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In the big picture, the fact that several Sydney Roosters players returned elevated readings for human growth hormone is not the most important element of the story that has rocked the rugby league world today.
The readings are still very important, obviously, but not as critical as the following elements:
The matter of the results on the phone is something we can safely assume the Australian Crime Commission was already well down the track in investigating.
The matter of the elevated readings is one for ASADA to sort out.
On the issue of the nature of the tests, what needs to be established is whether screening for HGH is considered to be a normal part of testing procedure under these circumstances by such companies.
The story, a radical departure from the type of stories we’ve seen so far during the ASADA investigation into the use of performance-enhancing drugs in football codes, was broken in the Sydney Morning Herald by ace investigative reporter Kate McClymont.
I can tell you from having worked at Fairfax for 14 years up until last October, Kate McClymont is revered in the place because of her ability to get to the bottom of things.
You’ve all seen the results of her work, exposing corruption in society.
It’s OK to get information, but you have to be able to know what to do with it – how to get it to the stage where you can print it. She is incredibly good at doing that.
And that is one of the fascinating things about the whole drugs in NRL story.
Developments are now being seen to have crossed the boundary from players using performance-enhancing drugs to the threat of links between organised crime and sport.
The threat of blackmailing and match-fixing was a crucial element of what the Australian Crime Commission warned about in its original report, tabled in February.
The alarm bells can’t ring any louder, can they?
The Herald report revealed that the Roosters sacked the sports nutrition company that performed blood tests on the players after it was established testing for HGH had been included, when not specifically requested.
“We were very unhappy that the extended testing was conducted. It was done without our knowledge,” Roosters chief executive Brian Canavan was quoted as saying.
“The players underwent the test without knowledge or consent.”
Canavan said the blood tests were done as part of a process to prepare the players for pre-season detox diets, and that the results of tests would provide pre-diet and post-diet markers.
Most of the players who returned elevated readings for HGH are of Polynesian extraction, and the Roosters have argued it is not unusual for Polynesian players to return elevated readings.
Beyond that, Canavan said players involved who subsequently underwent testing by the club’s medical staff did not return elevated levels.
The matter of the elevated readings is one for the experts in that field to sort out.
The matter of the test results ending up where they shouldn’t have is the most threatening issue here.
The people running the game must have been shocked and deeply concerned by these developments.
The revelations in the Herald have overshadowed the build-up to Channel Nine’s interview with Sandor Earl, who has admitted to using banned peptides, to be screened on The Footy Show tonight.
The interview, by Karl Stefanovic, was filmed last week, and presumably the gap between filming and screening was required as much for Nine’s lawyers to thoroughly examine the material as anything else.
It is going to be interesting, but just how revealing remains to be seen.
Meanwhile, four teams are playing off this weekend for places in the grand final.
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