Just merge this with the saga thread already and be done with it.
How many times have we had this exact same discussion over the last 6-7 years?
People who view any portion of this saga as a black and white equation are being fkg stupid, and there’s probably so many different parts to it that nobody on this forum will ever truly get the full picture of it all.
The parties at the core of it do not want to talk about it anymore. The victims have seemingly moved on too. It’s well and truly time for us to do the same.
This incessant bitterness isn’t going to get anyone anywhere
Anabelle
You say: Facts are facts though, all parties/personal including EFC are guilty.
The players were cleared by two judges and barrister applying Australian legal principles. The CAS decision was wrong in law. It’s that simple.
The club was fined by the AFL for what exactly? There have been no specific charges or a proper process. Likewise for Hird, Thompson and Corcoran. The guilty parties are the AFL, ASADA, WADA, CAS and Evans. None of whom have been punished.
And that is the truth and it is worth fighting for.
lol, you think Natrat, Hird & Bomba have simply moved on? Its loooong past time for the move oners to move the fark on from telling everyone else what they should be doing. Like you say nobody will ever have the full picture so how about stop pretending that you know what any party wants.
The curious thing is the way our esteemed president parrots tha AFL line whenever he is questioned on the saga. He is Essendon FC president. That is not supposed to make him an AFL sycophant.
I would not label Tanner as a sycophant, rather that he has made an unsatisfactory judgment call.
At the least he could have acknowledged there were faliures in institutional structures that delivered the outcomes,
Those failures are continuing and need to be addressed.
Anabelle
Fact one: the AFL Tribunal comprising two judges and a barrister applying Australian law cleared the players.
Fact Two: CAS was a de novo trial which is not allowed under Australian law. CAS allowed unsworn testimony as evidence which is not allowed under Australian law. I could go on. The CAS decision could not have been made if Australian law applied.
Fact three: The AFL charges of bringing the game into disrepute were not specific and were never tested in court. They were simply imposed by the AFL.
So yes, I do know they are facts.
The players did not keep injections hidden from Dr Reid. That was a lie spread by the AFL and was later used by WADA at CAS.
Depends what you mean by the full picture, because the Saga had more than one chapter.
The truth about what was injected will only be told when Dank reveals all; which is unlikely as he is corrupt and culpable, and mostly likely he did use illegal stuff.
But this is just a prelude to the main story, about how in a society that prides itself on law and order, 34 blokes can get punished without a fair trial, without any evidence and without any rights.
While as I understand all have been royally financially compensated, it is corruption at its highest level for the facts to be withheld, for EFC to have been screwed, James Hird and Bomba to have been victimised, and for us supporters being left suffering grief and loss.
The mystery to me will be why none of the 34 have taken their own legal action, perhaps this is the final chapter.
What was (unfortunately) made very clear is that they weren’t part of “society”, they were employees whose contracts stipulated they could be sanctioned by AFL or ASADA/WADA just for appearing dodgy.
The players were collateral damage, as were our feelings.
The whole time we were focusing on “evidence” or lack thereof when it wasn’t relevant.
AFL is a charade, not the “pure religion” some of us previously revered as the barometer for what is right and wrong with the world.
Isn’t this what NLM is doing? Like James Hird, Jackson Taylor, John Madigan, Bruce Francis, @StabbytheRabbit and others, we keep finding people ready to stand up and I love it.
The reason I labelled Tanner as a sycophant is because he does whatever the AFL wants him too. The AFL wants all clubs to be sub offices of the almighty AFL. Tanner’s response suggests that he believes and follows the AFL line.
Spot on Hoffy about Tanner. He was a terrible politician and has got worse. You would have noticed the demeanor of the rest of the Board. Looked like they didn’t want to be there. Rolled their eyes when the saga was mentioned. All left the stage at the end and either went to a back room or in the corner of the room together.
Credit to Catherine Lio, Xavier who stayed behind and spoke to members. Paul Little was great and had an honest conversation with Stabby and I.