Betteroff with James gone?
Blame Hird?
Fletch - no. Lots of mistakes from different people. Not Hirdy. Not a xheat
2 new blokes. Asada and Afl all share blame
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So that lid definitely got taken off re the saga hey. Told you so. Fight me.
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Jobe.
Yes club was negligent.
Not intentional.
Club made mistakes.
Hasn’t spoken to hird or bonber but no animosity.
Does afl have medal?
Jobe gave it to his mum.
Tim handed it back
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Would either do stuff with efc
Fletch already do. Great club
Highlight of career
Jobe anzac day 2013.
The way the players stuck together through the saga.
No turning on each other. Quality people
Regrets jobe hurt over saga and not successful
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Are you at peace?
Fletch yes.
Would like to seer success
Jobe - a different place now with good list great recruits. Financial.
Supporter growth.
Demographic suggests long sustained success
Wrapping up
Praising membership base
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Adversity has grown the club
Finished
Much applause
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Thanks sweatyman
Players duck out the back.
More auctions.
Time for my bed.
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Thanks Sweaty, great coverage.
Thanks sweatyman
Yes good one, thanks Sweaty.
Well reported Sweaty.
Thanks Sweaty, nothing I guess about how ASADA/WADA/CAS stitched the players up?
Top stuff from the perspiring one.
If you are going, things take about half an hour to start, in which time you’re asked to write down questions and hand them up for consideration. Not all questions get picked, so they can avoid lengthy shisha inquiries and my “would you like to sack Gill” Dorothy Dixers. Next is about an hour of Michael Roberts interviewing our two then some memorabilia auctions (not riveting) and answers to audience questions.
Sweaty’s review reminded me of a few other things on the night.
It was a little unclear, but early on I thought Jobe said the players actually got ASADA reps in to confirm the supplements were above board. Dustin suggested self-reporting didn’t look so good in hindsight.
Jobe recalled that only one EFC player had elevated thymosin but 60 of 80 at other clubs did, which sounded like weird stats to me. He said this led to a general consensus that aussie rules increased thymosin levels naturally (otherwise the other teams were using something).
Jobe said athletes have to be responsible for what went in their bodies but Fletch made the point he had not even been tested, much less found to have elevated levels for supplements claimed to have been used.
Michael Roberts had a bit to add. He was very critical of the media’s involvement and referred to Hird being in a bad way in Sandringham about a year before his overdose. He referred to Hird and Evans probably being the worst casualties of the saga. As usual clear crowd sympathy for the great no. 5.
Jobe was more accepting of the media wanting to sensationalise and even the WA crowd just expressing what they were told. He came across as almost unnaturally serene, like saying he just gave his brownlow to his parents as soon as he won, because what would he do with it? On the other hand, he was doing a talk mainly on this difficult topic and did not say when asked (like Fletch did) that he considered himself at peace. He referred to the WA and Anzac Day games at the height of the saga as some of the best he had been in, but regretted the lack of success over his career.
Prior to the CAS decision a fairly confident Fletch rang Stants to find out what had happened- Stanton could not speak to Fletch when he first heard the CAS verdict. Fletch had to ring him back to get any sense out of him and be told “we’ve been done”.
Fletch referred to not even being able to go into the rooms to see his kids while they played junior footy. When asked about whether he would come back to the club he said he already has and wants to be there forever. Fletch talked about how high Hird’s morals are and measured above his head.
Both players (maybe Jobe a little more) spoke about how they realised what the supporters were going through and loved the noise they would make on match day. Jobe talked about how much fans told him his coming back meant to them. Fletch explained that being with the other players at training etc was their supportive place and that and playing were the great opportunities to be freer of the stress for a while.
Maybe not the 4 Corners expose I had hoped for, but a good recommended mix of the light and dark, as should be clear from sweatyman’s summary.
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Thanks both of you. I guess the question vetting means we’re never going to get the full details on the stitch-up but interesting insights regardless. Again thanks.
Michael Roberts referred to the blackest day and Jobe mentioned the issue becoming very political. Dustin said something like “I won’t talk about the ASADA decision”. Tone is hard to convey but my impression was he meant “Don’t get me started on ASADA or I will really unload”. There was some encouragement in the crowd for him to expand, which was understandable given the way the talk had been marketed.
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Sounds like they are severely restricted by their NDA, hence the vetting of questions.