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.
barfly
Guest
Agree fully Bill, but this wont happen with the NRL Committee these blokes would not have a f clue. The quicker u make an example of one of these cheating drug taking teams ( if proved to be true ) the better and kick them out........................
deanp
Guest
oh dear. If this mixture of cheap innudendo and made up crap is what qualifies as quality 'investigative' journalism in Oz, then things are even worse than I would have suspected. I notice the SMH is now charging readers to access articles. Times are bleak indeed, and in the desperate fight to avoid redundancy can we expect to see more of this competition between Oz hacks to out do each other in the output of shrillness and trash?
Nomad
Guest
Their turn will come but in October no doubt. I would be very worried if I were the Roosters under Shame this weekend. The Newcastle/Bennett fairytale is warming up.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
Gullible much, hes not playing was never a chance and highly unlikley to pay in the GF if they get pst Newcastle.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
It doesnt seem odd to anyone that the only club not being trashed by the media is the rabbits.
eric
Guest
The roosters will find a way to get around this but the sharkies will face relocation. It's sad that it took the most respected journalist in the country to out the Roosters. The question is what will she write about next.
mushi
Roar Guru
What old fashioned value - if you don't have the facts lie, when presented with the facts lie some more?
eric
Guest
Who is the roosters playerthat had a broken ankle and is coming back after 4 weeks when he was supposed to be out for 8 weeks?
deanp
Guest
I used to quite like Fitzsimmons, thought he was a decent sort of a bloke. So it is disappointing to witness him carrying on like a berk ever since the darkest day announcement. Out of interest, does anyone here know of a previous episode in word sport in which unsuspecting athletes are given banned substances as part of a cunning plot to blackmail them for the purposes of match fixing?
tooveys right hand
Guest
Blah blah blah who cares if its going to happen let it rain sooner we can forget about this crap the better why couldn't they drop this after the season... Massive game tonight manly to take revenge on souths for previous games decided by the refs. Look out souths fans no shane hayne tonight!!! How will you cope without him? How many man of the match awards has he won this year? Pink shmuck!
AT
Guest
Peter Fitzsimons is a hack who has an agenda to elevate Union as a sport and belittle League. As a player he had my respect. As a Journo he has no credibility. Having an opinion makes you a fan. Justifying your opinion with facts whilst remaining objective makes you a journo. Still he could be worse, he could be Rothfield. As for the Roosters, all everyone has managed to do is make them angry, poor Newcastle.
mushi
Roar Guru
It was finalised mid season sponge.
Pot Stirrer
Guest
@josh_massoud: Apologies to @sydneyroosters fans if what I said on @TheFootyShowNRL was misconstrued . .
Ian Whitchurch
Guest
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/controversial-sports-scientist-stephen-dank-back-in-peptide-business/story-fni3fbgz-1226698067488 "Both the Australian Crime Commission and ASADA believed the MRC was a prime source of peptides that were suspected of use among NRL players. It had been trading under the name Medical Rejuvenation Clinic Australia Pty Ltd, a company split between four equal shareholders: Edward Van Spanje and his son Adam Van Spanje, Zaheer Azmi, and Dank."
Magic Sponge
Guest
Is Danky involved, has he visited the Chook pen or come to a training session.
Magic Sponge
Guest
No come on Chookies. Can they get barred from the GF or could it be like Melbourne and get premiership stripped if they happen to win. When will it be finalised.
clipper
Guest
“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. What he should be saying is 'we're happy to have our players tested anytime, anywhere, as we have nothing to hide'. What he has said sounds like something may be discovered. What they should be worried about is how it ended up on someones phone - that really is a fatal breach of the players privacy.
Tops
Guest
ASDA and NRL have cleared the Rooters club and its players of any wrong doing. It is a non story. So the club requested the company to have blood test done for players diet. The company was sacked as they supplied the bood tests that were not requested. The blood tests were on a former employees mates phone... Wow what a story.
mushi
Roar Guru
So it is a a fact that you will bet your life on that?
mushi
Roar Guru
Um great idea - I suspect every knights player, every souths player and every manly player...