Drugs in Sport...

[beeps]

The Mole ‏@RLW_Mole 7h

BREAKING - moley has been told a leading NRL player will take the ASADA six month ban, starting next month

[DIEHARD]

I was watching the special on the former Bombers scapeoat. And then the analysis from AFL personalities. God never seen a bigger bunch of apologists!

[DIEHARD]

The Mole ‏@RLW_Mole 7h

BREAKING - moley has been told a leading NRL player will take the ASADA six month ban, starting next month

I wonder who...

[TITAN PETE]

I wonder who...

I hope it's no one of note

[DIEHARD]

Well when it comes to the media, any RL player is a "star".

[DIEHARD]

I havent seen the charges against the Sharks but personally believe that it is unfair for them to play in the Finals. Knock out other teams and potential make the Grand Final or win the Premiership.

[C-Whiz]

I havent seen the charges against the Sharks but personally believe that it is unfair for them to play in the Finals. Knock out other teams and potential make the Grand Final or win the Premiership.

I hear what you are saying, but innocent until proven guilty, I guess.
Could you imagine the uproar/Cronulla riots, if they finally won their first Premiership, only to have it stripped for drug charges, especially if they only relate to 2011, or whenever it is they are investigating.

They might even re-screen that TV show "The Shire" just to punish us all.

[TITAN PETE]

I hear what you are saying, but innocent until proven guilty, I guess.
Could you imagine the uproar/Cronulla riots, if they finally won their first Premiership, only to have it stripped for drug charges, especially if they only relate to 2011, or whenever it is they are investigating.

They might even re-screen that TV show "The Shire" just to punish us all.

[Toads]

Sandor Earl in the ****, I see..

[TITAN PETE]

James Hooper says Cronulla Sharks looking increasingly like a 'house of cards' in relation to ASADA drugs investigation


THE Cronulla Sharks are playing Russian roulette with NRL headquarters over the club’s 2011 supplements scandal, riding their luck on an all-or-nothing play that the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation might somehow amount to nothing.

Given NRL star Sandor Earl became the first player to be suspended and issued with an infraction notice relating to the use and trafficking of banned peptide CJC-1295 yesterday, the Sharks are looking increasingly like a house of cards ready to collapse.

CJC-1295 is one of the peptides Cronulla players have been accused of using, meaning the question the NRL must answer is, how can the Sharks occupy a place in this year’s finals?

NRL boss Dave Smith deflected the question at headquarters yesterday, stating how the game’s governing body would only act on factual evidence.

So what is the independent report compiled by Tricia Kavanagh that Cronulla’s previous board commissioned back in February? It clearly names CJC-1295 and GHRP-6 as the peptides administered at Cronulla.

What is the statement of reinstated Sharks trainer Mark Noakes, where he specifically names CJC-1295 and GHRP-6?

Clearly, it’s not factual enough.

This was Smith’s reaction yesterday when The Daily Telegraph asked if Cronulla’s place in the finals was safe, given they also stand accused of using CJC-1295?

"I hope I’ve got the message across that we as a code and we as a Commission will deal with fact. When the facts are presented, we’ll respond accordingly," Smith said.

"We have facts here. We have an admission. We’re telling everybody as soon as possible, we’ve reacted very quickly. I’ve got no information or no evidence at this point in time to suggest that there’s anything further that we would be announcing in the near term.

"However the investigation continues and hopefully this gives you a sense of the seriousness and why we’ve followed such a thorough process."

Right. So are we waiting for admissions from Cronulla players? Based on the general lack of cooperation from the Sharks as exemplified by Wade Graham’s initial interview, good luck with that.

Given Earl is looking at two years for using CJC-1295, the argument about whether this peptide was or wasn’t banned in 2011 is clearly, once and for all, dead in the water.

The other bone of contention here is the fact a number of rival NRL clubs are becoming increasingly angered at the Cronulla situation and the lack of action taken against the club, particularly in light of the sanctions the AFL handed to Essendon this week.

Like Essendon did up until the AFL and all of its 17 other clubs took a stand against the Bombers last week, the Sharks continue to protest their innocence despite a tsunami of documentation detailing how the club allegedly engaged in a series of negligent wrongdoings two years ago.

The Sharks would do well to take note of the 180 degree pirouette Essendon coach James Hird suddenly performed this week once the AFL laid a plea bargain deal on the table, despite repeated vows to clear his name and protestations of innocence.

The Bombers were stung with a $2 million fine, lost their place in the finals and Hird was hit with a 12-month suspension.

In short, the Bombers cut a deal with the AFL to plead guilty to bringing the game into disrepute. The question now being asked is can Cronulla broker a similar arrangement if they are prepared to admit they broke the rules and went `off the reservation’ with the club’s 2011 supplements program?

Sadly, the answer is no and the reasoning is simple. Firstly, the Sharks are still living in denial, hanging on to the misguided belief they have done nothing wrong and will somehow be cleared when the investigation is completed in October or November.

Secondly, the opportunity to cut a deal came and went in the week before the competition kicked off, when 10 current Sharks players were in advanced negotiations to accept six-month suspensions until they learned the AFL players at Essendon were also in talks to completely escape sanctions altogether.

When Cronulla got wind the Bombers players might be dodging infraction notices, all bets were called off in terms of plea-bargain deals.

The notion of tyring to toss up the argument about not one player having failed a drugs test has holes all through it. Lance Armstrong never failed a drugs test. Nor did disgraced New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez.

Instead, the US anti-doping watchdog compiled a case based on a flood of circumstantial evidence including phone records, text messages, financial records, medical records and, crucially, information provided by whistleblowers.

This, in part, is what led to Earl becoming the first NRL player issued with an infraction notice yesterday.

ASADA has an NRL whistleblower in ex-Sharks head conditioner Trent Elkin, who has detailed exact elements of what occurred at Cronulla for an 11-week window in 2011.

If the Sharks were smart, they would be examining the way Essendon chairman Paul Little brokered a deal with the AFL to end the ongoing suffering for the club’s supporters and, in the bigger picture, the entire game.

Ultimately, coach James Hird had to accept some form of accountability.

When the ASADA investigation eventually runs it course, someone at Cronulla is going to have to accept the gross management failures in terms of duty of care to the players from 2011.

Will anyone?

[DIEHARD]

NRL announce Cronulla Sharks $1million fine ($400,000 suspended) stands. Shane Flanagan's suspension and Trent Elkin's registration cancellation stands.

[DIEHARD]

Hard to believe that it has been a whole year since, "the darkest day in sport".

[DIEHARD]

Cronulla’s finances show the club has spent almost $1.5M responding to ASADA and the NRL

CRONULLA have 1,418,530 reasons to rue the ASADA scandal - and just as many to think carefully about gambling more money on appealing NRL sanctions against the club.

As Sharks directors contemplate their next move in the wake of the NRL’s confirmation that a $1 million fine will stand, The Daily Telegraph has sighted the club’s 2013 annual report that exposes the price of dealing with the saga thus far.

The report reveals that $1,568,530 was exacted from responding to both the ASADA and the NRL, which also issued a salary cap breach midway through last year. Failing to correctly document third party and marquee deals cost Cronulla a $150,000 fine, meaning the net cost of dealing with the ASADA fall-out alone amounted to $1,4118,530.

Legal, consulting and PR fees absorbed much of the bill, which began to mount in earnest when the club ordered an independent review of its 2011 supplement program.

The Sharks have also been forced to defend civil action from three former players, Isaac Gordon, Josh Cordoba and Broderick Wright, and reverse the sackings of trainer Mark Noakes and football manager Darren Mooney.

The figure is so great that it accounted for 87 percent of the total operating loss of $1,627,169, meaning Cronulla would have almost achieved a break-even result in the absence of the twin dramas. Despite not having a jersey or stadium naming rights holder for much of last season, the Sharks still managed to record a positive cash flow of $216,374 from increased membership sales and improved gate-takings.

In his message to members, Sharks chairman Damian Keogh admitted the club had been “rocked to the core”.

“The indeterminate timetable for the investigation has meant the club has endured an incessant amount of related media coverage that has placed enormous pressure, particularly on coaching and support staff and players,” Keogh wrote.

Lawyer and University of Western Sydney Associate Professor Saul Fridman discusses the legal elements to former Cronulla Sharks coach Shane Flanagan's suspension.

“From a financial perspective the direct impact of the ASADA investigation and a salary cap fine on the club were costly non budgeted items in the 2013 profit and loss statement.

“Had it not been for these losses, the joint entities of the football club and leagues club would have operated at break even.

“This is an exceptional result given the financial history of the club and the specific challenges of the 2013 season.”

Although the financial report only takes into account operations until 31 October last year, it does make mention of the latest NRL breach - a $1 million fine for management failures that occurred in the first half of 2011.

The NRL has offered to suspend $400,000 of the fine on the condition that Sharks directors undertake a governance review and hire more staff in key areas. The NRL has also demanded these conditions be met by 31 July, threatening to disqualify the Sharks from finals calculations should they fail to comply.

The annual report states Cronulla “intends to defend” the breach. That statement points to Sharks directors electing to take their case to the NRL Appeals Committee, which would cost more in legal fees. It’s understood around $120,000 was spent responding to the NRL’s breach notice, with the Sharks demanding the NRL’s full brief of evidence. Sources close to the club claim the board was shocked when NRL boss Dave Smith announced the $1 million fine last December, having been led to believe the punishment would be around half that amount.

The Sharks board met on Wednesday night to thrash-out their response to the latest setback and have until this Wednesday to lodge an appeal.

Cronulla CEO Steve Noyce last night said the club was awaiting more information from the NRL until a decision would be made.

Source: http://www.news.com.au