Organised crime and ElephantJuice in sport investigation part IV

[Perth Red]

So if everyone seems to be in agreement the players were not at fault what sanctions will the club now face or will that be swept under the carpet as well?

 

[Jason Maher]

Hey BM, what's worse, naïvely trusting a dickhead like Dank, or bashing your missus?

 

[lockyno1]

Disrepute now, Locky say hi circa 2008.

How is a player unknowingly taking a banned supplement bringing the game into disrepute, I would have expected those knowing that the substance was illegal and advised players that the substance was ok would be carrying that luggage.

Being ignorant is one of the worst 'excuses' from a professional footballer. You have to be dead level dumb to not ask 'excuse me doc what am I taking'. It is actually worse, and whist I feel for the players, they did the crime, they suffer the consequences. I feel for the fans more, they are the ones that have suffered. The players decided to be ignorant, the fans didn't!

 

[Card Shark]

So if everyone seems to be in agreement the players were not at fault what sanctions will the club now face or will that be swept under the carpet as well?

We've been sanctioned

 

[_Johnsy]

Lockyno1

Here you are advocating for the NSW captaincy to be taken off Gallen, all because according to your moral standards he being one of 17 players, yet he alone has brought the entire code into disrepute by taking a substance he didn't know was banned (from what we have been told).

From what we know so far, club officials supplied supplements to players and advised them that they were ok to be taken. You can argue that the players should know exactly what they are taking, I agree. Yet the fact remains, clubs supply supplements to players, and the players rightly believe they would be legal supplements.

Yet you state the reason for Gallen to be stripped is that it isn’t a good look, and he was stupid and ignorant. Lockyer knowingly lied to the media for a week solid. Stupid yes, ignorant indeed, not a good look for the current Australian and QLD Captain, 100%.

You say Webcke didn’t bring the whole game into disrepute, some would disagree. The only reason it didn’t was his positive test to a masking agent for steroids wasn’t headline news at the time was because news Ltd ran the NRL in 2001. I hope you’re aware that the illegal drug he has admitted taking probenecid, is in fact a masking agent.

Here are his quotes from his book linked in this article. http://www.smh.com.au/news/league/webcke-admits-failing-drug-test-at-height-of-career/2006/10/03/1159641325053.html
"The whole thing was kept quiet because of the understanding that to not do so would be to have twisted the truth," Webcke wrote.
Webcke had informed the testers he had been in hospital and prescribed medication but did not provide specifics.
"Things were going particularly well for me in my football career then and the first thought that entered my head was that with this news everyone would be thinking that the only reason I had been playing well now, or ever, was because I was taking something. I would be branded a cheat," Webcke wrote.

To say that your vitriol towards Gallen appears to be borne from an anti-NSW agenda is stating the obvious. At least have the balls to publicly apply the same set of standards to all NRL players relating to banned substances and ignorance & stupidity whilst bringing the entire game into disrepute etc. How hypocritical, not unexpected though.

 

[Perth Red]

We made a drug user an immortal, RL does not have particular moral issues with drug use going on history, both recent and past.

 

[Jason Maher]

Look the players deserve a suspension. The back-dating serves a dual purpose: to head off legal action from a bunch of very pissed off people who've been dicked around considerably, and to save face for ASADA.

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

What an absolute joke. All those players should be missing the 2015 season if they're drug cheats.

Sandor Earl must be puking

 

[bubs]

What's happened has happened. Players have accepted this punishment. Carry on.
Now, what the NRL needs is a complete list of ACCEPTABLE supplements, wholly endorsed by whoever they need to get it endorsed by.
No brand substitutions. No changed names. Any alterations or additions get placed on the official list before consumption.
Players are told 'These is the only permitted substances AT ANY TIME. Consumption of any supplements OTHER than this official list is a breach'.
Stop this rubbish from ever happening again to any team.

 

[Jason Maher]

We made a drug user an immortal, RL does not have particular moral issues with drug use going on history, both recent and past.

A recreational drug user. Very different. Cocaine shouldn't be illegal anyway.

 

[lockyno1]

Not knowing is not an excuse. How many times does WADA and frankly most other players have to say it. KNOW WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR BODY! It isn't an excuse to say 'but he told me it was ok'. No. You go away and you look it up and research it yourself. Plying dumb and that is what all these players did is not an excuse.

There is a difference lying for a week to lying for TWO YEARS! Gallen has been on record saying 'we are innocent'. Where does the buck stop. It stops with the coach (sacked for a year) and the captain. Taking the drugs isn't the shame, it is the two years of rubbish. Be a man and tell the truth!

Webcke didn't put the whole code in a crisis, you realise how many sponsors the NRL will have missed because of this saga. I'm glad it is over, but the players should be forced to issue a public statement and conference to the fans.

 

[Jason Maher]

What's happened has happened. Players have accepted this punishment. Carry on.
Now, what the NRL needs is a complete list of ACCEPTABLE supplements, wholly endorsed by whoever they need to get it endorsed by.
No brand substitutions. No changed names. Any alterations or additions get placed on the official list before consumption.
Players are told 'These is the only permitted substances AT ANY TIME. Consumption of any supplements OTHER than this official list is a breach'.
Stop this rubbish from ever happening again to any team.

That's a decent suggestion, though I imagine it runs afoul of the people running the NRL not being medically qualified to make such a judgement. Plus it would probably put them in conflict with WADA and ASADA, who work with a list of banned substances, not a list of allowed substances.

 

[DJShaksta]

Look the players deserve a suspension. The back-dating serves a dual purpose: to head off legal action from a bunch of very pissed off people who've been dicked around considerably, and to save face for ASADA.

The voice of reason.

What an absolute joke. All those players should be missing the 2015 season if they're drug cheats.

Sandor Earl must be puking

The voice of idiocy.

 

[Nice Beaver]

What an absolute joke. All those players should be missing the 2015 season if they're drug cheats.

Sandor Earl must be puking

FFS. Once more for the slow ones.

They have only plead guilty due to the suspension incurred.

Do you think that if they were told they'd sit out all of next season they'd have taken the deal??

Use your tiny f*cking brain.

 

[_Johnsy]

What an absolute joke. All those players should be missing the 2015 season if they're drug cheats.

Sandor Earl must be puking

I'm curious what your views are on the salary cap cheats (Smith, Inglis, Cronk, Slater), what should have their penalty been ?

 

[Jason Maher]

Can't believe people don't understand the concept of someone admitting of guilt (often to a lesser charge) in exchange for a light sentence in order to avoid the risk of a much harsher sentence if they continue to fight to prove their innocence and lose. Happens all the time. Can't believe these people can't imagine a circumstance where someone who is genuinely innocent would take a deal in this way. I suppose these concepts are too advanced for some people's simple-minded view of the world.

 

[_Johnsy]

Not knowing is not an excuse. How many times does WADA and frankly most other players have to say it. KNOW WHAT YOU PUT INTO YOUR BODY! It isn't an excuse to say 'but he told me it was ok'. No. You go away and you look it up and research it yourself. Plying dumb and that is what all these players did is not an excuse.

There is a difference lying for a week to lying for TWO YEARS! Gallen has been on record saying 'we are innocent'. Where does the buck stop. It stops with the coach (sacked for a year) and the captain. Taking the drugs isn't the shame, it is the two years of rubbish. Be a man and tell the truth!

Webcke didn't put the whole code in a crisis, you realise how many sponsors the NRL will have missed because of this saga. I'm glad it is over, but the players should be forced to issue a public statement and conference to the fans.

Gallen may have honestly believed the supplement was legal, from all reports this is exactly what the medical staff advised. If so it's not a lie. Knowing your lying is different to being misled by professionals who are paid to advise you relating to their field of expertise.

So it's no different to Webckes situation, glad you cleared that up. The reason it didn't put the code in crisis is because it was kept quiet by News Ltd who ran the game in 2001. Join the dots ignoramus.

So the length of the lie determines how bad the look is? I'm glad to see that you believe that locky couldn't man up.

I'd be happy to see a comparison between the number of sponsors the NRL have missed compared to the other major winter code the AFL. I'm guessing that you have compiled, and will be willing to share the extensive list of the NRL's "missed sponsors". It is the nations most watched code on TV FFS.

It seems your idiocy is growing by the minute.

 

[El Diablo]

asked and answered!

 

[I Bleed Maroon]

The voice of reason.



The voice of idiocy.

FFS. Once more for the slow ones.

They have only plead guilty due to the suspension incurred.

Do you think that if they were told they'd sit out all of next season they'd have taken the deal??

Use your tiny f*cking brain.

I'm curious what your views are on the salary cap cheats (Smith, Inglis, Cronk, Slater), what should have their penalty been ?

The fact that these players got this offer at all is an indictment on ASADA, that's all I'm saying.

 

[The Elephant In The room]

That's a decent suggestion, though I imagine it runs afoul of the people running the NRL not being medically qualified to make such a judgement. Plus it would probably put them in conflict with WADA and ASADA, who work with a list of banned substances, not a list of allowed substances.

And then there are those in between, which aren't yet banned, but at the same time aren't legal to take (caught by the S-0 clause).