NRL crisis: Sharks are an endangered species

This whole thing is the most bizzare situation i think i have ecer read about. Who actually has done anythig wrong? we dont know everyone is too scared to say anything meanwhile people's reputations are being destroyed. There is something very wrong with the media in this country where it pounces on a story and never presents any facts. This happens time and time again. I dont believe truth is reported in the Media anymore, why let the facts get in a way of a good story. Look, if some one was done wrong then report it. But if not or there is no proof say nothing till there are facts. By way of example with the Sharks how has this got out in the first place if they ASADA people are not willing or ready to produce facts and make an allegation? Terrrible just terrible. On the specualtion this could be the end of the sharks and the move to relocate them i ask this: How do the roosters surive all this talk - no junior league, small supporter base. No one it seems ever questions that they could be relocated.

This is why this is the golden apple under a dark sky. Its a Casus Belli ( a just cause for which no retribution can be given to by fans) to kick Cronulla out and put in a non sydney team. I have previously stated that due to their location (as beautiful as it is) and their incompetence spanning decades despite owning their own ground, and their inability to grow beyond the peninsula area, they were always on borrowed time anyway....not to mention the greater need for a club to be based elsewhere in this day and age where spirit alone and desire is not nearly enough. If only for the AFL, this had happened to North Melbourne and not Essendon.

'Like al-quaeda, ASADA are fanatics' - boy oh boy - I think we've struck Godwins Law there (the al-qaeda variant)

I think the NRL should act strategically and create a fresh new Sharks entity outside of NSW. Brisbane would be the easier and quicker option. My personal pref would be Adelaide as there is no Super 15 team to compete with. A pop over 1 million as well.

Yep That the NRL have helped secure a high profile CEO says to me, he is planning to relocate them (partially or entirely) one would assume to Perth.

Dean, the players do have a mind of their own and can refuse to take anything unless told what the substance is, and what it does. Their contracts with the club would not include any clauses which force them to take any substance provided by the club staff, such clauses would be considered onerous or signed under duress.

It would be nice to get an unbiased review of the facts but it wont happen. All the media outlets are biased towards thier support of RL. The ACC is keeping thier evidence secret till they are ready to proceed. Remember this is the Sharks doing not the ACC. Whilst thier maybe some political grandstanding going on the people who will be prosecuting this case and they will, would not come out and announce what was going on if they wernt certain. Professional sport is such a media circus that they knew they could not keep thier investigation quiet and more than likley the reason for the announcement Tthe panic that has set in is prob only helping thier investigators by providing new leads or confirming thier suspicions by the actions of certain suspects. What ever happens RL will be back bigger and better than ever.

Indeed, the players have already been abused once. I guess it's only fair that they are now made examples of, railroaded out of the game and permanently labeled as cheats, while the real culprits get off relatively unscathed. I'm sure it must be a criminal offence to inject someone with these substances if they are not in full knowledge of what it is, and what it could do?

DeanP, No actually. The worst case scenario is where we get CJC-1295 being used by healthy young men, and one of them dies suddenly from a heart attack. You *do* know thats why CJC-1295 was withdrawn after its initial clinical trials, right ? As an aside, thats the stuff Cronulla players are said to have been given that didnt come out of the vials marked 'For Equine Use Only'. Yup. The horse medicine was the *safer* of the stuff they were given.

I doubt that the ARL commission would allow that to happen. If the NRL trod that path after exhausting all other avenues then it would also also mean that The Warriors would have to relocate to Australia.

Ian - The wording of the WADA act leaves little room for any player who breaches the rules. It will take an extremely shifty and creative member from the legal fraternity (who is possibly willing to have his defendant lie under oath) for the accused to escape the full ramifications. The board at Cronulla have weighed up their options over the past fortnight after seeking their own legal advice and have decided to amputate arms and a legs from the head crew of their ship to appease the demands of the NRL, ASADA, the ACC, and the paying public. Their actions have also created an immediate affect pertaining to the parasites chances of survival and infecting clean members of their crew. Did the board know about the goings on behind closed doors ? Ultimately someone pays the bills - and these pharmaceuticals do not come cheaply. If players were not paying for these peptides out of their own pockets, then questions need to be asked of the entire accounting process at the club.

In hindsight my comment although not directed at any one is probably a bit sharp and not necessary, but I don't buy into the conspiracy. I guess we'll have to wait for the memoirs.

because they can. It will a massive trophy for them. Like al-quaeda, ASASA are fanatics. You only have to hear the comments from ex-boss Ing, The 'Darkest day", and what is happening at sharkies is a 'blueprint'. This is what they live for. They smell blood, and if they are left to do as they wish, the game will be destroyed. There are another half dozen clubs in their target sights. And who knows what other 'jailhouse snitch' type evidence they may get. The thing about 'jailhouse snitch' evidence is that the more dramatic and damning it is, the more lenient the snitcher is treated. It only encourages more lies. Smith has to act now. Set up a transparent inquiry where players, coaches and staff can speak freely of what they know. Then the real culprits can be found. ASADA are only interested in persecuting the players, Dank is probably the top name on their christmas card list. That is the ASADA mentality, and people need to realise that. Their motivations are not honest ones.

ah sarcasm, the lowest form of wit. I still have ingrained in my brain cells the image of Gillard's visage on the tv screen, imploring all the clubs to tell the truth. Pity she doesn't give the same advice to her corrupt labor colleagues.

sounds like mostly speculation, and obviously the bit about the 6 month ban offer has been made up, as it clearly cannot be true. Certainly would be the 'darkest' day for the league code. But I don't think that is going to happen. Worst case scenario would be that league withdraws from the WADA protocols, which would mean an end to international competition. That would be unfortunate, but in truth the concept of international league has always been a bit of a joke.

This has been removed from Facebook with a disclaimer from her Father. http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/facebook-spray-taken-down-on-docs-advice-20130309-2fsi7.html?skin=text-only

That clause 10.4 strikes me as making it difficult for much leniency to be available. After all, the drugs given were intended to enhance the athletes' performance, and it would be difficult to argue otherwise. With some drugs, for example, the diet pill Shane Warne took, while it was a masking agent, he could reasonably claim he took it for reasonably legitimate purposes. But that's pretty hard to argue when you're being given peptides which seemingly emulate growth hormones, and horse drugs.

Apparently he is being paid by the Gillard Government to cause a diversion away from the election campaign.

OK, can you please explain what ASADA's possible motivation for systematically destroying league might be? I'm curious.

"The NRL/AFL doping scandal could blow up this season's schedule, and result in the obliteration of clubs, the early retirement of players, the ripping up of broadcasting contracts and strict new guidelines on the employment of staff at all clubs." If any of us wrote that, we'd be accused of hating the code.