Season 2024 - Melbourne

Good stuff Goody has had his dealer outed

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Its just so rich that the clearly drug using coach cops no punishments.

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■■■■ these guys

Still waiting for the explanation of where Dank got the Thymomodulin he injected into their players

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I don’t get why SIA or ASADA or whoever the fark they are gets to increase punishment for this.

I get the punishment for what could be a positive test which captures recreational drug use and not intentional doping. But unless this dealing can be directly linked to performance enhancing (or attempts to), how the fark is this even in their remit?

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They getting a scalp, and can make a big song and dance about it with AFL blessing

Only if leave any higher profile players alone

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Get the feeling they are roasting smith so Oliver can roam free

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It’s a separate offence - so it’s in their remit.

They way we were screwed over with little to no proof is aborrhent.

They now have have texts with a player offering what can be considered performance enhancing drugs.

The whole club should have the book thrown at them the way we did.

Look at how many premierships have been won since 2001 with players who were known drug users.

West coast
Hawthorn
Melbourne
Collingwood
Geelong
Bulldogs
Richmond

The 3 strikes is a joke

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What’s with the talk about ASADA etc? The coppers will want this idiot in jail. He’ll never play again.

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The club needs to set some standards, if they’re not using Wickr they’re not up to the AFL lifestyle

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Spot on. Got to get the fundamentals right first!

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Only if it’s linked to performance enhancement.
If they texts say “hey mate got some gear lined up for after the game” (as one of 1000s of possibilities) it has nothing to do with ASADA.

code seems to suggest otherwise

Selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a Prohibited Substance, by an Athlete … to any third party [but] shall not include actions involving Prohibited Substances which are not prohibited in Out-of-Competition Testing unless the circumstances as a whole demonstrate such Prohibited Substances are not intended for genuine and legal therapeutic purposes or are intended to enhance sport performance ” (Article 1 of the Code)

coke isn’t for legal therapeutic purposes

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Coke is also not prohibited in out of competition testing.

can be used to numb eyeballs for eye surgery, or gums for dentistry.

I think Smith was just an avid medical expert who got a bit too enthused with his craft.

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‘unless’ is a qualifier

the circumstances weren’t legal or therapeutic

Yeah . . . Unless they can prove it was for performance enhancing purposes.
Smith could go full Tony Mokbel and ASADA couldn’t touch him unless they proved the coke was designed to be given to athletes to be used in competition.

that’s why they have the ‘or’ provision immediately after, to capture that scenario

don’t get me wrong, I hate ASADA as much as the next bloke on here - but it’s their dumb code the AFL signed up to

I think it’s also worth mentioning that trafficking under their code is not drug trafficking - he’s not going to jail for this or anything

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Classic play really…name one, just one, big name player that has ever been caught by the drug testers.

It’s always lesser known players…because as we all know, the big name players would never do drugs!

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So, where is all the media outrage about this…?

Perhaps Melbourne should be banned from the finals this year…not holding my breath.

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/sport/afl/afl-2024-melbourne-footballer-joel-smith-accused-of-cocaine-trafficking/news-story/c0dda064bb20e99984b27b1944b91c3b

AFL 2024: Melbourne footballer Joel Smith accused of cocaine trafficking

Anti-doping investigators have accused Melbourne footballer Joel Smith of cocaine trafficking in a dramatic escalation of his failed drugs test probe.

After reviewing his phone, Sport Integrity Australia officials have uncovered multiple text messages sent by Smith referencing cocaine.

In one message to Demons teammates last year, he ­offered them a quantity of the drug, it is alleged.

This masthead has not confirmed how many Melbourne players the SMS was sent to, or the amount of ­cocaine he offered.

SIA has asserted to Smith that he has violated several anti-doping rules and asked him to respond by mid-March, before it delivers a finding.

The league is understood to be awaiting the outcome of the SIA probe, with the case potentially going to an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal.

Allegations and evidence could also be referred to police.

The AFL put out a statement on Tuesday, after the Herald Sun revealed the bombshell development.

“The AFL confirms that further Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) have been asserted against Joel Smith of the Melbourne Football Club under the Australian Football Anti-Doping Code,” the statement said.

“Sport Integrity Australia (SIA) has notified Smith that three ADRVs for “Trafficking or Attempted Trafficking” of Cocaine to third parties are asserted against him. Under the Code, Trafficking in an anti-doping context is relevantly defined to be ‘Selling, giving, transporting, sending, delivering or distributing a Prohibited Substance, by an Athlete … to any third party’…”

Smith would continue to be provisionally suspended pending the finalisation of the case, the AFL said.

“Under the Code, the new asserted ADRVs will be further investigated by SIA and these matters may ultimately be heard by an AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal in the coming months,” it said.

Smith, 27, was already facing a suspension of two years after testing positive to ­cocaine on a game day late last season.

He was initially hoping for a ban of three months after his positive urine sample was collected when the Demons ­defeated Hawthorn by 27 points at the MCG in round 23.

But the ramifications for Smith could now be much more serious, with a potential four-year ban mooted, while Melbourne also faces questions.

Smith’s management and legal teams ­declined to comment.

A SIA spokesman said the agency would not comment on “operational matters”.

One source close to the probe said Smith should not be “scapegoated” over what they asserted was a wider club issue.

“It looks like they are planning to hang Joel out to dry for behaviour that is commonplace at Melbourne,” the source said.

“It is not unusual for a group of young men who party ­together to share drugs. Joel might be foolish but he’s hardly Tony Mokbel.

“The club should be taking responsibility for what is happening to Joel instead of blaming him in order to cover up a much wider problem. Joel is not a bad apple in a barrel of clean ones – the whole joint is rotten.”

The latest of several off-field blows to Melbourne comes more than three years after former president Glen Bartlett raised concerns with the club board about its culture.

Crisis talks were held with AFL commission chairman Richard Goyder and ex-league boss Gillon McLachlan, but Bartlett was forced out by the board in April 2021.

The club also showed its long-time doctor Zeeshan Arain the door after he raised concerns.

Demons chief executive Gary Pert recently claimed the club’s culture was “the best I’ve seen in 40 years”. His comment came amid significant concerns about Smith’s positive test and the behaviour of teammate Clayton Oliver.

Star midfielder Oliver recently avoided a criminal conviction after being caught driving while his licence was suspended. A court heard he had been suspended after being hospitalised for a seizure, but he had not opened the letter to inform him.

In December, Oliver’s sudden departure from a pre-season camp in Lorne led to a long absence from the club given as being for personal reasons. The four-time best-and-fairest winner returned only three weeks ago.

Smith, the son of Dees high-flyer Shaun Smith, has played 42 games since he was signed as a rookie in 2016.

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