ASADA Saga Thread

[woody08]

Besty and his wife own a preshool at Illawong I think. Any black mark against his name could impact on his business.

 

[dylan the villian]

anyone know when we the members will receive our refund for money spent this season?

cash is fine....

 

[sharkiesboomboomboom]

anyone know when we the members will receive our refund for money spent this season?

cash is fine....

Imagine the massive payout the Sharks would owe if Sharks supporters,past, present (and probably future) lodged a group action against the club for the years of pain and suffering they've endured over generations. It'd be in the gazillions! Ahhhh well...

 

[sharks2010]

Sharks ASADA case: Wayne Bennett says Shane Flanagan is to blame for the crisis at Cronulla
BARRY TOOHEY
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH
AUGUST 22, 2014 3:58PM

31
Fourteen Cronulla Sharks players accept ASADA deals


NEWCASTLE coach Wayne Bennett has taken aim at suspended Sharks coach Shane Flanagan and his staff, accusing them of being responsible for the fate of the 17 Cronulla players caught up in the ASADA drugs scandal.

The controversy directly impacted Bennett’s Knights today with the club losing key forwards Jeremy Smith and Kade Snowden for the rest of the season after the former Sharks pair accepted guilty pleas along with 15 former teammates for taking banned substances.

Bennett says he feels great sympathy for the banned players, blaming Flanagan and his staff for breaching their duty of care back in 2011.

Wayne Bennett says Shane Flanagan needs to take responsibility for the crisis at the Sharks. Pic Brett Costello
“Obviously, there was a series of incidents that happened at Cronulla in 2011 that were not player driven, which were coach driven, coaching staff driven,” Bennett said.

“They (the players) got extremely bad advice and they are paying a price for that now which in many ways is unfair.

“But at the same time, it’s the code that we work under, WADA, ASADA, and the drugs, in their opinion, are certainly performance-enhancing.

“They (the players) had their duty of care breached as far as I’m concerned. I feel great sympathy for them.”

Bennett claimed players naturally put their faith in coaches and the staff to do the right thing.

“The people they trust more than anybody else in their lives and in what they do is their coaches and their staff,” Bennett said.

Wayne Bennett says the players are paying the price for bad advice. “They were told it wasn’t performance-enhancing. That’s been a constant since this has all happened and their trust has been breached and as a result of that, these men are now paying a price for it.”

Asked does the blame lie with Flanagan and his staff, Bennett said:

“Yeah, the buck stops within the group that told them this was okay to do this.

“I said when this all broke that clubs do not do drugs in mass. Players do not do that. You’ll have individuals that go off and do it but not teams.

“I said at the time the only way that would happen is if coaches had convinced them or staff had convinced them it was okay and not performance enhancing and that’s the way it has panned out.

Jeremy Smith has been forced out for the rest of the season because of the ban. “There is no way you can get 15 or 17 guys in any club — you tell them exactly what is in the drug and it is performance enhancing — that they would all agree to be a part of that.

“It just wouldn’t happen in any club in this country in any code.”

Bennett has spoken to both Smith and Snowden and has no doubts they were unaware that what they were taking at the time was illegal.

“I can tell you they were assured it was to aid recovery and it was not performance enhancing and I’ve worked with those boys for three years, in Jeremy’s case four, and I trust them as much as I would trust anybody,” Bennett said.

Asked about the welfare of the two players and if they were okay with the guilty plea and the reduced suspension, Bennett said:

“Not really but they have to accept the situation and the reality of it all.”

Kade Snowden also will not play for the rest of the year.

The same goes for the Newcastle club, Bennett claimed.

“There’s been a lot of instances this year the club’s had nothing to do with but they are playing for our club so we are the face of it so we have to take the medicine like they have to take it.

“It’s disappointing but it will be resolved for them now. At least they can move on with nothing hanging over their heads at the end of the next three months.”

Bennett praised the NRL for the way they have handled the crisis.

“The NRL, to their credit, they have taken action against Cronulla. They’ve fined the club heavily, they have suspended a coach, they’ve suspended a trainer from there as well for a period of 12 months.

“Hopefully, the last part of it all now is ASADA taking action against players and hopefully, we can all move on.”

source http://m.dailytelegraph.com.au/spor...isis-at-cronulla/story-fni3gf5j-1227033230754

 

[Western Sharkie]

Imagine the massive payout the Sharks would owe if Sharks supporters,past, present (and probably future) lodged a group action against the club for the years of pain and suffering they've endured over generations. It'd be in the gazillions! Ahhhh well...

I wouldn't need to buy a lottery ticket in the $70m draws anymore!

Lol

 

[BlackWhiteBlue]

Funny that everyone will bag flanno 'mr innocent'. Yet theres more than a dozen players who claimed innocence for 18 months then as soon as the right deal was tabled their memories came back.

All mr innocents

 

[evertonshark]

Funny that everyone will bag flanno 'mr innocent'. Yet theres more than a dozen players who claimed innocence for 18 months then as soon as the right deal was tabled their memories came back.

All mr innocents

Honestly wouldn't bother me if every player involved left the club too.

 

[SharkShocked]

You reckon the club will jack up the members prices again next year? Hahaha

 

[Western Sharkie]

Funny that everyone will bag flanno 'mr innocent'. Yet theres more than a dozen players who claimed innocence for 18 months then as soon as the right deal was tabled their memories came back.

All mr innocents

I don't think that's the case.

The players had to make a call and this is the end to all the BS madness.

I would suggest that ASADA had little to no evidence otherwise they wouldn't have offered a BS suspension.
They would have gone hard for the full 2 year suspensions to make a name for themselves (especially for Gal as a high profile player).

They may have had circumstantial evidence by way of hearsay and innuendo but no hard facts. No failed drug test, no physical evidence. Just a report from an ex ASADA lawyer that we commissioned which was based on interviews of people ****ting in their pants!

So they came up with these BS (couldn't be refused) suspensions just to save face and say "Ha, we got ya"!

 

[CrankyShark]

Funny that everyone will bag flanno 'mr innocent'. Yet theres more than a dozen players who claimed innocence for 18 months then as soon as the right deal was tabled their memories came back.

All mr innocents

I have never believed the players or coaches for a minute. If shooting drugs out of an esky is above board then I'm an astronaut.

Bottom line is everyone will be flushed out, with the exception of Wade Graham. I can live with this. I really like the way he puts in, he apologised sufficiently for being so childish in the beginning, he never gives up, and now he must now be clean.

Ugly business best forgotten. We are basically there.

 

[dylan the villian]

seriously no comment or statement from the club? wow-ee.....

 

[vicsharkfan]

Hope next week even next 2 weeks we get the 5 players effected keogh flanno if he is aloud to talk .. Do all the media circus then next Friday or Friday week say line in the sand that's it we now answer no more Asada questions. .. Could it be that easy or could we be that bright, time will tell

 

[fitz]

seriously no comment or statement from the club? wow-ee.....

 

[slide rule]

Paul Gallen: I can cope with being called a drug cheat

August 22, 2014 - 8:00PM

Chris Barrett

​

Paul Gallen is ready to be branded a drug cheat, saying he will "let people make up their own mind" after accepting a deal with the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority on Friday.

As more than a dozen current and former Cronulla players reluctantly accepted heavily backdated and reduced suspensions, the highest profile member of the group also decided to sit out the final rounds of the season and the upcoming Four Nations.

Gallen had said only 48 hours earlier that by agreeing to a compromise with ASADA players knew they would be labelled drug cheats. On Friday night, he told Channel 9: "People can have their own opinion. Life goes on and the sun is going to come up tomorrow. There are plenty of people worse off than me. You've just got to get on with life. I'll let people make up their own mind."

The NSW captain said players had only made up their minds about taking the ASADA offer at the 11th hour after a tense and frantic lead-up to the deadline. "There was a lot of different things going through my mind. The last 12 hours have been hard," Gallen said. "The ballpark, the goalposts changed three or four times. It's pretty tough but ... you've just got to get on with life." As the players digested their penalties, the blame game escalated. Outgoing Newcastle coach Wayne Bennett loses two players, forwards Kade Snowden and Jeremy Smith, for the rest of the season as a result of the bans but with the Knights out of finals contention it is not their absence for the next three weeks that is of chief concern.

Instead, Bennett took aim at Cronulla's coaching and support staff of three seasons ago, principally then head coach Shane Flanagan. "Obviously there was a series of incidents that happened at Cronulla in 2011 that were not player driven – they were coach driven," Bennett said on Friday. "They [the players] got extremely bad advice, and they are paying a price for that now which, in many ways, is unfair. At the same time, it's the code that we work under – WADA, ASADA – and the drugs, in their opinion, are certainly performance enhancing. They had their duty of care breached as far as I'm concerned."

The players' reluctant agreement to the ASADA deal will prohibit them from having any connection with their clubs until their backdated year-long suspensions expire on November 23. That means they are banned from training, the dressing room, the players' and coaches' boxes and even their clubs' presentation night.

ASADA's independent review body, the Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel, was due to meet on Friday night with the addition of the players to the agency's register of findings a formality. The NRL was then expected to be in a position to issue infraction notices on Saturday.

Bennett expressed sympathy for the players who were at Cronulla when sports scientist Stephen Dank was introduced to the club, saying they were told the supplements they took were to aid recovery and were not informed they were performance enhancing.

"The people they trust more than anybody else in their lives, and in what they do, is their coaches and their staff," Bennett said. "The buck stops within the group that told them this was OK to do this."

Flanagan will resume control at Remondis Stadium season after completing an NRL-imposed suspension

and Cronulla chief executive Steve Noyce opted not to weigh into Bennett's spray at the sidelined coach. "I don't think it's a day for blame. It's a day for players making the biggest decision of their life," Noyce said. "There will be various views as there has been throughout this — it's been that sort of issue — but I just feel for the guys and certainly the last five phone calls I make tonight will be to these young men to make sure they're OK."

NRL chief executive Dave Smith said he hoped Friday's events would help bring closure to the saga.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...drug-cheat-20140822-10784b.html#ixzz3B6tPEequ
​

 

[slide rule]

seriously no comment or statement from the club? wow-ee.....

It sounds like it's not quite finalised yet, going by the article I just posted.

 

[Gil]

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...drug-cheat-20140822-10784b.html#ixzz3B6tPEequ
​

it's not 8.00 PM yet

 

[slide rule]

it's not 8.00 PM yet

You heard it here first

 

[sharkyflit]

Can someone explain why the club continues to support Flanagan? Not here to knock him as I think he's been a great coach for the sharks but as a respectable figure he is surely not
If the claims are true that he knew what was being injected into the players was illegal or borderline illegal surely he's the one that should be ousted for causing this whole mess
Doesn't make any sense that the caused of this bull**** remains
Just my opinion and in moving forward he needs to go

 

[sharkyflit]

And when I say go I mean never come back not just a suspension

 

[slide rule]

anyone know when we the members will receive our refund for money spent this season?

cash is fine....

The club assures me that it's in the mail... :yawn: