No 2012 Essendon listed players to play in 2015 NAB!

[1061]

http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/e ... 3dof0.html

An agreement has been reached for 26 Essendon players on the club's list in 2012 to sit out this year's NAB Challenge games with the Bombers still fielding a team in the pre-season competition.

Essendon will field a team with details as to where 'top-up' players are sourced from, including Essendon's VFL team, still to be announced.
AFL General Manager of Football Operations Mark Evans

A statement from the AFL Players' Association is expected to be released by 4pm.

The AFLPA has been at Essendon's Tullamarine base on Friday, attempting to finalise the deal which would ensure that the pre-season series goes ahead.

Union chief executive Paul Marsh told Channel Nine on the way out of the meeting that the Bombers players view the matches as a waste of time, but feel obligated to take part.

The league's football operations boss Mark Evans earlier could not go into the precise details of how James Hird's team will look when they face St Kilda in Morwell on March 7, but hinted that a solution involving the state league players was likely.

"We have taken some time to work with Essendon out of respect for the position the players are in and we've been quite concerned about their wellbeing in all of this," Evans said at AFL House on Friday morning.

"I should say that we're not expecting any changes to the fixture, the match is scheduled to go, and it really is about working how best that can take place.

"We should have a position on that by the end of the day."

The Bombers have around 18 players unavailable for the match due to their provisional suspensions stemming from the ongoing AFL anti-doping tribunal hearing, while a further eight players are planning on sitting out of the pre-season series to protect the identities of the players issued with infraction notices by the league last November.

Evans drew on an example from his time as an administrator at Hawthorn to demonstrate how a top-up system may operate in practice. In 2009, the injury-plagued Hawks used seven players from their VFL affiliate Box Hill's list in a NAB Challenge match against Adelaide in Berri. The Hawthorn side that day contained just one member of the club's 2008 premiership team - Brent Renouf - but did allow Box Hill players Ed Curnow, Sam Gibson, Sam Iles and Lukas Markovic to taste AFL action. All four were later picked up by AFL clubs.

However, there are only 14 players on Essendon's VFL list, meaning the Bombers may still need additional players to field a team in Morwell given that some of the club's non-2012-listed players are unavailable due to injury.

Evans stressed that it was important not to rush the process of finding an outcome.

"We're confident, we have been slowly working with Essendon and the players' sssociation to find the right balance of what we need to do for this NAB Challenge fixture. The Morwell community are excited about the game, they've put a lot into getting the game going and we just need to take our time to work through all the very difficult issues in this."

Essendon chief executive Xavier Campbell said earlier on Friday that he hoped a resolution would "be reached sooner rather than later."

"We will continue to work with the AFL over the NAB Challenge. Our preference is to play."

[1061]

I'd like to see the AFL just ban the club for a set time period, does the league need Essendon that much?

[Dave The Man]

So they are all Guilty until Proven Innocent

[ronrat]

So what about players now at other clubs. And I presume Hird will coach.

And the league does need Essendon to meet the TV rights agreement. No point punishing the other 17 clubs.

I dare say the Morwell footy club will be downgrading the food and beer order as this game is bad enough having St Kilda in it without this.

[ronrat]

I note that 8 Essendon players have decided to stnd down so they don't incriminate the others. Yet Crameri, Ryder and Monfries have been outed. More gobsmacking stuff in this saga.

[Jezza]

This whole saga has made me gobsmacked ronrat!

[swoop42]

If it wasn't already it's now officially a complete farce.

As I understand it 26 players remain on the Essendon list from 2012 and of those 18 are currently involved in the AFL tribunal hearing as we speak.

I have no inside knowledge of who those 18 are but would it be likely that the majority of the 8 not involved in the investigation were first year or rookie listed players in 2012?

I might be completely wrong but it's just a hunch.

Now there seems to be two major reasons why the 26 players don't want to be involved in the NAB challenge.

Firstly there seems to be a school of thought that if they receive a back dated sentence games played during the preseason competition would essentially maximise the amount of home and away games that could be missed with any sentence.

This is odd for a couple of reasons most notably how in the hell is a back dated sentence ever appropriate?

This is like committing a murder in 1995, being charged with it in 2015 and then because you only get a sentence of 18 years you don't have to serve anytime because the judge had back dated it to 1995.

How is back dating a sentence ever a punishment?

Secondly while having the 8 players joining the other 18 in boycotting the NAB challenge keeps us all guessing to who is exactly involved given that most just assume that they were all injected anyway (and will treat them as such) it seems like this move will only end up condemning the entire 26.

Personally I would have thought it was better that the 18 just got it out in the open once and for all with the other 8 able to breathe a little easier knowing they're seen as being in the clean in the public eye.

I think most accept that the players were innocent pawns in this whole affair but any sympathy will be quickly eroded if these games keep being played and the integrity of the competition is compromised.

This action is just hurting there supporters even more as they wont even recognise the team that takes to the field against the saints.

[Pi]

well, it gets worse, some of our VFL listed players may have to play for the drug cheat club under a drug cheat coach.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/a ... 3gg1t.html

they better not bring back any dirty habits

[eddiesmith]

So they are all Guilty until Proven Innocent

No, they have decided to sit out so they can backdate any suspension handed down, so I take that as they know they are damn guilty!

[sixpoints]

They won't have any trouble with their legal fees!
Essendon FC President Paul Little just pocketed $340,000,000 from the sale of his 5% stake of Toll Holdings.