'beacon of morality' status as bestowed on you by figbooty.

You're getting a bit hung up on the S0 and S2 and other nuances that just obfuscate things. The claims levelled against Essendon that came about because your own club CEO called a press conference to, alarmingly, tell the world that he didn't know what was going on at the club, are much, much more serious than one player taking a substance. You are right, it is incomparable.

Comparing what Essendon are accused of (and with pretty strong foundation considering your CEO admitted they didn't know what was going on, Riemers, Spike and Jobe giving wildly varying accounts of what went down, and the two best investigative journalists in Australia giving almost weekly accounts of damning informtion from the ongoing investigation into your club) with what a St Kilda individual is accused of is not ideal. A doping regime the likes of what Essendon stand accused of is beyond the realm of anything seen in Australian sport before and we are in unchartered territory with how grave it is. Even more reason for supporters to have doubts about those in charge at the club, not stand behind them blindly when all evidence from outside the spin-doctored releases from the club in question suggest that wrong has been done.

Comparing reactions of alleged individual drug cheats from around the world with those from Essendon is fair enough. Drug cheats, no matter what sport they are in, individual or team, all deny, deny, deny. It is the standard line. There are always differences in circumstances whether they be the drugs used, the sport played etc. It is worth pointing that out to those that think "backing their players/coaches" is some virtuous crusade. Time and time again in sport we are let down by those who claim they are innocent. It almost never goes the other way.

 

[Sunshine Saint]

I will be very interested to see the reaction if it should be a player like Lenny Hayes or Nick Riewoldt.

Irrespective of who the player is from the Captain, or Saint Lenny, down to the last rookie on the list, St Kilda will show the honesty, integrity and moral fibre, that is lacking from Essendon and their supporters throughout this year.

We will NOT be delusional, or trying to hide behind PR Companies, selected leaks and an inability to accept, that that there should be swift and immediate punishment, if this is true.

Is this upsetting, of course, embarrassing, definitely, but something that we will hide, deny and not act on, NEVER.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

Irrespective of who the player is from the Captain, or Saint Lenny, down to the last rookie on the list, St Kilda will show the honesty, integrity and moral fibre, that is lacking from Essendon and their supporters throughout this year.

We will NOT be delusional, or trying to hide behind PR Companies, selected leaks and an inability to accept, that that there should be swift and immediate punishment, if this is true.

Is this upsetting, of course, embarrassing, definitely, but something that we will hide, deny and not act on, NEVER.

Can't believe I am doing this but I have side with the Essendon supporters on this.

This would have to be the most sanctimonious piece of toss I have read in a long while.