Forum topic

1 post / 0 new
Last post
billy the kid's picture
billy the kid
Last seen: 7 years 8 months ago
Joined: 12/01/2016 - 08:26
Which VFL players will Essendon take?
Body: 

UPDATE: THE Essendon 34 have been found guilty of doping.

Twelve current Bombers stars including skipper Jobe Watson, Dyson Heppell and Michael Hurley have been slapped with a 12 months ban. They will miss the entire 2016 AFL season.

The stunning verdict means Watson’s 2012 Brownlow Medal could also be stripped.

Former star Matthew Lloyd told 3AW that he felt “sick to the stomach” about the decision.

Five players now at other clubs - Western Bulldog Stuart Crameri, Port Adelaide pair Angus Monfries and Paddy Ryder, St Kilda’s Jake Carlisle and Melbourne’s Jake Melksham have also been suspended.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport this morning informed all parties it had upheld the World Anti-Doping Agency appeal in the long-running case.

It follows a not-guilty finding delivered by the AFL anti-doping tribunal last year.

The CAS panel ruled it was “comfortably satisfied” the 34 players had been injected with the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 while playing for Essendon during the 2012 season.

The other current Essendon players to serve immediate suspensions are Cale Hooker, Brent Stanton, Michael Hibberd, David Myers, Tayte Pears, Ben Howlett, Tom Bellchambers, Heath Hocking and Travis Colyer.

Seventeen of the 34 have since retired or been delisted.

The man at the centre of the saga, former Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank, said this morning: “This is corruption at its highest. These guys have done nothing wrong and there is no evidence as such”.

Essendon has already been granted approval to recruit “top-up” players from the VFL and other state leagues to help field a team this season.

Essendon begins its 2016 season against the Gold Coast at Metricon Stadium on March 26.

More to come ...