Jobe Watson speaks out after CAS bans Essendon players

If that were true, they only used thymomodulin, and no TB4, why haven't Dank or Alavi (the compound chemist) ever volunteered to be questioned? Because they have something to hide. Dank is not going to expose himself to civil lawsuits from EFC.

Brendon In fact there are at least two forms of Thymosin which act as an immune booster (the other one being Thymosin Thymomodulin) - I believe Thymosin Alpha might be the synthetic form of Thymomodulin - both perfectly safe, so safe they can be given to new born babies. It is incorrect to state that Thymosin Thymomodulin does not benefit athletes, there has been at least one study demonstrating that it can benefit elite athletes, that's because the intense level of training will make elite athletes more susceptible to having a run down immune system and therefore picking up common illnesses. By boosting the immune system, the athlete reduces the risk of illness and is able to stay on the track longer - a definite benefit - and perfectly legal. There is actually as much evidence floating around to suggest that Thymosin Thymomodulin was the Thymosin on the consent form. From ASADA's evidence: "On June 15, 2012, Essendon's then high-performance boss Dean Robinson emailed Hird, senior assistant coach Mark Thompson, football chief Danny Corcoran, doctor Bruce Reid and other senior officials a document titled Supplements till GF 2012. "One of the drugs to be injected fortnightly two days before a game was the anti-dementia drug Cerebrolysin. The Interim Report said "On 15 June 2012, Robinson emailed Dr Reid a list of supplements to be administered between the mid-year bye and the 2012 Grand Final which included Thymomodulin ... and Cerebrolysin." Furthermore, around the time of the blackest day in sport presser, Dank was already in discussions with Melbourne FC to introduce a regime of Thymosin Thymomodulin into that club (yes, Dank had some involvement in at least three other AFL clubs).

I'm not a pharmacology expert, but I enjoy attempting to use logic to dissect these issues. I wonder if Professor Donald Birkett was also able to explain how, if such a high reading was possible from only 4 cups of coffee, why there weren't a lot more athletes being sent home? I don't know the answer, but at face value the assertion you've copied here only begs more questions. While Watson's case seems harsh, the fact remains, like with Essendon, that caffeine was - at the time - on the banned list (above a threshold concentration). He violated the code, like Bannister (javelin thrower) and the Essendon players. There are heaps more similar cases. There's no doubt there a lot of banned athletes who are not cheats in the true spirit of the word. I wouldn't put the Essendon players in that category though.

TR The example you give relates to an individual athlete breaching a specific part of the WADA Code, with the necessary evidence to demonstrate that that individual athlete breached the part of the WADA Code (by the way, I am in no way supporting the WADA Code, I think it's completely illogical, doesn't achieve what it sets out to achieve, and mainly hangs the ones incapable of defending themselves). In the current case - the CAS has found all 34 guilty en masse - without any evidence linking any of the 34 direclty to the use of TB4. At no stage has WADA presented evidence that demonstrates that any of the individual footballers actually used TB4.

Do you mean they signed the consent form as requested by the club? If so, that is different to the question asked by ASADA - have you received injections/supplements? Even legal ones? Why, Jobe, did you lie to ASADA about that? Regardless of whether the subtances you took were legal or not. Answer that before anyone can reasonably start to wonder if you are as innocent as you claim.

Jobe will be getting about 700k for the next 12 months to do jack all. After long careers I wouldn't be surprised if there are AFL players out there who would love to be paid full wages without playing.

Reckon Essendon will pay them to study in France for a year?

These boys need to see a psychologist not connected with footy and move on. It's not a life sentence. Look on the bright side. Enjoy a year away from footy. Read some books. Do a course. Get a job.

And besides all the actual proof and facts that show the players compliance and therefore guilt, sticking needles into yourself to improve performance is dodgy. Forget technicalities and courts and legal precedence, it's just plain crooked and should be stamped out entirely. I want sport to be sport, not a pharmaceutical race for supremacy. Do I feel for the players, yeah probably for the younger ones but I still think this had to happen for the good of all Australian sport.

There are only two types of Thymosin that would have been used, Thymosin A is an immune defence supplement, it is not used in any doping because it has no benefit to athletes, it is also legal under WADA. Thymosin B4 aids in the repair of muscle tissue and is of benefit to athletes. Thymosin B4 it has been proved was purchased by dank, he did not purchase Thymosin A, he then referred to his treatments as Thymosin only. Come on, get your head out of the sand, it could only have been Thymosin B4, there is no possible way they would be the other one as 1 he never bought it and 2 it wouldn't have done anything. This and the obvious attempt to cover it up is why they were banned and it's as clear as day.

The WADA rules are designed so an idiot can understand them and the burden of proving innocence is placed on the accused rather than the state. Criminals are caught but the process of conviction is arduous. Sport merely requires people not to cheat.

Man up Jobe and show some leadership, captain aren't you?

The sport drug laws are simplified so that an idiot can understand it. Criminal law is a labyrinth to protect the innocent and, by association, the guilty.

It was Bannister's third missed test in 18 months, cough, cough.

Great we will find 34 guilty, but only interview 7. Makes sense. History will find that this has been a politicised heap of rubbish, with the players unfairly maligned, targeted and treated,

Alex Watson springs to mind as the worst judgement yet,

Sorry, but that makes little sense, criminals don't hide things ?, yet we still manage to catch a few.

The worst case i can remember is Alex Watson, a coffee drinker who was banned for excess caffeine and then the following year or so the rules were changed and his level of caffeine would have been legal. Watson was tested after the fencing day of the modern pentathlon, in which he had bouts against 63 other competitors in 12 hours. The Cokes and coffees Watson gulped down to combat fatigue put his caffeine level to a mark thought only attainable with a deliberate mega-dose. Watson was given an hour to pack his bags and was flown out of Korea in disgrace as the first – and so far only – Australian to be kicked out of an Olympic Games for a doping offence. Two years later pharmacology expert Professor Donald Birkett told a senate hearing in Canberra that as few as four cups of coffee could produce blood caffeine levels similar to those Watson had returned. Watson, who had initially been banned for 10 years, served a two year ban and returned to compete in his fourth Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, and was competition manager for modern pentathlon at the Sydney 2000 Games. “I knew in my heart that I had done nothing wrong,” he said later. Although the IOC never formally cleared Watson or offered an apology, caffeine has now been removed from the WADA list of prohibited substances. That judgement was a joke, the Essendon judgement is also, i am convinced history will show it to be.

The club { Dank ) obtained it. they took it. The reason they have drug rules not criminally aligned is because cheats hide it. Have a look at East German regime,American cheats 2000, Russia retro cheating. They cheated.

Let me tell you about the Australian javelin thrower who served a two-year ban for an athlete whereabouts violation because the team hotel he was staying in didn't properly record his room number. Jarrod Bannister. Now tell me that the Essendon players were treated harshly after admitting to receiving injections, claiming to not know what they were injected with, and failing to mention the injections in their ASADA reports. "I didn't know what I was taking", "I was just doing what I was told" and "I was under a lot of pressure from management" have been trotted out by every crooked dope cheat since day dot, which is why they cut no ice with WADA and they shouldn't with us. Just because they're footballers? Please.