Coach John Worsfold says the mood at Essendon is a mix of anxiousness and relief with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) set to hand down its verdict on the AFL club’s doping saga next week.
Ahead of the Bombers’ first open training session of the year, Worsfold, who replaced James Hird last October, said it was business as usual although the club had contingencies in place regarding the result.
The World Anti-Doping Agency decided to appeal the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal’s decision to clear 34 past and present Essendon players for their involvement in the club’s supplements program in 2011 and 2012.
CAS announced last month it would hand down its decision any time from Monday after deliberating since November in what’s expected to be the last leg of the legal process.
Worsfold said the club was doing all it could to assist the players, with 12 remaining on the list from 2012.
“What we’ve talked a lot about is that they (the players) have no control so let’s focus on what we can control, but that doesn’t take away any anxiety that they may feel,” Worsfold said.
“We’ve got people around the club that have constantly kept the players informed and talked to them and will be on hand next week as well.”
A large crowd of Bombers fans turned out despite their round one game against Gold Coast not until March 26, with the NAB Challenge just over a month away.
Vice-captain Dyson Heppell is still to resume full training with Worsfold saying he had a unspecified “lower body” injury that flared up during the post-season Australia-Ireland international rules clash.
“He’s just had a bit of soreness that he carried through the second half of last year, and then it didn’t really settle through the games against the Irish,” said Worsfold.
“We’re pretty confident that it’s not going to be a drama and he will be back by next week.”
Captain Jobe Watson and key defender Michael Hurley were both not far off full-contact training following shoulder surgeries.
Worsfold said he planned to use the pre-season competition to put his mark on the side rather than blood youngsters.
“There’ll be a change – whether it’s noticeable or not is a hard thing to say,” Worsfold said.
“Often there’s a lot of learning to happen in the first part of the year, but I don’t think it’ll take too long – there’s nothing too drastic.”
pjm
Roar Rookie
Lucky they have the injection schedules for every player.
Don Freo
Guest
Fancy that. Another Wiggy negative about any club but the one club in the comp that has no values...Hawthorn.
WhereIsGene
Guest
Worsfold is past his used by date and won't be there when Essendon makes its' next premiership assault. He's a caretaker at best.
andyl12
Guest
MF- how do you know what evidence WADA has? The hearings are for the most part closed, with evidence withheld from the public.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
CAS is impartial, but it still must base its decisions on evidence. At this point, not one bit of evidence has ever emerged that even one Essendon player took TB4. WADA has produced no new evidence apart from the 27 blood samples (and if that's their case, then it truly has been a waste of time). It's worth reminding ourselves that we are talking about 34 individual cases, and CAS must be comfortably satisfied that each and every one of them was administered with TB4. It's not a case of CAS deciding that something dodgy happened at EFC and just hitting the 34 players with bans - it doesn't work like that (although there are many who prefer that the system did not have to rely on any evidence at all). Given that no direct evidence has emerged that any of them were administered with TB4, how can all 34 be found guilty of using TB4? It's so far-fetched that it borders on the absurd. Also, if anyone has any time, it's worth having a look at some of the CAS cases over the years - in no way can you say that they regularly go into bat for WADA. They are pretty strong on evidence, and they have rejected WADA appeals before where there was far more evidence presented than what has happened in the current case.
Don Freo
Guest
They didn't. Those numbers are only in your imagination. I notice the preparation for backtracking in your diction. You are now resorting to "might" rather than "will".
andyl12
Guest
Part of the reason WADA might be successful is because the case is being heard by CAS, whose judges are impartial and are not directly appointed by an organization that is keen to preserve its brand. James Hird and the EFC clearly suspect that something illegal was taken, otherwise they wouldn't have spent 8 months and squillions of dollars in court trying to shut the investigation down.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
From EFC website: http://www.essendonfc.com.au/news/2016-01-09/cas-update Essendon Football Club can confirm the 34 players, past and present, have been advised that a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be handed down on the morning of Tuesday January 12.
Don Freo
Guest
AGREED!!!! The Essendon players should be ok. They didn't do that. If you respond, please TRY NOT TO SHOUT. In Australian sport, we say, "full stop" not, "period".
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Given that ASADA was miles away from proviing that each of the 34 players was administered TB4 (in fact, there is no direct evidence of even one player having been administered TB4), I can't see how the WADA appeal can be successful. The only new evidence which has been introduced by WADA are the lab results of 27 blood samples with only two of those samples showing elevated levels of TB4, a naturally occurring substance. Maybe those two players are at risk - pretty big maybe.
pjm
Roar Rookie
Bombers are screwed.
Mr.Media
Roar Rookie
ANYONE WHO TAKES BANNED DRUGS SHOULD BE SACKED,AND BANNED FROM PLAYING SPORT, PERIOD!