Demons in damage control
Updated April 18, 2013 20:48:00
The Melbourne Demons are the second AFL club found to have a supplements regime in association with controversial biochemist Steve Dank.
Caro Meldrum-Hanna
Source: 7.30 | Duration: 10min 31sec
Topics: australian-football-league, drugs-and-substance-abuse, melbourne-3000, sydney-2000
Transcript
LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: The furore over the use of performance enhancing supplements in football is about to take an unexpected new turn.
The AFL and the Essendon Football Club have been in damage control for the past two months since the story broke about supplements administered by the controversial biochemist Steve Dank.
So far, no other club has been tarnished by the scandal.
But 7.30 has learned that a second club had a detailed supplements regime in close association with Steve Dank.
That club is the Melbourne Demons and its public statements on the issue are in stark contrast to the evidence uncovered by this program.
Caro Meldrum-Hanna has our exclusive report.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA, REPORTER: For the AFL, these are dark times. The scandal over the use of performance enhancing supplements is bigger than first thought.
The Melbourne Football Club is on its knees. With three humiliating losses this year, the Demons are at the bottom of the ladder.
An investigation into the club by the AFL into alleged tanking has only just wrapped up.
NEWSREADER: The club was fined $500,000 by the league yesterday while the Demons' former coach and football manager were also suspended.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: In February, when the news broke about Essendon's supplements regime run by controversial sports scientist and biochemist Stephen Dank, the Demons quickly moved to quash rumours it had employed Dank over the summer. On 5th February, a spokeswoman for Melbourne issued the following brief statement to the Herald Sun newspaper: "He applied for a job at the club late last year, but he was unsuccessful. He has never had any direct contact with the players."
But 7.30 has obtained a series of text messages spanning more than six months between Steve Dank and Melbourne's club doctor, Dan Bates. The discussions are scientific, detailed and contradict what Melbourne has publicly said to date. The messages begin in mid-2012 when Dank offered his services to Bates. In August, Dr Bates wrote to Dank about a supplements regime for someone called John.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Spoke to John. Seems happy to be guided by us. I think I would start with PRP and AOD."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: PRP stands for platelet-rich plasma, which is injected into the muscle to treat sporting injuries. In 2011, the World Anti-Doping Authority, WADA, removed PRP injections from its prohibited list, citing a lack of evidence to prove PRP enhanced performance. AOD is a reference to what's marketed as the anti-obesity drug AOD9604. It's currently being considered by ASADA for prohibition after WADA advised it should be banned for athletes.
By early September, the discussions between Dank and Dr Bates had progressed to talk of financing the regime.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "OK, I have a way to put the high performance unit as a R&D tax break. That would mean a fair chunk of money going back to the club. I was about to employ it at Essendon, but held off. We will talk more about it Tuesday night."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Sounds good."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: 11 days later, Dank was organising a meeting with the Demons' director of sports performance Neil Craig, former coach of the Adelaide Crows.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Meeting with Neil Craig next Tuesday or Wednesday. Spoke to Dave today."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Great."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "He seems still very keen."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Definitely have a good crack."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: In early December, the texts show that a supplements regime was up and running at Melbourne. The first player mentioned is Demons' captain Jack Trengove, who at the time had suffered a navicular bone stress fracture.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Sorry, are you still up? Trengove is not going to Darwin, so I don't need the thymomodulin for tomorrow."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Should we consider AOD cream for Jack Trengove's navicular?"
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Yes."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "When will we start Jack Trengove on the AOD?"
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Tomorrow. Where can I get him to pick it up from?"
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "The Pharmacy. Tell him to ring me and he can meet me there."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: "The pharmacy" refers to the Como Compounding Pharmacy, here in Melbourne's South Yarra where Dank sourced his supplements. Dank and Dr Bates moved to arrange injections for multiple players. It's not clear from the texts which supplements were to be injected.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "... when can we book guys for the injections? We will need to give them times. Dan."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Saturday is fine. Organise him to meet me at the Pharmacy. Yes, we can book the guys. ... We will do the guys Sunday."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Two days later, a date was set.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Mate, what is the final word on the injections? I have players calling me for confirmation. Dan. Just make it Thursday to save hassle and more cancellations. Cheers, Dan."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "OK, Thursday it is."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: By January 2013, in the leadup to the start of the playing season, Dank was a regular at the Demons training ground. Another player referred to in the texts is star ruckman Mark Jamar.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Did you get on to Mark Jamar?"
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Yep."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Around this time, Dank also told Dr Bates he had consulted with ASADA.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Sorry, mate, in a meeting. Spoke to ASADA. No problems. They will confirm by email. No issues their end."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Excellent."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The texts show Dank and Dr Bates discussed a wide range of substances, including AOD9604, cerebrolysin and thymomodulin. None of these substances are specifically banned by ASADA, but the regulator is currently considering banning AOD9604 after WADA recently advised it could be prohibited.
DAVID BISHOP, SPORTS SCIENTIST, VICTORIA UNIVERSITY: When you say anti-obesity, you naturally think of reducing fat, but it's also been suggested that it may increase muscle mass. I guess that's probably the context in which athletes have been using it and there's also some suggestion that it may aid recovery.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: They also discussed the peptide oxytocin, known as the love hormone due to its presence during childbirth, breast-feeding and orgasm, and tribulus, a plant extract popular with body builders.
DAVID BISHOP: If what's been reported has been used then the breadth is amazing, from cognitive to drugs to performance drugs to repair drugs. It's more than what I would have expected. As far as I'm aware, there's very few studies on any of these supplements that shows that they can improve performance.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Dank and Dr Bates discussed using LDN, or low-dose Naltrexone, the controversial drug used to treat alcohol and opioid addiction. Not one of these substance is prohibited by ASADA or WADA.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "I'm going to send you some papers on low-dose Naltrexone. We can nebulize Naltrexone as well. Great pre-game."
DAVID BISHOP: There's research showing that it can reduce the number of heavy drinking days, but I don't think that's the context in which it's being used in the current situation. It's also been shown to reduce inflammation, so you may find that in this context it's being used by athletes to try and recover from hard matches or hard training.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: By the end of January, Dank had made his mark on the Demons. Some players were beginning to request his treatments.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Lynden Dunn would like an injection on Thursday if possible (good about Dunny asking, as he is doing it because the other guys have said they feel good). Dan."
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "Great. I will book him in."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The next day, a timetable for injections was set out for seven players.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Do you have the times for the injections tomorrow?"
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "I do."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Fantastic, thanks mate."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Later that night, the two men congratulated each other on a job well done.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "I just wanted to thank you for all the support and belief over the last five months. That is so important when the knockers line up."
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Mate, you have some amazing knowledge that has always stacked up with evidence from external sources. I am frustrated that we are not further along at Melbourne, but you can see from the list for tomorrow, they are all getting on board. We can continue to develop things at footy, but I think we can really do some stuff with the cells. Dan."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: The texts continued until 5th February when Dank was preparing to meet Dr Bates.
STEVE DANK TO DAN BATES (male voiceover): "I'll drop in around 11."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: A few hours later, the last text between Dank and Dr Bates was sent. It was 2.59 pm.
DAN BATES TO STEVE DANK (male voiceover): "Press conference on now apparently."
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: Essendon was fronting the public in a fateful press conference that would throw the entire game into turmoil.
JAMES HIRD, ESSENDON COACH (Feb. 5): My understanding is that we worked within the framework that was given to us by the AFL and by WADA. I'm shocked to be sitting here, really.
CARO MELDRUM-HANNA: With Essendon in the spotlight, Melbourne must have breathed a sigh of relief that its supplements program had gone undetected until now.
LEIGH SALES: And the Melbourne Football Club has released a statement saying, "Steve Dank has never been employed by the Melbourne Football Club. All medical procedures involving the administration of supplements and medical substances have been and will continue to be under the supervision, direction and authority of the club doctor Dan Bates."
Caro Meldrum-Hanna had that report.
