Will we be implicated in this doping scandal?

[Newynut]

You kidding me? I'd give anything to see Joey re-lace the boots even one more time. Blaming it all on him is a bit of a copout. Having said that, I've got no doubt he did his part in establishing the culture. Without him, we'd be without premiership... hell, we might not even have a club anymore - we may have gone broke long ago.

Never will I regret having Andrew Johns on the field for any single match in which he chose to represent the Newcastle Knights. He gave us far too much. It's easy to look back in retrospect... well after the hype has died down... but the Joey years, they were the best of times. Every single match was a spectacle, a true event.

What a dream it was to watch Joey live, wish we could see it again.

 

[Alex28]

I think the majority are disappointed that we are linked, but nobody seems surprised...

We aren't alone though...

 

[The Showstopper]

You kidding me? I'd give anything to see Joey re-lace the boots even one more time. Blaming it all on him is a bit of a copout. Having said that, I've got no doubt he did his part in establishing the culture. Without him, we'd be without premiership... hell, we might not even have a club anymore - we may have gone broke long ago.

Never will I regret having Andrew Johns on the field for any single match in which he chose to represent the Newcastle Knights. He gave us far too much. It's easy to look back in retrospect... well after the hype has died down... but the Joey years, they were the best of times. Every single match was a spectacle, a true event.

A champion to be sure but it can't be argued his off field activities have left our premierships under a cloud to a certain point. I am saying had he taken up Rugby's offer the spotlight may have not been amped up on the club as it had been. We are afterall talking about quite possibly the greatest of all time.
At the end of the day it is open day on interpretation as to what level of guilt Joey actually had. As I see it he was a young man under immense strain. I abhor the way people think his Bipolar was a cop out. It would be a living nightmare. That said the club was and is always bigger than Joey or anyone.

 

[BKT]

Knights CEO meets with ASADA
Tuesday 12 February 2013 5:59 PM

The Newcastle Knights now has a much better understanding of the investigation currently being undertaken by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

Knights CEO Matt Gidley confirmed this, after a debriefing with the other NRL clubs and then a private briefing by ASADA.

"I am confident we have no issues of concern going forward,” Gidley said.

"While no specific details or players were mentioned by the ASADA representatives, they made it clear the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures, were given the all clear.

"We are bound by a confidentiality agreement and can't go into details of the meeting but we now have a much better understanding of the process and we completely support what the NRL is doing."

Earlier in the day, NRL CEO Dave Smith confirmed the process would be time consuming and he couldn't give a timeframe on how long the investigations would take.

From: http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/n...th-ASADA/68292

 

[Johns Magic]

So it sounds like the current operations at the club are clean. If that's the case I'll be watching and supporting the club from Round 1 with no reservations.

 

[RHCP]

My gut tells me this is a political powerplay that the media have blown way out of proportion. If 10/16 clubs are clear of any wrongdoing - which is a whole shitload of players and staff, current and former, and our current setup has been given the all clear (and I highly doubt that would be unique to us), as well as 17/18 AFL clubs minus one player being declared clean although that is of less interest to me, this has hardly been the 'blackest day in Australian sport' as it was proclaimed to be.

There will be a couple of wrongdoers caught of course, but I don't think there will be any kind of systematic steroid programs implied by the scale of hysteria generated by the media nor any kind of genuinely meaningful cheats captured at any level. The way this whole thing has been handled and the subsequent damage that it's done to the image of all codes heavily outweighs any supposed benefits. Even the world agency is puzzled by the way it's been carried out.

Or maybe that's all just wishful thinking. Either way, I hope there are no current players caught up in this.

 

[Byron Knight]

Knights CEO meets with ASADA
Tuesday 12 February 2013 5:59 PM

The Newcastle Knights now has a much better understanding of the investigation currently being undertaken by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

Knights CEO Matt Gidley confirmed this, after a debriefing with the other NRL clubs and then a private briefing by ASADA.

"I am confident we have no issues of concern going forward,? Gidley said.

"While no specific details or players were mentioned by the ASADA representatives, they made it clear the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures, were given the all clear.

"We are bound by a confidentiality agreement and can't go into details of the meeting but we now have a much better understanding of the process and we completely support what the NRL is doing."

Earlier in the day, NRL CEO Dave Smith confirmed the process would be time consuming and he couldn't give a timeframe on how long the investigations would take.

From: http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/n...th-ASADA/68292

This is the part that still has me concerned. It reads that what we are doing now is fine, and it's full steam ahead. It just leaves me a little concerned about the past though. I hope the worse case scenario is that any ped's or recreational drugs used were by individuals no longer with the club. It's almost like there is a 'but' missing after the "were given the all clear"

Regardless, I will be there to cheer the boys on Saturday. Don't get to go to too many games at the moment but will make the 3 hour trek on Saturday!!

 

[Spot On]

Knights CEO meets with ASADA
Tuesday 12 February 2013 5:59 PM

The Newcastle Knights now has a much better understanding of the investigation currently being undertaken by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA).

Knights CEO Matt Gidley confirmed this, after a debriefing with the other NRL clubs and then a private briefing by ASADA.

"I am confident we have no issues of concern going forward,? Gidley said.

"While no specific details or players were mentioned by the ASADA representatives, they made it clear the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures, were given the all clear.

"We are bound by a confidentiality agreement and can't go into details of the meeting but we now have a much better understanding of the process and we completely support what the NRL is doing."

Earlier in the day, NRL CEO Dave Smith confirmed the process would be time consuming and he couldn't give a timeframe on how long the investigations would take.

From: http://www.newcastleknights.com.au/n...th-ASADA/68292

?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

What the hell is this all about then???

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

This is great news. I am really happy with this.

My bet is the wicks saga.. It has to be.

 

[Johns Magic]

Now that I re-read it, it doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility of any players being on the gear does it? It just clears "the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures".

 

[Johns Magic]

Or am I reading too much into it?

"No issues of concern going forward" could be a bit ambiguous.

 

[Frederick]

To me, Mids is just like us - none the wiser about the players, but hopeful that none of them are doing anything.

 

[Spot On]

Now that I re-read it, it doesn't necessarily rule out the possibility of any players being on the gear does it? It just clears "the Knights coaching staff and support team, and their procedures".

That's correct - not players as I read it.

I would be shocked if any players have dabled in anything they should not have been after the Wicks/Houston case. They should be punished severely if they have. Bye bye for good. banished never to return or be acknowledged. Plain stupid.

Gut feeling, reading between the lines, is that it is related to the Wicks case. That said, why the hell would they bother digging that up again. I assumed it was dealt with and is over. There must be a new matter to deal with as this whole thing has been advertised as the darkest day in Aus sport by Minister Lundy.

Interesting reading the Cowboys statement. Could there be a link between all six implicated NRL clubs???

 

[Byron Knight]

Don't forget Mitchell Sargent either, link with the Cowboys too.

 

[The Showstopper]

Guys we may have finally put to bed the Drugcastle tag. Not quite ready to punch the air yet but it sounds like they were making sure our warnings were heeded post Wicks.

 

[RHCP]

By the sounds of it if any, although there still could be none at all, current players are implicated they have attained PEDs through their own means rather than any club staff or supplements provided by them. Which would be the best case scenario, a rogue player over a corrupt sytem.

Interesting reading the Cowboys statement. Could there be a link between all six implicated NRL clubs???

What was the Cowboys statement? It wouldn't be too farfetch'd that a lot of players were getting their PEDs from the same source.

 

[Spot On]

Fox Sports News has reported that the Cowboys have stated they're implicated through players who have come to them from other clubs.

 

[Big Tim]

2005 is a long way back.

I also recall you once saying that the supplements and sports science used at the club in and around this time was prehistoric.

I would suggest that the club as a whole is not involved, but the actions of individual players is what is being investigated.

And in my mind, who can really blame them? Pro sport is play for pay. Success breeds success. Many individuals will do anything they can to achieve, or maintain personal goals.

No doubt using PED's is cheating, but if your livelihood is on the line, who knows how you would react.

You kidding me? I'd give anything to see Joey re-lace the boots even one more time. Blaming it all on him is a bit of a copout. Having said that, I've got no doubt he did his part in establishing the culture. Without him, we'd be without premiership... hell, we might not even have a club anymore - we may have gone broke long ago.

Never will I regret having Andrew Johns on the field for any single match in which he chose to represent the Newcastle Knights. He gave us far too much. It's easy to look back in retrospect... well after the hype has died down... but the Joey years, they were the best of times. Every single match was a spectacle, a true event.

Amen.

 

[Hanscholo]

http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/dank-the-link-in-nrl-doping-probe-20130213-2edfs.html

The relationship between the 6 NRL clubs and Essendon is Dank.

Newcastle's involvement apparently relates to players who formerly had a relationship with Dank at other clubs and may have continued a relationship with him after. So yea, I guess its a simple matter of deduction from there as to who.

 

[Hanscholo]

I might add, though slightly OT. Who tipped off Essendon?