Jobe Watson has decided to hand back his 2012 Brownlow Medal in the wake of the Essendon doping scandal, sparing the AFL Commission from having to make a decision on the issue next week.
In a statement released on Friday afternoon, Watson said it was with “mixed emotions” that he was handing back his award for being voted the league’s best and fairest player back in 2012.
“The basis of my decision links back to values,” Watson’s statement read. “Football has always been a part of my life, from being a young boy watching my dad play, to my own ambitions of pursuing a dream to play at an elite level.
“The basic principal behind this prestigious award is to honour the fairest and best. If there is a question in people’s minds as to whether the 2012 award is tainted, the fairest and best thing to do is to give it back and honour the history that has gone before me.”
Watson’s Brownlow has been under question since October, when the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland decided to dismiss the appeal of the ‘Essendon 34’ against the year-long bans handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in January for the supplements program administered by the Bombers in 2012.
However, Watson said his decision to hand back the award didn’t change his opinion of the decision made by CAS.
“I want to make it clear that today’s decision does not in any way reflect a change in my personal opinion regarding the merits of the CAS finding, but rather reflects my desire to put to a close further speculation about what should be done with the 2012 Brownlow Medal.”
The AFL announced last month that a meeting of their Commission would be held on Tuesday of next week to decide the future of the award. That meeting will still go ahead as planned, as the Commission must now decide whether to hand the medal to the joint runners-up from 2012 in the Medal count, Sam Mitchell and Trent Cotchin.
Watson said he intends to speak with the AFL about the Brownlow and the doping scandal that tore apart the Essendon club, but he is yet to confirm when that will happen.
“One of the most frustrating elements of this entire process has been my belief that many of the decisions in this matter have been based on perception rather than evidence.
“I would like to share my thoughts with the AFL Commission, however that needs to be at a time and in a forum that is right for me.”
The Bombers’ playing list was gutted by the suspensions handed down by CAS during the 2016 season, with the side forced into fielding an extremely young and inexperienced side.
However, 2017 looks to be a more promising one, with Watson and a host of other suspended players returning to the club to bolster its playing stocks along with the young players who gained a wealth of experience during 2016.
Full statement from Jobe Watson on 2012 Brownlow Medal
Last month the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland dismissed the appeal mounted by lawyers representing my teammates and I. This may represent finality of this matter from a legal perspective, however the reality is that for the players and our families it is something that we will continue to carry with us.The negative impact it has had should not define who we are, however I believe it has undoubtedly changed us in various ways.
It is with mixed emotions that I have decided to hand back my 2012 Brownlow Medal.
It is now up to the AFL Commission at their meeting on Tuesday to make a decision as to what they want to do with it.
The basis of my decision links back to values. Football has always been a part of my life, from being a young boy watching my dad play, to my own ambitions of pursuing a dream to play at an elite level. I have benefited from being brought up in a community where people strive to be the best they can be and bring out the best in others. It has been incredibly distressing for me to have people question my integrity and infer an intention to act against the spirit of the game, a spirit that is intrinsically a part of who I am.
The basic principle behind this prestigious award is to honour the fairest and best. If there is a question in peoples minds as to whether the award is tainted, the fairest and best thing to do is to give it back and honour the history that has gone before me.
I want to make it clear that today’s decision does not in anyway reflect a change in my personal opinion regarding the merits of the CAS finding, but rather reflects my desire to put to a close further speculation about what should be done with the 2012 Brownlow Medal.
One of the most frustrating elements of this entire process has been my belief that many of the decisions in this matter have been based on perception rather than evidence. I would like to share my thoughts with the AFL Commission, however that needs to be at a time and in a forum that is right for me.
Jobe will not be making any further comment, nor will anyone from TLA Worldwide on his behalf.
Liam D
Guest
As the panel had access to the players’ doping control forms it should have taken the extra minute to quantify how many of the 34 players didn’t fill in their forms correctly. On closer reading, we discover that once again the panel was being extraordinarily liberal with the truth. Only 21 players were drug tested during the period. As can be seen below, at least eight of the nine players I have information for filled out their forms correctly. The horrifying aspect of the panel’s claim is it had no idea what it was talking about. The panel cannot substantiate that the 21 players didn’t reveal the receipt of injections. As Thymosin is the only banned substance, it is clearly the substance that concerned the panel that it had allegedly been omitted from the players’ doping control form. The players were required to list all substances taken within seven days of their test. The panel cannot name a single date that a specific player was injected. Consequently, it is astounding that the panel claimed that the players failed to follow the rules. The onus was on WADA to provide evidence that the players failed to record that they had received an injection within seven days of their test. WADA failed to offer any evidence to that effect. Unconscionably, without any evidence to support its determination, the panel implied that the players had colluded with each other and had lied when filling out their forms. The outrageousness of the panel’s negative judgement of the players arising from this issue is exemplified by the following seven players who were cross-examined by the CAS panel: 1. Scott Gumbleton did not have a doping test in 2012. 2. Brent Prismall was tested on 6 December 2011. Prismall hadn’t received an injection at that stage and therefore he had nothing to declare on his doping control form. 3. Jobe Watson was tested in January 2012 and 12 July 2012. Watson hadn’t been injected before February 2012 and refused to be injected by the end of April. Consequently, he cannot be accused of failing to fill out his form correctly. 4. David Hille was tested on 14 May 2012. Like Watson, he too, refused injections before the end of April. 5. Cory Dell’Olio was tested on 14 July 2012. As he had not received an injection in the previous seven days he had nothing to declare on his doping control form 6. Mark McVeigh was tested on 23 January 2012. McVeigh had not been injected at that stage and therefore had nothing to declare on his doping control form. 7. Ricky Dyson was tested on six occasions in 2012. As I don’t know, and the panel doesn’t know, when Dyson received his Thymosin injection, it is impossible to say whether he failed to fill out his form correctly. Although Dyson Heppell and Ben Howlett were not required to appear at the hearing, they were in the same boat as the first six players listed above in that they were tested before (23 January 2012) receiving any injections.. As they had not been injected at that stage they had nothing to declare on their doping control forms. Seven of the remaining 12 players testified that they were never administered a Thymosin injection. Therefore, only a maximum number of five players may not have filled out their doping control forms correctly. I cannot comment on those five players because I have not seen their doping control test forms, despite having made a FOI request to ASADA for those forms on 22 June 2016. My command of the English language is poor and my mathematical skills are worse. But in my book, five out of 34 doesn’t reconcile with the panel’s claim that “the complete failure of the vast majority of Players who had to fill in a doping control form (“DCF”) during the season to reveal the receipt of injections does not encourage confidence in their statements as to the limited or sporadic nature of what they were injected with”. Shamefully, this statement was one of the major reasons the panel found the players guilty.
Shane
Guest
Some of us can handle more than one thought at a time.
Penster
Roar Guru
Evidence? How about lying repeatedly, over and over "No I have not been given any supplements or injections" on those ASADA drug forms, when each player was administered dozens and dozens of does? Who does that and expects the presumption of innocence.
Penster
Roar Guru
Agree. I can't see where the "hero" bit comes in, he was on the brink of being told to hand it back, but he's saved the utterly spineless AFL from having to do the job.
Jano
Guest
Interesting choice of words: "perception rather than evidence". Leads the reader to side with Jobe, without stopping to consider that the "perceptions" in question were based on some very damning information.....
bobburra
Guest
Well said, I could not agree more. As far as the suspensions go, metered out, time served, "debt paid", move on to next season.
bobburra
Guest
He had to give it back, if not the ramifications would have huge, think James Hird, Dane Swan. For what it's worth, it's good to see some wise heads give him some sound advice, something I think that has been lacking at Essendon.
InvisiblePJs
Roar Rookie
And they both wear the same suits and haircuts that they had in 2012, and get Swanny to present them for more authenticity!
Birdman
Guest
yep - just as long as Mitchell is introduced as a Hawthorn player when presented with the Charlie.
sammy
Guest
As sad as it is to see - the Watson family are good people, then the next in line should get the medal and therefore Mitchell and Cotchin should be awarded the medal. But it should be done, in my view, at the next Brownlow awards so that they can get to stand up in front of their peers and accept the award to be fair to them
Pumping Dougie
Roar Guru
Mr F, I guess your opinion is different to the legal brains who deliberated at the highest court for sports in the world.
satya
Guest
Get a life guys, world has too many other things to worry about...
Doug
Guest
A tragic situation.
northerner
Guest
It is untrue to say there is "not one shred of evidence" that any of the players was administered TB4. I've read the entire CAS report and there's plenty of evidence - some of it is circumstantial, but that doesn't mean it isn't evidence - and added together, forming the famous "strands in the cable," it makes a compelling argument that unapproved supplements were being used at Essendon by those players. As for the argument that some might not have taken the supplements, well, it was their choice to stand (and fall) together.
Dangertroy
Guest
Good work Jobe. But it took you a long time to realise that it had to be done. At least you've saved gutless gill and the afl commission from having to make the 'hardest decision they would ever have to make'. Honestly, this whole saga dragging out this long has left no-one covered in glory. Jobe gets to be the bigger man for doing what was plainly obvious, but the delay until a few days before the commission was set to meet doesn't look good either. Please note, I make no judgement on whether or not the players were guilty, but they have been found guilty by the ruling body and the decision upheld by its highest authority. The decision being what it was left only one outcome as to whether or not he should keep the medal, and for it to have taken this long to resolve is a pox on all their houses.
Magnus M. Østergaard
Roar Guru
I don't agree, this will probably have to go down as an asterix year.
Mister Football
Roar Guru
Jobe said: "“One of the most frustrating elements of this entire process has been my belief that many of the decisions in this matter have been based on perception rather than evidence. " Absolutely correct. To this day, not one shred of evidence has emerged that even one player was administered TB4. Extraordinary that anyone could be comfortably satisfied that all of the 34 players were administered TB4, not some some of the players, but all of them. Given that the CAS reached the conclusion that all 34 players were in on it from the start, and with at least 17 players having already retired, many at other clubs, (not even counting Kyle Reimers), is it possible that not one single player has been able to provide any form of evidence that TB4 was used.
Paul D
Roar Guru
Saw the writing on the wall, shame he couldn't read the writing on the syringes
Reality Checker
Guest
Only when he was pulled aside and told he would be publicly stripped if he didn't did he walk the plank voluntarily. He took the drugs at the end of the day. No one to blame but himself and the cronies at Essendon. Where is that scoundrel, 'Hird the Turd' nowadays? In hiding I see.
Baz
Guest
Well he found guilty of cheating full stop and pretty sure the best and fairest arent ppl who get caught cheating in same yr