ASADA Investigation

[justin19]

This whole fiasco is a disgrace. Our boys will be fine. ALBY and Big Luke Douglas will get through this unscathed and then put us into top 5.

Alby will be fine but I don't think Douglas will be. There has been a couple of injuries he has had when at the sharks that would put players out for at least a couple of weeks but he always played the next week.

[justin19]

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226069008193

Like this one for instance

[Bayside Titan]

No Alby = No top 8

Could true but we have Beau Henry and Hazard.

[K2G]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/sport/...-1226784368840

GOLD Coast coach John Cartwright admits the Titans are concerned about the ongoing ASADA investigation hanging over the heads of Luke Douglas and Albert Kelly, both former Cronulla players.

While the Titans were not one of the six NRL clubs initially named as being part of the ASADA probe 10 months ago, the club is among those in the competition now sweating upon the results of the long investigation into the use of banned peptides at the Sharks in 2011.

Brisbane were also initially cleared of any involvement in the supplement scandal, but after recruiting Stewart Mills from the Sharks and Martin Kennedy from Sydney Roosters this season they too face an anxious few months to see if players will receive doping bans.

Cartwright praised Douglas and Kelly for the way they've handled the ongoing uncertainty and said the club just simply hoped the matter was settled before the 2014 season kicks off.

"It's a tough one because it's a legal issue, but I've spoken to both the boys and I'm like everyone else, we're not really sure how it's going to be dealt with," Cartwright said.

"That being the case we've just got to get on with the job here at getting ready for the season starting.

"Like everyone we would like to see an end to it and then everyone knows what's going to happen so you can start planning for your future.

"We are all frustrated like everyone. It is sort of dragging on and everyone would like to see an end to it so we can talk about footy.

"It's not only the players themselves who have some concerns, it's not something you want the fans talking about going into a season it should be about the footy and getting behind their teams and playing in big games.

"Hopefully by the time the season starts they've sorted it out."

While some issues in the future are beyond Cartwright's control, yesterday he commenced a program with juniors aged 14 and 15 to take ownership of the club's next generation of stars.

The two-day elite player development camp was aimed at introducing kids to the life of professional football and Cartwright hopes it helps the club find their next young star.

"I don't think any kids at any NRL club will get the opportunity to experience what those 35 or 40 kids experienced then. We're very determined to get these kids in, develop them and turn out first graders," he said.

"This is just a new direction. It's a hard thing to get approval for funds because you don't see an immediate return on those funds.

"But this is a long term approach where we want to set up the best system for kids in the NRL. Today was the first step in heading towards that."

[K2G]

Loosing Douglas will suck, but would be somewhat off-set by getting White back. Loosing Albert would be a huge blow, not just for the club, but for him as a young guy who seems to finally have gotten his life and career on track. Crossing my fingers for both of em.

[teke]

Broncos sweating over possibly losing Stewart mills

I don't think so

[TITAN PETE]

Broncos sweating over possibly losing Stewart mills

I don't think so

I don't even think Wikipedia know who he is

[DIEHARD]

NRL is gonna hand down a punishment of a million dollar fine and a 12 month suspension for Flanagan.

Bombers didn't have any players suspended. Correct?

[TITAN PETE]

Sharks get no sympathy from Titans
By Tony Webeck, Chief Queensland Correspondent
NRL.com
2:56pm Tue 17th December, 2013


Provisional sanctions proposed by the NRL have the potential to cause widespread upheaval at the Cronulla Sharks but they shouldn't expect any sympathy from their opponents when they take to the field for Round 1 of the 2014 season.

The Sharks have been given until January 15 to submit a response to the breach notices issues by NRL CEO Dave Smith on Tuesday, with the club facing a fine and coach Shane Flanagan facing a season-long suspension. With that process still to take place and the ongoing investigation by ASADA, there is the prospect that the issue will continue to hang over Cronulla right up until they take the field for the opening game of the season.

Cronulla edged out the Gold Coast Titans by two points in an emotion-charged Round 1 fixture this year that came just days after Flanagan was stood down by the Cronulla board following the release of the report into the use of drugs in Australian sport by the Australian Crime Commission in February. They'll face the Titans in the opening round of the 2014 season as well.

Speaking to the media prior to the provisional findings being announced, Titans veteran Ashley Harrison said that he was eager to see an end to the saga and expects a hostile environment at Remondis Stadium for their Monday night season-opener.

"I hope so, any advantage we can get we'll take," Harrison said of the mental toll the investigation may be taking on Cronulla players. "In saying that, if they get all of this stuff out of the way I suppose they're going to be looking forward to moving forward as well and the Cronulla Sharks, down there, Round 1... it's going to be a tough game."

Gold Coast pair Luke Douglas and Albert Kelly were both contracted to the Sharks at the time of the alleged supplements program in 2011 but Harrison doesn't believe the latest findings will hamper their preparation for the upcoming season.

"They've been fine; I don't think they've got too much to do with it," Harrison said. "They're up here now and concentrating on what they need to do to get themselves right for Round 1.

"I think it will be good to finally get over that hurdle. It's been hanging over our game for a fair while now so to get the sanctions out of the way and put it behind us, everyone can look forward to next year."

[Mexican titan]

NRL is gonna hand down a punishment of a million dollar fine and a 12 month suspension for Flanagan.

Bombers didn't have any players suspended. Correct?

The Bombers have not had any players suspended - yet. I know that this whole farce has gone on a while but people need to be aware that there are two investigations at both the AFL and NRL.

The AFL have completed their internal investigation and have fined the club and suspended the coach James Hird. The NRL internal investigation has also just completed today and their action is similar to the AFL. However these are internal investigations and the ASADA findings are still to come. Simply put, the NRL and AFL investigations are about the clubs and what procedures and actions took place. The ASADA investigation is about individual players.

If ASADA find players took illegal substances they can request that the NRL or AFL issue infraction notices to the players and then penalties are determined which ASADA can appeal if they believe are not sufficient. From what you hear the bans will be 1 or two years but might get reduced to 6 months if a player can prove he was an unknowing participant or he has provided considerable assistance to ASADA (i.e give info on the distributors, suppliers etc). If the proof is solid that a player took illegal substances there is no way they will escape without penalty. ASADA can appeal penalties if they consider them not sufficient, as both both sports receive substantial Government funding you can bet the penalties will be what ASADA deem sufficient.

For those that know all this, I apologise, and for those that have become confused over time, I hope that helps. The fact that I semi retired about the time this broke has allowed me to follow it. It has been a pathetic delay since the Feb press conference called to announce the blackest day in sport. Since then the only player charged has been Sandor Earl and he basically confessed and did ASADA's work.

It appears Essendon's record keeping about what was given to who was not up to scratch will help them but Ithink I read that players injections totalled 6000 over the season. Cronulla had involvement for a period of a few months. You would expect players from both codes to be outed but the AFL always seem to have a habit of coming out the better. We will see.

[DIEHARD]

Thanks for that top class post Mexican Titan. Appreciated it. Your right, after so long things do become fuzzy so a recap is good.