Bombers set to miss 2013 finals. (The Age, Caroline Wilson, 23/8)

[le dominateur]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

Why not?

 

[LordLucifer]

Lose points but without draft penalties, they would get the #1 pick next year, that is sheer lunacy !!!

 

[Leather Poisoning]

What happens to teams who have played Essendon twice in the finals?

Yeah this gets sticky, doesn't it?

Freo lost to Essendon by half a kick - they would be looking at a top 2 finish had they won that game...

 

[Crawb]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

You should be ****ing kicked out of the competition....and they can most certainly have it both ways. How the **** would it work anyway, strip points and keep draft picks? You'd get the #1 pick!

 

[jko'neal]

Can't understand the purpose of taking points off them and excluding them from finals. Won't achieve SFA, take draft picks off them for coming years, freeze their salary cap when others move, and limit their trade and FA ability. That will hurt far more then removing points, and will hurt the club for a long period of time.

 

[TheMcGrathMan]

Punishment seems fair if we are also considering that the deal would see the AFL find Essendon not guilty of doping, but guilty of putting their players at risk, having a pharmacological experimental culture, ignoring medical protocols, having injections self-administered by coaches, officials and so on.

If ASADA does somehow find concrete evidence of TB4 being administered or another drug, then I'm not sure the AFL needs to hand down any further punishments as the players being suspended would cripple the club.

So loss of points, loss of some draft picks, fine, and officials suspended or fined. No 'Hird leaves and everyone is fine' deal, no 'we will give you a $500k fine but pay it back to you anyway' etc.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

Oh yes they can.

 

[Silent Alarm]

There will only be a deal if both parties are happy obviously, both sides are going to have to give ground, this has become more about Egos than anything else.

What kind of punishment is a negotiated one?

 

[TheMcGrathMan]

You should be ******* kicked out of the competition....and they can most certainly have it both ways. How the **** would it work anyway, strip points and keep draft picks? You'd get the #1 pick!

I'm pretty sure if Essendon keep their draft picks, they will be considered to have finished 7th.

The loss of points would essentially just mean they are banned from finals.

 

[rfctiger90]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

Why?

They run the competition. Essendon broke the rules. They can do whatthey please.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Criminal in nature? Seriously?

At least naughy by nature.

 

[legend166]

I can't possibly see how they're going to escape drug sanctions from ASADA. There is concrete proof in that charge document of the club purchasing PEDs, with a whole lot of circumstantial evidence that they then injected those PEDs into a large number of players.

 

[sarah.13]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

make a bet!

 

[TheMcGrathMan]

Criminal in nature? Seriously?

Well if Dank and Robinson are considered 'part' of Essendon in 2012, then I would have thought so?

I thought it was illegal to administer injections to other people if not legally qualified. Bit surprised that authorities haven't come in on this.

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

Something isn't right. These penalties are in line with cheating which Essendon has not been found guilty of.

Sooo if they accept these penalties then the charge sheet of alleged substances they used is factual?

 

[dmc333]

I wouldn't worry about the punishment so much.

Guilt is guilt and they now look outright fools given their previous hardline and overly smug stance.

And there may be more hell to come.

So much win.

 

[FrancisX]

Can't understand the purpose of taking points off them and excluding them from finals. Won't achieve SFA, take draft picks off them for coming years, freeze their salary cap when others move, and limit their trade and FA ability. That will hurt far more then removing points, and will hurt the club for a long period of time.

AFL has played hardball - but if they play hardball to the extent they don't negotiate this will go on and on and go into the courts. AS it is more might be to come from ASADA.

And yes the charges are serious enough to penalise their points this year and draft picks.

 

[mike ockerts]

What I think should be done

Hird fired.
Loss of 1st round picks 2013-15
Loss of 2nd round picks 2013-14
Loss of 3rd round pick 2013
Start 2014 on -88 points. Total rolls over season to season until they're in the positive. (So if they finish 5-17 in 2014, they start 2015 on -68 points, then 2-19 in 2015, start 2016 on -60 etc.)
Until they get into positive points, their 1st round pick would be end of 1st round.

(Not including player punishments as WADA can deal with that)

Now what I would have done.
Essendon license revoked, they can go play VFL/VAFA if they want to exist.
Tasmania given license.

It's not a bad idea the points thing, but I would go with something like this, loss of 88 points= 1 year for no points, or divide the points over 4 years= start each year at -22 points, they can choose which one they'd like.

 

[jacko57]

I'm all set to win the lotto too. Doesn't mean it will happen.

But if it does, you'll be in a very good place.

 

[Hearts to hearts]

Keep points,lose draft picks.
Keep draft picks,lose points.

AFL cant have it both ways.

Lose points and picks, stay in competition. How's that deal?

 

[Brasher]

I can't wait to see what the AFLPA has to say about this if true.

Adelaide lost draft picks for filling the lining of a player's wallet.
Essendon don't after putting most of their squad in harm's way.

Look forward to the AFL warning the next club of the dire circumstances if they are the next offender.

 

[Jaeger]

Why would Corcoran be punished more severely than Hird?

 

[Crawb]

I can't see how the AFL can get any more lenient than this:
*Hird 12 Month Ban (Let's be honest, any ban is pretty much going to be a life ban effectively)
*Stripped of 2013 Points
*Loss of First and Second Round Draft Picks in 2013 and 2014 Draft
*$2.5mil fine.

Just ****ing take it and run Essendon! AFL can't budge from this. Let's be honest, considering the form Essendon are in, and how there are only 2 regular season games still to play, stripping the 2013 points, while sounds harsh on paper, means very little. They are no chance for success and they don't have to suffer a Melbourne Storm like season of playing no points.

Personally the penalty needs to be much harsher (hopefully ASADA/WADA contribute to that somewhat..but even then...)

 

[Heeney2Franklin]

I can't possibly see how they're going to escape drug sanctions from ASADA. There is concrete proof in that charge document of the club purchasing PEDs, with a whole lot of circumstantial evidence that they then injected those PEDs into a large number of players.

Well if they accept these charges it will be a admission of guilt which would relate back to the charge sheet of TB4 which is a WADA banned substance.

 

[mjonc]

Something isn't right. These penalties are in line with cheating which Essendon has not been found guilty of.

Sooo if they accept these penalties then the charge sheet of alleged substances they used is factual?

Its not cheating, it's failing to manage a supplements program that poked its left toe over the edge of borderline.

As Buzz Lightyear once said

"I'm not flying, I'm falling with style"