Will the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority spell the death for the Cronulla Sharks? If all truth comes out then it will be the death of the Sharks.
When you bite the hand that feeds you, don’t expect that hand to continue feeding.
The hand in this case are the fans who will no longer be there to care.
As loyal as the average 13,708 fans attending Shark Park have been, they will not react kindly if facts presented show club officials and players have been lying.
If this turns out to be a flop then expect a legal battle to ensue for denigrating our sport for what turned out to be nothing but an empty threat.
For this reason I don’t see the light at the end of the tunnel for the Sharks. I hope my opinion on this matter is wrong but I don’t bare a sense of optimism.
As the drama continues to unfold, Isaac Gordon’s lawyer James Chrara has explained the reason behind the players decision to sue the Cronulla Sharks.
Isaac Gordon claims to have potentially suffered life-threatening side effects from the clubs 2011 supplements program.
Speaking to ABC news, lawyer James Chrara said Gordon suffered a blood thinning disorder, severe bruising in one leg and was told by doctors that a blow to the head could have killed him.
Furthermore, Chrara had this to say:
“… the doctor said if he had a knock to the head as a result of playing in a game, he could have passed away. ”
“If any club or code has conducted themselves in a way that they have exposed their players to illegal substances considered banned, then our view would be there is a course of action for the players to explore and they would be able to seek damages.”
Whether people wish to take this matter seriously or not is completely up to them but the ramifications it could have not just for the ,Cronulla Sharks and heart broken fans but rugby league fans, is enormous.
If fans, sponsors and administrators were to walk away it could potentially leave league with a code of 15 teams. That won’t be what Channel Nine and Fox Sports signed up for.
The clear choice would be to put a team out in Western Australia.
Though the shadow it would cast over the game could be detrimental to achieving goals set out by the Australian Rugby League Commission.
This whole saga is far from over, but the prospect of losing a beloved club while having to implement the untried and untested just prevents what many hoped would be a new time of growth and security for rugby league in Australia.
Truth Told
Guest
Not a Gallen fan in any capacity. In fact I think he reeks. But to suggest stuff like "say it to his face" with implication he going to belt them is ludicrous. PG likes his boxing and mixed martial arts but he is an on the field thug, not a street thug. There is no way in this world PG wkuld ever hit a rugby league punter over mere words. He is way to professional. If that punter was stupid enough to try and hit him or physically initimidate well maybe but never over mere words no matter how offensive those words may be to him. He has too much to lose. A word of advice don't book bouts for those who you have no professional allegiance with. Again i don't even like the man. Credit where credit is due
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
The Tv agreement stipulates 8 matches .Else the deal would have to be re negotiated. Even when the Titans were in financial trouble,the NRL ensured they would continue. the Sharks have had loans in the past,which have been repaid or deducted from grants many years ago ,the ARL guaranteed a loan via the rural bank to assist the club,so the ntion it is a gimmee all the time,is off the mark.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Most of the current fist grade squad were not there in 2011.they came 13th in 2011,Danks lasting only a couple of months BTW. And they cam 7th in 2012.this year with all the hoo hah they are coming 6th ,beating Souths.I suggest this year the chnaces of taking anything including a smartie are zilch.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Innocence or presumption thereof,seems to have escaped a few here jamesb.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
They got legal advice at the time.if you get legal advice,you don't make decisions on the run usually.It is too costly to employ legal people,the club did just that,obtained legal advice.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
They are not all former Cronulla players ,read up. There are 30 being questioned for starters.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
let's just get a few factsout in the open to start. The club's following happens to be bigger than the Panthers and Tigers and indeed Manly and even St George of late ,the former two in heartland areas.Then the notion of small following must apply to other clubs. They also happen to have the 3rd biggest junior rugby league in Sydney.Just thought those points of relevance have some thrust.Their average is only 3,000 less than the pride of the ;league South Sydney.It is not just a small picture in the scheme of things.Unless of course you use the D.T as your legal guide. The board's handling and decisions were based on legal advice ATT,you care to challenge legal opinion.As indeed was the new board's decision. The problem was not having a fulltime CEO, and the chain of command was hence unreliable.yes cash was and still is a problem,until the development is in full swing.staring end this year. Their history is no worse than the Dogs with some of the events cited. The club is signing up new players such as Aysford,David fifita and rumoured Chris Lawrence,hardly a process one would enter if they felt abandoned or given the flick.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Ever heard of the terminology innocent until proven guilty>Or does hearsay,innuendo,finger pointing,media frenzy,act as the sole judge and executioner? If found proven,the people involved will get their just desserts.It will not be decided by keyboard heroes,who hate the Sharks as a club. The bulldogs have shown in the past,from the mirkiest depths ,a club can rise from the ashes like the phoenix.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Yeah $300m worth of tip.One of your best Marldon.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Perhaps they should have done that with the Titans who have sub contractors I understand shortchanged in the past.Move em on.Or Souths which for years lived on the smell of an oil rag?Yet people power for the latter won the day. The Brisbane Sharks have an away following? Really.have a chat with a few of the loyal fans and those casual ones and get their viewpoint on the matter,as if they will attned in droves in Sydney at say Penrith or Parramatta. The Broncos with all their facilities and buying power can't fill the joint and struggling to make the semis.Move em I say.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
that Marldon hardly appears to be any sort of argument,apart from appearing juvenile.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Turbo you understand that David Smith actually witnessed the transcripts of Graham;s interview with a lawyer at his side? Smith's comment based on legal advice that the interview was in order and should continue.ASADA thought differently and pulled the plug. Combative stance"because the media says so?.Unless you or I are legal experts, and attended the interviews we are whistling in the winds.
Crosscoder
Roar Guru
Actually Remondis have and Cenovis were just about to put pen to paper,when three offfield incidents not involving any Sharks players was the final straw. It stinks so much that corp boxes appear full at every local game,and the local area actually attends games despite the dramas.Spare me days.and they are coming 6th with the weight of the world on their shoulders. You make an accusation of them being cheats.How about allegedly instead of being judge and jury and relying on media leaks.You have little idea of gallen's community involvement,it would appear,so look before you leap.
Fuz
Guest
The other 4 clubs involved are mentioned because they have: Former 2011 Cronulla players Players who may have taken performance enhancing drugs on their own without club endorcement Clubs were mentioned with regards to the Crime Commission report - eg Cowboys and the match fixing thing from a few years ago. Cronulla and Essendon are the only clubs so far where the club itself may have been running a doping program. In Cronulla's case its probably due to negligence, at Essendon it may be negligence but it may be deliberate (thats unknown currently).
Redb
Roar Guru
Yes. Fans won't let the club die.
Cameron
Roar Guru
You've clearly don't agree with my opinion. That's ok. When I disagree with someone its always opinion mate otherwise i'm facts all the way. In time the real facts will come to the forefront. Like I said, I hope my opinion is wrong, but your original comment directed at me was off the Mark significantly.
Football_illiterate
Guest
ok - i think i understand.. when youre speculating and talking of cheats and disloyalty and the players not being saints, its an opinion piece.. if anyone else does the same they can expect to be pulled up by you because theyre not working with facts.. fair enough..
KiwiBear
Guest
They were allowed to survive as they turned on the NSW/ARL and were financed to allow survival while across town the Bears were shafted and kicked out of the team it helped establish. This latest episode brings them to a new low.
Compo
Roar Rookie
i still cant understandf why its all about Cronulla. werent there 5 clubs involved ? wasnt Danks only at Cronulla for a short time and then went to Manly for 2 years and so on ? why are we not hearing Manly, Newcastle and the rest in every breath regarding ASADA? as usual lots of questions and no straight answers. just like Politics... no guts.
Cameron
Roar Guru
Football_illiterate, Fact: 21 comments, this is my 22nd. Fact: this is an opinion piece as noted within my article for I said "... I hope my opinion on this matter is wrong but I don’t bare a sense of optimism." Stating that I hope i'm wrong isn't exactly hypocritical. It is of my opinion that the players aren't out of the woods yet and I wouldn't be surprised at all if we found out they were cheating. Further discussion ensued as to the possibility of relocation, joint-venture etc. I followed the discussions and do not recall trashing the sharks at all. Saying "death of the sharks" (article) is not trashing. I think my last paragraph of my article proves that.