In defence of Dusty
Cutting your losses to secure your gains is one of those sound business practices that applies equally well to other areas of life. Having…
Roar Guru
Joined June 2014
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Cutting your losses to secure your gains is one of those sound business practices that applies equally well to other areas of life. Having…
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James Hird's indefinite quest for vindication hit another roadblock on Friday, with the Full Federal Court unanimously endorsing the investigation into his club's ill-judged…
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It was sometime around midmorning on the last day of the trial when Justice John Middleton's normally unfailing affability finally failed him. “You can…
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The legal fight between Essendon and ASADA appears to be widening, as the anti-doping authority accused the club and its suspended coach of “enlarging”…
Reality is a disappointment, mostly. Those expecting drama and consequence from the first directions hearing in the case against ASADA didn't have to wait…
It’s premature to be speculating on who the Swans will or won’t play in the first or third week of the finals, and where. They’ve got a tooled-up juggernaut from Tigerland to get past first. In my view the shape of the 2014 finals hinges on two words: Dusty’s hammy.
The stage is set for a blockbuster final round
Apologies for the less-than-prompt reply, Mr Football – I had an extended long-weekend away, out of Roar-range. Details of the tribunal hearing are pretty sketchy, but you’re correct that some of the evidence will be new and therefore (probably) unaffected by any Federal Court ruling on the legality or otherwise of the investigation. The argument about admissibility that has apparently just concluded would have been directed at new evidence that emerges or may emerge in the course of the current hearing.
But the amount of evidence obtained during the 18 month investigation was absolutely colossal (which doesn’t necessarily mean it’s all good or even relevant), so we can assume that’s the bulk of it. And it would be surprising if none of it has been presented in 12 days of hearing.
As for the conclusion, that’s the stated position of both sides. Hird’s lawyers say if the investigation is declared illegal, everything obtained from it is a legal “nullity” and can provide no basis for a tribunal decision. They say if ASADA still wants to investigate it will have to “start again, and do it legally this time”. ASADA doesn’t accept the merit of such a finding but has made it clear, in court and on the record, that it will do it all again if that’s what it takes.
Hird judgement could change everything or nothing