Play Nice WADA v Essendon 34: Guilty, 2 Yr Susp. (backdated to Mar 2015). Affects 17 current AFL plyrs.

[stabler]

Does the tail wag the Dog with the AFL ?
Fancy friggin inviting Jobe Watson into the commission to chat about his brownlow .

Gill: Jobe... Ahh...This isn't easy for me to ask... Oh look at me crying like my mother! The brownlow... sniff... YOUR brownlow... We need to.. we need to take... sniff..We need..

Jobe: it's ok Gillon! It's ok. You can say it.. just say it

Gill: What a man... Oh you're just making this harder for me! sob...what I mean to say is... Do you mind if... Cause we don't have to but... If you maybe handed in.. oh just spit it out Gillon... Could you give us the brownlow back? Please?

Jobe: na feck off its mine.

Gill: Phew! Haha that's a relie... Wait what! Ohhhhh you! Oh you really pulled one over ol' Gill there! Haha of course you can keep the brownlow. Have a Norm Smith too.

 

[Captain Morgan]

Isn't she married!!

The "I'm behind you" comment now takes on a whole new meaning........

 

[Arden]

James Hird wasn't on the plane

There was no snake on the plane?

 

[10571z]

Essendon fans should be truly embarrassed. Even now they are acting like the AFL victimized them and how they should boycott the AFL. How bad WADA is and how they apparently had no "proof".

Do they actually read the legal documentation not just peoples comments on facebook. The club was up to no good, it is so obvious in the first report i read. I knew they would be found guilty by an independent panel not a hand picked panel from the AFL.

 

[Collingwood 4 eternity]

I watched that efc suckfest with kochie tonight and I think I may have dreamed it but is sir james of hird selling tickets to his tell all interview at $33.00 a pop??? I cant put a WTF big enough on here.. does tania really need more surgery??

http://www.ethics.org.au/Events/Event-details/James-Hird-In-Conversation

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/james-hird-in-conversation-with-tracey-holmes-tickets-20720053237

 

[TennisPlayerAndy]

James Hird in the Ethics Centre.

A paradox of galactic proportions.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

I would like to join the football community at large in saying:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA F*CKING FINALLY

 

[mickeyjuice]

And a great point by Francis leech, what if this was the Chinese swim team? What would the media portray them as, victims or drug cheats?

Yes, we've been saying that here all day.

Geez, not only has the club been punished (yes, I understand it was for poor governance) but it has lost its coach, chairman

You listing positives or negatives here?

Thank you WADA and Ben Mcdevitt for making me believe in the justice system again.

And a big FU to all the 'journos' throughout this whole saga who protected their mates in the industry, muddied the waters, mislead the public and ultimately shot to pieces any semblance of journalistic integrity they might have had left covering the story. I consider you just as bad as the drug takers

Several journos have completely destroyed any respect they might have had from the footy public thorough the past three years, certainly.

1. Sacking Sheedy for an unproven coach in Knights

Not at all what happened. If anything, they sacked Sheedy WAY later than they should have, as in YEARS too late.

Bullshit, if it was North or St Kilda the AFL would be welcoming it's brand new Tasmanian team.

Correct. And there's no "startup" syndrome here, Tassie is an AFL state.

Some good analysis

Natalie has been consistently excellent through this whole saga.

 

[shintemaster]

Of course they would.

At the moment, the AFL wants 18 teams. It will NEVER act to push one of its clubs over the brink. It turns out Essendon is doing a good enough job of that on its own.

Moreover, they are probabaly a bit gun-shy having seen how heavy sanctions can exacerbate the problems experienced by incompetently run clubs (Carlton).

Mate not a chance. They were doing there utmost to knife us when we'd done nothing wrong. The "Kangaroos" or "Saints" might still exist but it would be in name only playing wherever the hell the commission decided they wanted a team.

 

[nobbyiscool]

He reports on the stock markets for Commsec. Rose to prominence with his serious/humorous reports during Rove, when he would do a stock market report and then add something completely random at the end.

Yeah, no I get all that... I just hadn't really seen him since he'd turned into a hobo in a suit...

 

[southwest bomber]

What's going on here?!

You guys said this will all be over on the 11th yet people are still posting on the 12th!!!

Guys... GUYS!!!

 

[SBYM]

Mate not a chance. They were doing there utmost to knife us when we'd done nothing wrong. The "Kangaroos" or "Saints" might still exist but it would be in name only playing wherever the hell the commission decided they wanted a team.

I'm actually surprised to read this...

I certainly know North aren't high on their list of Most Important Clubs, but I wouldn't have thought they'd give themselves another headache just to get rid of them...especially since you have performed quite well of late...

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Not reading the 160 pages, but I'd just like someone to give me a synopsis of 60sbombers reaction to the decision. He has been very vocal the last few weeks.

 

[Mr_Moogle]

I think it's hilarious that some Essendon supporters want the AFL to ditch WADA compliance. I wonder how they will feel when the next team tries to pull this sort of crap and gets off scot-free as the AFL sweeps it under the rug.

 

[MarkCatsFan]

On a serious note, this is something that for the last 3 years has affected my ability to enjoy AFL footy, it has been a cloud that has made the game not feel right at all. This should have happened 3 years ago then everybody could have moved on, but instead we've had doped up players getting to pull on their guernseys every week and cringeworthy commentators defending them. Why would I watch that? I used to watch at least 4 games a weekend, and the last few seasons that went down to maybe 3 a month. Add a Hawthorn 3-peat into this and the competition has just been unwatchable.

I can actually watch football again now, we are all free.

Now about that Brownlow...

 

[Balony_pony16]

Some good analysis

interesting...

noted the Players had been educated about anti-doping, and referred to their access to the WADA hotline (but apparent failure to pick up the phone) if in doubt.

Perhaps all AFL players need to make sure they have the WADA Hotline number in their phone and make use of it if need be in the future. Personally I think AFL players should have independent doctors like they do agents with full access to supplement programs etc

 

[Admiral Byng]

Some good analysis

Good read. Thanks for posting.

 

[hairy biker]

Normally when a plane crashes, five things go wrong.
What were the 5 biggest things that brought the Bombers down?

Any nominations?

Hird was the pilot
Dank the engineer
Corcoran the maintenance man
Charters the engine supplier and
Spike was the steward with the orange juice.

As for other contributory factors;

David Evans was the Chairman of the Airline, who had known James for years and considered James possibly the Airline's best ever steward.
So naturally he assumed James would also make a terrific pilot.
After all he could learn on the job.
But just to be on the safe side he ensured James had an experienced co-pilot.

Sadly the man chosen, Bomber 'runny nose' Thompson was pretty much bored with flying and so therefore spent most of his time in the galley, making salad rolls.

As for the players well they were happy just to be given the chance to fly "Druggie Air" (slogan, We take it to the edge) and be entertained by that colourful old gent Doc Reid with his Sergeant Schultz impersonations.

The role of Lloyd Bridges, the air traffic controller, was played by Paul Little.


PS CAS was the crash investigation team who solved the case.

 

[Peter Bell]

The concept that missing out on two draft picks almost 15 years ago being responsible for Carlton's shitness for a sustained period of time is so manifestly ridiculous that I don't know why you lot keep pushing it.

- $930,000 on 23 November 2002 (gold $300usd)

2002 Draft:
Round 1, 1 - x (Brendon Goddard)
Round 1, 2 - x (Daniel Wells)

2003 Draft:
Round 1, 5 - x (Brock McLean)
Round 2, 20 - x (Sam Butler)

Only a few clubs would have survived those penalties after finishing last, North ain't one of them.

 

[Freya]

On a serious note, this is something that for the last 3 years has affected my ability to enjoy AFL footy, it has been a cloud that has made the game not feel right at all. This should have happened 3 years ago then everybody could have moved on, but instead we've had doped up players getting to pull on their guernseys every week and cringeworthy commentators defending them. Why would I watch that? I used to watch at least 4 games a weekend, and the last few seasons that went down to maybe 3 a month. Add a Hawthorn 3-peat into this and the competition has just been unwatchable.

I can actually watch football again now, we are all free.

Now about that Brownlow...

Yep, we can now kiss goodbye to all the crap. Hopefully no more talk of fine young men etc.

I also think the AFL Tribunal should now be axed. They've made some terrible decisions over the years but the Essendon one was certainly the most corrupt. Surely there is some world sports tribunal which can provide this function? Something better than the AFL providing both the investigators and the decision makers?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

James Hird in the Ethics Centre.

A paradox of galactic proportions.

And in a year that he wanted to be about 'facts' this will be his "one and only interview"......which just happens to be in Sydney, with a glowing fan.

Should've been held at the comedy club.

 

[Balony_pony16]

I think it's hilarious that some Essendon supporters want the AFL to ditch WADA compliance. I wonder how they will feel when the next team tries to pull this sort of crap and gets off scot-free as the AFL sweeps it under the rug.

if anything is to be learnt out of all this is that any Drug matters should be immediately sent to WADA to review imo

 

[Freya]

- $930,000 on 23 November 2002 (gold $300usd)

2002 Draft:
Round 1, 1 - x (Brendon Goddard)
Round 1, 2 - x (Daniel Wells)

2003 Draft:
Round 1, 5 - x (Brock McLean)
Round 2, 20 - x (Sam Butler)

Only a few clubs would have survived those penalties after finishing last, North ain't one of them.

You seriously complaining about missing out on Wells, McLean and Butler?

 

[pugsville]

- $930,000 on 23 November 2002 (gold $300usd)

2002 Draft:
Round 1, 1 - x (Brencon Goddard)
Round 1, 2 - x (Daniel Wells)

2003 Draft:
Round 1, 5 - x (Brock McLean)
Round 2, 20 - x (Sam Butler)

Only a few clubs would have survived those penalties after finishing last, North ain't one of them.

Carlton's bad recruiting decision dwarf the penalties handed to Carlton scary cap rooting. Getting Judd was a massive mistake for starters
(Kennedy picks 3 and 20)
2004 8 Jordan Russell 25 Adam Hartlett
2000 Draft 4. luke livingston 11 trent sporn 15 simon wiggins 31 blake camel 46 Sean O'keeke
1999 Trade period getting Mansfield and O'Reilly (1st 3-D 3rd round picks)
1998 6 Murray Vance
1997 7 Kris Massie 23 Adam chatfield'

 

[sonnywalters]

I am willing to go online in a debate with Paul Marsh - in person or via skype. I will pay him $1,000 for this.
Bring me Paul Marsh. Happy to make this live on Big Footy.