AFL investigating claims Whitfield hid from drugs test

I cant wait for the Nine Network to sign the girlfriend up for A Current Affair - it would be too predictable...

yeah everything else seems to have leaked so why not that??

no mention of previous strikes is no surprise as they''re not allowed to be publicly notified under the agreement with the AFL Players Assoc.

Perhaps they were being thorough and didn't want to sweep it under the carpet like the Storm salary cap scandal although one interesting theory is that they knew he was going to be found innocent and they leaked it to maximize publicity in Sin City for the game where all headlines are good headlines and in the same breath stir up Eddie at Collingwood who always gives the AFL grief. I thought dodging an inhouse illicit drugs test wasn't worth 4 years or anything like it - the AFL are the only ones doing in competition illicit drugs testing and it would have been one strike - there has been no mention that he has 2 previous strikes...

They have taken this long because ASADA is involved and you know what happened last time ASADA and the AFL went head to head

Sounds like you're happy to shoot the messenger and ignore the rest of the story. In the same article, Whitfield also denies taking illicit drugs but I doubt the AFL has taken this long over its investigation if Lachie was just sleeping over at Lambert's place for the giggles.

There's this fancy new thing out, called a search engine, try it some time, you can find just about anything on it.

WE know where the story comes from. The DT pretty much confirms that it was his ex-girlfriend, and they now have a quote from her. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/afl/teams/gws/lachie-whitfield-gws-giants-star-denies-drugs-scandal-says-former-lover-is-source-of-allegations/news-story/bf3aa95ff3208804bab9499fd37be8fa?utm_content=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=EditorialSF&utm_source=DailyTelegraph&utm_medium=Twitter This is the best quote from the article: His ex-girlfriend, Sammi Nowland, told The Daily Telegraph yesterday Whitfield was a “c ...” and admitted she “might” be the source that sparked the investigation into allegations he tried to avoid drug testers. Clearly no love loss. Never underestimate what the spurned lover is capable of. I'm not sure if ASADA will take action over the fact that Whitfield was a "c...".

Except there were no testers requiring tests on the day in question.

Agreed, but that is the media, there is only a couple of decent journos, social media hysteria gets clicks and that is where the money is.

This whole thing stinks - if the Age/Sydney herald want transparency tell us when they got the story. Why would they release the story after the print run when they could sell lots of papers on the back of it - its not as if they just got the story yesterday because they would have had to do a lot of fact checking before printing - were they rushed into printing it because they got the word the Swans/Giants were media launching the game the next day in Sydney with Mike Baird NSW premier. Reminds me of when Nine employee McGuire brought forward to an urgent midweek announcement of the Malthouse/Buckley coaching transition when he was tipped off that the AFL were announcing the AFL signing of Karmichael Hunt which was proven when Nine network footy show that week did not mention the biggest football story (Hunt signing) of the year during their entire program. What would McGuire think of Caro now?? Her article in todays Age seems to have found all parties guilty yet she doesn't have all the facts or does she? She has never run anything in her life and is just a troublemaker with zero analytical skills.

I'm not sure why you getting so excited about it. ASADA does not involve itself in the AFL's illicit drug policy, because outside of match days, recreational drugs are not prohibited under the WADA Code. If this is something sufficient to pique ASADA's interest, they'd be onto it like a shot. It doesn't interest them, indeed, they can't get interested in it because it doesn't involve the WADA Code, so they've said to the AFL: all yours. The AFL will keep them posted as a courtesy. The worst thing that has happened is that he may or may not have taken recreational drugs one day last year - big deal. His ex girlfriend has dobbed him in - maybe she had the very best of intentions, maybe she didn't - but it's not really that big a deal either way.

One can only assume that Whitfield already had a couple of strikes against him to induce that sort of panic.

"It is the understanding of Fairfax Media that the AFL was armed with sufficient information as early as late June this year and has been unclear on its next move for at least a month, but at any rate has stalled on taking action. The league will surely offer some explanation for this, but it looks strange". Caro's on to it - looks like the AFL was stalling (probably until after finals) until Fairfax forced their hand.

No, it actually appears that Gleeson is an idiot. See Daryl Adairs post below, not satisfied then check Daryl's credentials.

Mr F you are choosing to ignore that the AFL are leading the investigations on behalf of ASADA. “ASADA received information from a member of the public in July 2015 regarding this matter,” an ASADA spokesperson said in a statement provided to AFL.com.au on Tuesday afternoon. “We consulted with the AFL in August last year and both parties agreed that the AFL would be best placed to conduct the investigation into whether there was a breach of the AFL rules and/or of the AFL Anti-Doping Code." This is as much as about Whitfield making himself unavailable for testing not just illicit drug use.

How do you know that stuff, Cat?

Funny how the Fairfax papers dropped this who are of course business partners with Nine in the week of the biggest game in NSW AFL history - good grief even some of the imbecile trollers on this site must smell a rat. BTW the AOC and AIS agree with the AFL illicit drugs policy. They obviously sat on the story. Yet I will reserve some judgement until all the facts are revealed

http://www.afl.com.au/news/2016-08-30/probe-into-greater-western-sydney-star-lachie-whitfield Mathews refused to go into any specifics about the investigation, but said the club had referred the matter to its own integrity committee, which then commissioned a report that was handed to League officials. "We certainly thought the report that was commissioned independently by us covered all bases," he said. "The report found that there was no really significant basis to support the allegations that were put forward. "Our club, in my view, has acted properly every step of the way. "We received allegations, we took them seriously, we had them investigated, we alerted the AFL immediately, and their process is ongoing. "In that regard we didn't see any reason to take any action at all. "We've since extended Lachie Whitfield's contract, he's an important player to our club and we support him. "The report that we received was vindication for Lachie."

Did Jono O'Rourke and Michael Talia stay in Lambert's house too?