Earl will provide substantial assistance but not in relation to fellow players
by: Brent Read
From: The Australian
August 30, 2013 12:00AM
ANOTHER warning shot has been fired across Cronulla's bow. The Sharks' pursuit of an elusive maiden premiership goes on but the cloud over their involvement in the finals gets darker by the day.
On the surface, the decision to issue an infraction notice against Canberra winger Sandor Earl has little to do with what went on at Cronulla during the period that is the subject of an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation in early 2011.
But the part played in Earl's downfall by banned drug CJC-1295 could. The then Penrith winger took the substance to help recover from shoulder surgery and now faces a ban of up to four years for its use and trafficking.
The immediate reaction was that his sanction represented the start, rather than the end, of an already painstaking process. Players would now fall like dominos.
Not so. Earl will provide substantial assistance, but not in relation to fellow players.
Earl won't be bringing Cronulla down, but CJC-1295 just might. An independent report into Cronulla, commissioned by the club, alleged Sharks players were found to have used the substance before the club's round-four game against New Zealand Warriors in March 2011.
Further allegations were made of players rubbing creams into their forearms from bright orange tubes labelled CJC-1295 before the game against North Queensland later that year.
There were also allegations CJC-1295 was used by some players at Manly when Steve Dank was at the club prior to 2011. The drug is also at the centre of the allegations against AFL club Essendon.
In the charge sheet recently released by the AFL against Essendon, one of the key figures in the investigation, Shane Charter, was alleged to have returned from a visit to China with the raw materials for CJC-1295 during December 2011.
Another AFL player, Nathan Bock, has revealed his concern that he may have been injected with CJC-1295 in December 2010 under the assumption that it was a legal amino acid.
Meanwhile, ASADA is edging towards the conclusion of interviews with NRL players. Those involved at Cronulla in 2011 have already had their time before investigators. Once the interviews are complete, further talks will be carried out with those in and around the game.
All the while, the finals are fast approaching.
As it stands, Cronulla will be there. The club still has hope of winning a maiden title.
That is, unless the landscape dramatically changes over the next fortnight.
"I hope I have got the message across that we as a code and we as a commission will deal with fact," NRL chief executive Dave Smith said.
"When the facts are presented, we will respond accordingly. We have facts here, we have an admission and we are telling everybody as soon as possible.
"We have reacted quickly and I have no information or no evidence at this point in time to suggest there is anything further that we would be announcing in the near term.
"However, the investigation continues and hopefully this gives you a sense of the seriousness and why we followed such a thorough process.
"If a fact is presented to me, if an infraction notice or the ability to issue an infraction notice is clearly presented and we have evidence that is substantiated and factual and stands the test of scrutiny, than of course we will act in the same way that hopefully you're getting the sense of today.
"I don't have that information."