Should Jobe Watson be stripped of his Brownlow Medal?

Absolutely should be stripped. Gained an unfair and unlawful advantage over other players. That should not be tolerated. Cotchin and Mitchell are more than admirable winners of the medal. EFC have a history of cheating. Their last premiership was one when they were over the salary cap caused by Jobe's father Tim coming out of retirement yet they were allowed to keep their premiership trophy. AFL has some strange ideas here...as strange as some of the umpiring decisions.

ok lets get this right ... the peptide they got banned for is a banned substance .. there is no proof it is actually performance enhancing .. the biggest worry is that it is banned because it has been deemed unfit for human consumption (which last year was changed in USA to being fit fopr consumption - which doesnt affect australia unless it is changed status here - unsure how that is looked at by WADA/ASADA) anyway...... cocaine and other illicit drugs are also banned under the WADA code. Ask Wendall Sailor about his 2 year ban.. and regarding performance enhancing of illicit drugs ... must be a concern if the AFL Coaches Association feel they have to say something about it ...... If you feel like looking it up here is a link http://www.afl.com.au/news/2015-03-25/coaches-condemn-ice-use

By the ruling of CAS - 2012 Essendon were found to have breached the WADA Code, therefore all players must be ineligible. Not that difficult to understand. Medal to be stripped. Maybe not awarded, just have a * against 2012 Brownlow winner

if he keeps it then the AFL is a joke.. have a look at this. https://www.change.org/p/afl-strip-jobe-watson-of-the-2012-brownlow-medal-and-award-it-to-sam-mitchell-trent-cotchin?recruiter=464704478&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive give it to the true deserved winners, Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin

Lance Armstrong was fully cognisent with what he was doing and chose that path. Completely different circumstances you are simply wrong.

In short, Yes.

Yes do the right thing Jobe hand it back and except of whats happened in the findings.

I agree with you in theory, just not practice. The football community (by and large) will always have an asterix next to their win if both are awarded the medal. As a Hawks supporter, I would hate for that to happen to Sammy.

Never like to see this thing happen but alas I am afraid Jobe will have to forfeit his Brownlow. He won the medal whilst the club was administering prohibited substances. The players all have a responsibility to check what they are taking and Jobe obviously did not.

I am not a football fanatic so can see things without blinkers on. If a sports person does the wrong thing and is found guilty of doing so then they automatically get stripped of their medal. It doesn't matter what type of sport it is. It happens at the most ultimate level one can aspire to win, the Olympic Games, Why do a review which will take time, money and involve constant media attention when the outcome should already have been made. What makes AFL sport so different to all other sports? How come so many people can see this but not the AFL management?

Michael how can you state that Jobe is a man of outstanding character when he chose to lie to ASADA about being administered Thymosin then admit on national television that they knew at the time they had been? He's as much a victim of his own lack of integrity as the club's. Of course he's judged on that. He was part of an appalling culture, but was also the captain.

I think it should be stripped - and I'd be surprised if he didn't hand it in willingly - and not re-awarded, because that is no way to "win" a Brownlow, or half a Brownlow in this tied situation. No need to re-award the points - same as a player carrying a suspension, he gets the votes but is ineligible to win the medal.

Another high five NYH. Fyfe has never been the fairest player. In his Brownlow year he was one of the unfairest players.

Its not a *default* Brownlow! Its a true reflection of their effort which was not recognised because they were robbed of glory on the night in a year when they played against team of now deemed cheaters. Sammy and Cotchin should feel vindicated that their votes came by way of being Best and Fairest.

He has to be stripped of it, you can't have a player banned for cheating, rightly or wrongly, be awarded a medal that includes "And Fairest" in it's criteria in the same year he was penalised for cheating. Had he won it in 13,14, 15 he should keep it but not for 2012 the year when the doping occurred.

Unfortunately yes Jode should not retain the mental. He did benefit from performance enhancing drugs. Jode is a man of outstanding character and should not be condemed or judged. He is a victim of his club's lack of integrity.

Are you implying Dipper wasn't a champion of the game for an extended period of time? He has won as many flags with a punctured lung as the Bulldogs have in their history. Note you didn't reference Libba in your comments.

Balt, you may not realize this, but you are completely missing the point - the umpires don't take into account fairness in their votes. It is a binary outcome on fairness for the Brownlow - either you qualify (no suspensions) or you don't (you were suspended). Who cares whether Sam Mitchell will ever be the classified as the "fairest" player. It simply doesn't matter for this award. He wasn't suspended so he qualifies. As for being the best, Mitchell can easily qualify for that category. Not even all the aggregated comments of you and Don Three'O can change that.

Agree. Not sure Sammy or Cotchin will want the default Brownlow, but I guess that's the way it should go.

I agree. Precedent here is Lance Armstrong who had all 7 Tour de France wins taken and given to the guy that finished second.