Performance-enhancing drugs in the AFL

[Grazz]

Bombers might even have to sit out the entire 2013 season. Imagine that, bye rounds every week.  :o

Now that would suck, at 1st i thought oh well i only have Daniher then the penny dropped, uneven numbers yuck yuck yuck. :P

[GCSkiwi]

Gotta say i had a bit of a "What The" moment when i read vitamins. My wife gets a B12 shot so i'll sign her up for for the local A Grade tomorrow i think. The comment about footy clubs is being unsterile is just as laughable i'm sure the medical rooms would be just as clean as any doctors surgery that Ive been to. A little off topic here but what sport are you involved in GCSk. You can decline to answer if you like, perfectly understandable.

Actually there might be some truth in the sterility comment. Yes they should have medical rooms for treating players, that should be relatively sterile. I don't have enough involvement with footy to really comment, but with teams I have worked with they wouldn't have the facilities for routine player injections, more like soft tissue injuries and the like. Minor surgery/invasive stuff I suspect would be off site. But then again there's quite a bit of money in the industry some maybe they do...

Competitively? I was a martial artist, not like MMA but sport fighting. And not like olympic Tae Kwon Do, those guys give us a bad name. I competed in all-styles tournaments, so you have studied whatever you have studied, but you come up against all types, shapes and sizes.
Professionally (I guess you would call it that) I've worked with a few sports but I would rather not specify - nothing to hide but equally there's probably enough information for me to be identified here and I would rather my knowledge of illicit activities didn't bring employers under unwarranted scrutiny.

[PICCOLLO]

Credit to EFC for coming forward.  No doubt something untoward has been happening and ignorance is not an excuse.  Sports science is always experimenting and pushing boundaries to get the most out of athletes.  In this case, the AFL has a conundrum as you cant suspend a whole team, particularly an AFL heavyweight.  Jobe Watson went from repeated hamstring injuries to winning a brownlow; whether its stripped from him or not, everyones going to be thinking he cheated.  As a bombers fan and pharmacist i'm gutted.  There really isnt a rock for the Bombers to hide under as the list of banned substances is pretty clear cut. 
Trusting medicos and not taking responsibility for the medical jargon is understandable; theyre paid to play footy but the rules dont see it that way.
Im surprised blood doping and EPO havent made there way into AFL seeing as everyone heads to Arizona these days.

[blah128]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

[GCSkiwi]

Credit to EFC for coming forward.  No doubt something untoward has been happening and ignorance is not an excuse.  Sports science is always experimenting and pushing boundaries to get the most out of athletes.  In this case, the AFL has a conundrum as you cant suspend a whole team, particularly an AFL heavyweight.  Jobe Watson went from repeated hamstring injuries to winning a brownlow; whether its stripped from him or not, everyones going to be thinking he cheated.  As a bombers fan and pharmacist i'm gutted.  There really isnt a rock for the Bombers to hide under as the list of banned substances is pretty clear cut. 
Trusting medicos and not taking responsibility for the medical jargon is understandable; theyre paid to play footy but the rules dont see it that way.
Im surprised blood doping and EPO havent made there way into AFL seeing as everyone heads to Arizona these days.

No, the AFL could suspend the team but likely wouldn't. WADA/ASADA on the other hand? can, absolutely would. If the worst rumours turn out to be true, the bombers are in a lot of trouble... Though I am in total agreement that the players should be able to trust the medics, I don't like the idea that it's put on their shoulders. Let's be honest, they're great athletes, but most people (not just the players) wouldn't be educated enough to know what was good and bad, or legal and illegal. I'm sure as a pharmacist you can attest to that - people need the likes of you to tell them not to take coumadin with aspirin, because joe average doesn't know that. I would agree with them being stripped of draft picks and epically fined, but the players shouldn't be punished. It's not the system though

[Grazz]

@GCSkiwi I understand as far as identity goes mate so no problem with that.

Credit to EFC for coming forward.  No doubt something untoward has been happening and ignorance is not an excuse.  Sports science is always experimenting and pushing boundaries to get the most out of athletes.  In this case, the AFL has a conundrum as you cant suspend a whole team, particularly an AFL heavyweight.  Jobe Watson went from repeated hamstring injuries to winning a brownlow; whether its stripped from him or not, everyones going to be thinking he cheated.  As a bombers fan and pharmacist i'm gutted.  There really isnt a rock for the Bombers to hide under as the list of banned substances is pretty clear cut. 
Trusting medicos and not taking responsibility for the medical jargon is understandable; theyre paid to play footy but the rules dont see it that way.
Im surprised blood doping and EPO havent made there way into AFL seeing as everyone heads to Arizona these days.

I feel for you mate, as a Crows supporter we felt the heat late last year over our cheating the salary cap and its no fun and does affect you adversely seeing the comments and rubbish that come with a scandal like this or any other. We all want our clubs to be above board at all times. Jobe and the Brownlow only complicates things and makes the whole scenario worse for you no doubt.
Nothings been proved, innocent untill proven guilty and all that so hang in there this to shall pass regardless of the findings good bad or indifferent. I do think EFC gave themselves up before being dobbed in much the same as the crows, hence the hastily organised press conference. My hope for Essendon supporters is this doesnt drag on endlessly like the Crows investigation seemed to, its torture.

[Grazz]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

Hope not  :P When you joining PackHunters DT mate sent you a couple of PMs. :)

[Justin Bieber]

A lot will get suspended.

Enter Goddard, Daniher and that's it lol

[blah128]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

Hope not  :P When you joining PackHunters DT mate sent you a couple of PMs. :)

Hope not as well. Joined tonight. Been a bit busy moving house and getting organised for a new job. Good to go now

[Grazz]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

Hope not  :P When you joining PackHunters DT mate sent you a couple of PMs. :)

Hope not as well. Joined tonight. Been a bit busy moving house and getting organised for a new job. Good to go now

Sweet , congrats and goodluck with the new job mate.  :)

[Chelskiman]

A lot will get suspended.

Enter Goddard, Daniher and that's it lol

If they play kick to kick with each other they're both locks to average 120 each.

[blah128]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

Hope not  :P When you joining PackHunters DT mate sent you a couple of PMs. :)

Hope not as well. Joined tonight. Been a bit busy moving house and getting organised for a new job. Good to go now

Sweet , congrats and goodluck with the new job mate.  :)

Thanks mate...it's just a temporary thing until professional dream teamer is a viable option to pay the bills  :)

[GCSkiwi]

Credit to EFC for coming forward.  No doubt something untoward has been happening and ignorance is not an excuse.  Sports science is always experimenting and pushing boundaries to get the most out of athletes.  In this case, the AFL has a conundrum as you cant suspend a whole team, particularly an AFL heavyweight.  Jobe Watson went from repeated hamstring injuries to winning a brownlow; whether its stripped from him or not, everyones going to be thinking he cheated.  As a bombers fan and pharmacist i'm gutted.  There really isnt a rock for the Bombers to hide under as the list of banned substances is pretty clear cut. 
Trusting medicos and not taking responsibility for the medical jargon is understandable; theyre paid to play footy but the rules dont see it that way.
Im surprised blood doping and EPO havent made there way into AFL seeing as everyone heads to Arizona these days.

I feel for you mate, as a Crows supporter we felt the heat late last year over our cheating the salary cap and its no fun and does affect you adversely seeing the comments and rubbish that come with a scandal like this or any other. We all want our clubs to be above board at all times. Jobe and the Brownlow only complicates things and makes the whole scenario worse for you no doubt.
Nothings been proved, innocent untill proven guilty and all that so hang in there this to shall pass regardless of the findings good bad or indifferent. I do think EFC gave themselves up before being dobbed in much the same as the crows, hence the hastily organised press conference. My hope for Essendon supporters is this doesnt drag on endlessly like the Crows investigation seemed to, its torture.

To go into a large amount of speculation: Assuming they were taking something like HGH, be it another steroid or whatever, then I would be taking a hard look at the guys that amassed soft tissue injuries in the squad - the principle idea behind athletic abuse of anabolic agents is that they help you recover faster, meaning you can train harder and more frequently. But if they were using muscle protein selective agents then there's a good chance other tissues wouldn't have adapted so well - ie tendons - leading to greater chance of injury (the muscle is capable of producing more force than the supporting structures can tolerate). Thus Jobe, who managed to get through the season, could be ok. ENTIRELY speculative, but it's where I would cast a lot of my suspicions. Even if the injuries were legitimate, it would be tempting to take something that might get you backon the field faster - greater motive.

[Grazz]

Will they all appear on Oprah confessing their guilt?

Hope not  :P When you joining PackHunters DT mate sent you a couple of PMs. :)

Hope not as well. Joined tonight. Been a bit busy moving house and getting organised for a new job. Good to go now

Sweet , congrats and goodluck with the new job mate.  :)

Thanks mate...it's just a temporary thing until professional dream teamer is a viable option to pay the bills  :)

Haha yeh i just sent a letter off to Nike looking for sponsorship with Grazz's Guns im feeling confident. :P

[Southstorm]

The thing I'm most hanging out for is the document which the players signed; two ex-essendon players have very different views about what it was and it almost certainly indicates how much the players were "in" on the whole thing.

I'm not a medical expert like others here, but I was under the impression that B12 injections were common place within the AFL and sport in general as relief from fatigue. Since it's actually a deep, intramuscular injection, is it possible that McVeigh's story has weight? That B12 injections were done in sterile offiste locations? (let's be honest, Windy Hill was well below par in terms of facilities)

I seriously hope Essendon doesn't get done for drugs. First Lance and now this. If Federer is the next one to meet a scandal then I'll probably lose all will to live.

I also agree that the players shouldn't be responsible for their club's program. These are guys with a year 12 education (some not even that) who haven't got a hope in hell of making decisions for themselves as to whether something is legal or not.