Mick Warner from the Herald Sun updates us on the latest news that 34 current and former Essendon players have been issued with notices by ASADA.
SOME Essendon players will consider doing deals with ASADA after being slapped with thousands of pages of "compelling and comprehensive" evidence on Friday.
The 34 current and former Bombers stars at the centre of footy's drugs storm were hit with fresh show cause notices alleging use of the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 in 2012.
The players' legal team will review more than 12,000 pages of evidence this weekend, but one player manager said last night his clients were prepared to see what deals the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority was willing to table to end the saga.
"If you were offered three months (over summer) you would think about it," the manager said last night.
CLAIMS PEPTIDES SOURCED IN CHINA
But another player agent said: "Most of them will still want to go to the tribunal and fight because that is where the onus will be on ASADA to prove that they did it."
The AFL Player's Association has responded to the the show cause notices re-issued to 34 former and current Essendon players by ASADA.
Cronulla players in the NRL accepted heavily back-dated penalties from ASADA in August that saw some miss just three matches.
ASADA yesterday made clear Essendon's 2012 drugs program was far more sophisticated.
"The situation at Essendon was more regimented and more systematic and ran for a longer period of time than what we saw at Cronulla," ASADA chief executive Ben McDevitt said on Friday night.
The Herald Sun understands the anti-doping agency will not entertain penalties for Essendon players that do not include suspensions for several matches in the 2015 premiership season.
The players have been given until October 31 to respond to the notices before ASADA presents its evidence to the Anti-Doping Rule Violation Panel.
Essendon coach James Hird before the fresh bombshell for the Bombers. Picture: Nicole Garmston
The panel is an independent body that decides whether players should be placed on the Register of Findings - the trigger for AFL infraction notices.
It is expected the players will offer a "limited response" to the show cause notices and allow the case to progress to the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal.
Two of the players, Western Bulldogs forward Stewart Crameri and Footscray VFL player Brent Prismall, have engaged separate legal representation.
The 32 other players are being represented by a legal team led by the AFL Players' Association.
A representative of the players said last night he hoped the tribunal could sit next month and penalties were handed down by Christmas.
Having defeated AFL club Essendon in the Federal Court, ASADA is today expected to reissue the club with show-cause notices.
The amended notices provided on a compact disc at 4.30pm on Friday fully detail ASADA's claim that the players were injected with Thymosin beta-4, sourced from China, as part of Essendon's experimental supplements program in 2012.
McDevitt said the evidence against the players was "comprehensive and compelling".
"There is no positive test for any of them but we believe that the evidence that is there is sufficient, in our view, to prove the use of a prohibited substance," he said.
Asked if discounted penalties could apply in the Essendon case, McDevitt said: "If they believe that they would like to claim 'no significant fault' due to basically saying they weren't aware of the substances they were administered, then they can make that claim and in time that will be assessed against the evidence.
"That is a choice for each of them."
Essendon players must now decide on their next move. Picture: George Salpigtidis
He said delays in the Essendon investigation could partly be blamed on Essendon's legal tactics.
"One point I should make is that whilst I have the players' association now pushing for ASADA to take a particular course of action in the interests of the players, for several months I've had Mr (James) Hird taking certain actions again, purportedly, in the interests of the players," McDevitt said.
"And I've also had Mr (Paul) Little make another range of decisions purportedly in the interests of players and all three of those have tended to want slightly different things or to take matters slightly different directions ... so whilst I've got various parties saying hurry up and others saying slowdown, I will continue to enforce the role and do the job ASADA is required to do."
Show cause notices were originally issued in June but were put on ice after the Bombers launched a Federal Court counter attack against ASADA.
AFLPA chief Paul Marsh said late on Friday: "The players' legal team will review the material in the coming days and discuss the contents with players, to determine what response, if any, they will provide in respect to these amended show cause notices."
Members of the 2012 playing group face potential game bans in 2015. Picture: Getty Images)
It is up to the AFL to issue infraction notices, after reviewing the evidence and taking into account ASADA's recommendations.
But if the league chooses not to charge players, ASADA could take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Essendon and the AFL said last night it was inappropriate to comment on the latest development in footy's 20-month doping saga.
michael.warner@news.com.au
Bombers supporters have been doing it tough all year. Picture: Getty Images
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