Magic Mick just the trick

Carlton coach Mick Malthouse talks to Andrew Walker during yesterday's intra-club match at Visy Park. Picture: Getty Source: Getty Images

IT was situation normal at Carlton's intra-club practice match yesterday with one distinct difference.

The normal included Brock McLean bringing his own ball and Andrew Walker performing party tricks.

The difference was a grey-haired, fit-looking 59-year-old standing on centre wing, a man who has coached 662 AFL games in 28 seasons with three different clubs.

That person was Mick Malthouse, someone who has Visy Park buzzing after long periods of indifference since the glory of a premiership season in 1995 when the Blues won 23 games.

Andrew Carazzo, in a three-way race for the captaincy vacated by Chris Judd, admitted playing for the first time in front of Malthouse added another dimension.

"The guys are really excited to get into the games and feed off his passion and energy. He has a real presence about him and his success speaks for itself. It's a very exciting time for us," he said.

Malthouse has been careful to keep expectations in-house although privately anything short of September action will be deemed a failure, with the optimistic believing top four is not unrealistic given a good run with injury and improvement.

The latter has to come from players such as Matthew Watson, who looked composed down back yesterday, and Kane Lucas, whose career stalled last year but was prolific on a wing yesterday.

Ruckmen Robbie Warnock and Shaun Hampson, who are locked in a battle for the second rucking position behind Matthew Kreuzer, were both impressive but in different ways.

Warnock is one the smarter tap-ruckmen in the game, whereas Hampson delivers an infectuous energy.

Up forward, Levi Casboult, Luke Mitchell and Sam Rowe showed glimpses on a day where swirling winds made it difficult for marking.

Of that trio, 25-year-old Rowe impressed most with his ability to get to contests and compete, plus displaying recovery that suggests he has returned well after last year being diagnosed with testicular cancer.

Andrew Collins, given another chance via the rookie draft, is another who needs a break-out season and might be on track after a solid hit-out, while Rhys O'Keeffe, 22, may well be a SuperCoach smokey.

Of the new faces, 2012 Morrish medal winner Nick Graham impressed through the midfield, suggesting the pick 54 Carlton used on the Gippsland Power 18-year-old may prove a bargain.

Bryce Gibbs was solid rather than spectacular.

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Scandal leads to Tigers review

Richmond coach Damien Hardwick with members of the Indigneous All Stars in Alice Springs. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

RICHMOND coach Damien Hardwick has admitted Essendon's drug scandal has prompted the Tigers to conduct a review of its own procedures.

"We'll certainly have a conversation (with our sports science staff), there's no doubt," Hardwick said.

"You do put an enormous amount of trust in the medical staff and our guys are outstanding in what they do and what they deliver, but it will certainly be a conversation we'll have again to make sure we're crossing the t's and dotting the i's."

Hardwick, an Essendon premiership player and best and fairest winner, admitted yesterday that he had been stunned by the revelations.

"I've still got strong ties to Essendon and obviously 'Hirdy' is a mate of mine as well," he said.

"I just hope it all gets sorted out. No one likes to see this in our competition and we just hope it gets better.

"The one thing we've got in the AFL is a great environment. As an organisation the AFL have fantastic education programs which the players are all across.

"We just hope it's a mistake."

The Tigers coach, who is in Alice Springs ahead of Friday's exhibition match against the Indigenous All-Stars, said every side was "looking for an edge".

"But there comes a time when there's a platform there that you just can't cross," he said.

"The reality is we've got a certain amount of guidelines that we abide by so we hope it's something that doesn't become prevalent in our sport."

Hardwick admitted he was worried about the immediate future of former Essendon midfielder Sam Lonergan, who joined Richmond in the off-season.

"There's always a concern (he could be caught up in it) and there's a human element as well," he said.

"And, as a fan of football, it's a concern. Probably the sooner we find out about this the better and we can move on and get our game back to being great again."
 

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Tank threat to Dees' pokies revenue

Melbourne faces the prospect of losing $5m in pokies revenue if found guilty of tanking. Picture: Ellen Smith Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE faces the prospect of losing $5 million a year in poker-machine revenue if the club is found guilty by the AFL of "tanking" allegations.

An adverse finding into the claims, the subject of an exhaustive AFL investigation, could also force the resignation of senior staff.

The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has the power to withdraw licences to operate electronic gaming machines and force the removal of key officials if it finds an organisation has acted inappropriately.

Melbourne owns the Bentleigh Club, which has 80 machines, and the Leighoak Hotel, at Oakleigh, which has 92 machines.

The Demons pocket about half of the $10 million the two gaming venues turn over annually.

"The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation will be considering the outcomes of the AFL's investigation in its own inquiry into the matter," a spokeswoman said.

Licensing expert Dennis Galimberti, of Hall & Thompson lawyers, said the commission could discipline a club or associated people if anything happened that meant they were not of good repute in regards to honesty and integrity.

"The VCGLR can also discipline the club even if it is associated with a person who conducts himself in such a way that he is not a person of good repute," Galimberti said.

"If the AFL was to find ... that the club or persons associated with the club have been involved in an attempt to alter the result of an AFL competition match or the organisation or the preparation of a match so that participants don't give their utmost performance, they may well be the subject matter of an inquiry conducted by the VCGLR.

"It may well lead to orders being made for interfering with the licence or requiring persons who are associated with the club to cease being associated with the club."

Melbourne has denied any wrongdoing.

The AFL has received a submission from Melbourne and is expected to soon announce whether the club has a case to answer.

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McVeigh denies illegal practices

Former Essendon defender Mark McVeigh has he and his former teammates took anything more than sanctioned vitamins. Source: Herald Sun

RETIRED Essendon defender Mark McVeigh is adamant the Bombers will be cleared in the AFL's drugs scandal, saying the only injections the players received last year were legal vitamin boosters.

McVeigh yesterday savaged Kyle Reimers, saying his former teammate's doubts about the club's supplement treatment stemmed from his own unprofessionalism.

"Every player knew what they were taking. It was listed and we knew it was within the rules," McVeigh said.

"If you don't know, you must have been asleep in the meetings, which, you know what, Reimers probably was.

"Reimers has come out and said some things which are untrue (because) he is a disgruntled player that was delisted from the football club that very rarely turned up to pre-season training in any sort of form that would resemble a professional footballer now."

McVeigh, 32, was "shocked" the club was subject to an ASADA investigation and had publicly been "dragged through the mud" amid concerns over the activities of former performance scientist Stephen Dank.

The 232-game stalwart said medical staff checked all supplements and medicines were within the drug code before being administered. McVeigh said players signed consent forms, not waiver forms clearing the club of responsibility.

"We'd never gone into some of the supplements ... that we were going to take (last year)," McVeigh said on SEN.

"So we asked for a consent form that WADA and the AFL doping code would make sure that it was ticked off and within the regulations."

McVeigh said he was 100 per cent comfortable with the supplement treatment and insisted the vitamin booster injections were simply to help lift immunity and energy levels.

"We were taken off-site into a sterile environment (because) footy clubs sometimes can be not that clean - filthy, absolutely filthy," he said.

"So we were taken into a sterile environment and the only injections that I ever had was a vitamin C or vitamin B injection, which would be at the time I had a little baby girl.

"I wasn't getting much sleep. I was run down. I had a bit of a cold.

"I had a vitamin C injection. It is not uncommon. Natural vitamins they are.

"That's all they were, nothing any more sinister than that."
 

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Dees trying to avoid distraction

Melbourne president Don McLardy at last night's AGM. Picture: Jon Hargest Source: Herald Sun

MELBOURNE is being damaged by the fallout from the AFL's protracted investigation into tanking allegations, according to president Don McLardy.

McLardy told members at the club's annual general meeting at the MCG last night that the Demons were striving to avoid the issue becoming a distraction in the build-up to the 2013 season.

"This has been an incredibly high profile investigation and, for many involved, a difficult and trying time," McLardy said.

"The impact on our club has been massive. And in many ways, the damage is extremely hard to measure.

"We respect the AFL's right to protect the integrity of the game. We have and will continue to defend the integrity of the Melbourne Football Club in the strongest possible fashion.

"And for anyone to suggest our players did not give their all every time they ran on the field, is not acceptable to us.

"We will continue to defend the rights of all our past and present employees which we believe is necessary to do so.

"The board is dealing with this and where possible we don't want our players and the football department or our administration to be distracted."

McLardy said a sub-committee, appointed last month, has daily meetings to deal with the ongoing matters.

The Demons president said the club had appointed a legal team of advisers, including a Federal Court judge, and it has fully co-operated with the AFL investigators.

McLardy said that, like most AFL clubs, the Demons were double checking their medical processes following the Essendon players' substances controversy.

"We've revisiting our own internal proceedings and protocols in this area," he said.
 

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Another VFL star caught doping

Matt Clark was slugged a nine-month ban last year. A third VFL player is now facing suspension.
Source: HWT Image Library

A THIRD VFL player is facing a lengthy suspension for violating the performance-enhancing drugs code.

The Herald Sun can reveal the player will front an AFL Victoria tribunal today, eight months after testing positive to a steroid contained in an energy drink.

The star midfielder, who is facing a two-year ban, told his club he took an energy drink at a party a few days before a match.

He was tested by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority officials after the game, returning a positive sample.

It is believed he took the pre-workout drink Mesomorph, a powder mixed with water which boosts energy levels to "animal-like aggressions'' before partying with a group of friends.

It follows the 18-month ban slugged on Casey Scorpion Wade Lees for importing a fat-burner contaminated with traces of steroids and the nine-month penalty handed out to Frankston Dolphin Matt Clark.

Clark consumed a similar drink, Hemo Rage, which was given to him by a teammate before a match.

ASADA has appealed his ban, wanting it closer to the maximum two-year penalty.

The player on trial today left his VFL club at the end of last season, signing with a leading country club. But his transfer has been put on hold pending the hearing.

AFL Victoria told the Herald Sun it would beef up its drug education in light of the cases.

Each club will be given pre-season presentations and players must sign off on it before they can take the field.

"If they play a game without having gone to a session, there's a loss of points and fines to the clubs,'' AFL Victoria spokesman Anthony Stanguts said last night.

"This is the approach being taken right across the state leagues. It's the first time they've collaborated on it.''

He said coaches and club officials were also required to complete the program.

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Dank claims injections were clean

Former Essendon fitness guru Steve Dank has denied giving Bombers players performance-enhancing drugs. Source: The Daily Telegraph

EXCLUSIVE: THE man at the centre of the Essendon drugs scandal, Stephen Dank, claims the injections he gave players last year were clean.

The club's former performance scientist yesterday emphatically rejected suggestions he had overseen the inappropriate use of supplements at the Bombers in 2012.

Asked directly by the Herald Sun yesterday: "Did you give the players banned/illegal/performance-enhancing drugs?"

Dank said: "No."

Herald Sun: "You didn't?"

Dank: "No."

But investigations are under way, as revealed in the Herald Sun yesterday, with the Australian Crime Commission heading a probe into sports, organised crime, Customs and performance-enhancing drugs.

It is understood the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, in conjunction with the AFL, will make a major announcement today about drugs in sport and its infiltration by organised criminals.

Former Bomber Mark McVeigh yesterday confirmed players were taken off-site for injections, but was adamant everything was above board.

Tony Doherty, a close friend of Dank, also supported him last night. Doherty, owner of Doherty's Gyms, said Dank would not have given AFL players banned substances.

"He would know the legalities of every substances," Doherty said. "When people hear the word injections they go into a frenzy."

Doherty was chatting with Bandido Toby Mitchell when the bikie enforcer was shot in an ambush in November 2011.

It has been confirmed footy's drugs probe was triggered on Monday when authorities contacted Essendon chiefs and warned them about serious investigations linked to the Bombers and other sporting codes.

Essendon immediately notified the AFL and asked the Australian Anti-Doping Authority to launch its own investigation into possible inappropriate use of supplements at the club in 2012.

The AFL is aware the sport is a target of criminal elements, and at least one Essendon figure has spoken to an organised crime investigative body about his knowledge of performance-enhancing drugs in football.

The Australian Federal Police is not involved, according to sources.

Dank is the central character in the scandal that threatens the existence of one of footy's most famous clubs.

Despite speculation that other clubs would emerge in the drugs scandal, no evidence has yet been found across the competition.

Coach James Hird yesterday maintained his club would be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Asked yesterday if he had confidence in high-performance manager Dean Robinson, who has been stood down, Hird said: "I have confidence in our processes at our footy club that we'd get it right. Our players are moving on, we're training hard, and we're looking forward to the start of the season.

"I'm sure it (the allegations) does have an effect (on them), but we're moving on," he said.

Mr Doherty said Dank would push the limits, but not cross them.

"As (Kyle) Reimers said, they were pretty close to the edge and Steve Dank would've been sailing along that edge gladly. But he wouldn't step over it, or risk the playing future of the players or the club," Mr Doherty said.

"He is smart enough to know exactly what he could and couldn't give to AFL players. He would be completely in touch with the WADA code, and would not put those players under risk," he said.

"I don't believe he would've been giving Essendon players illegal peptides."
 

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Dons ignored needle concerns

Essendon players train at Tullamarine yesterday in the wake of the drugs scandal embroiling the club. Picture: Hamish Blair Source: Herald Sun

SOME Essendon players were forced to continue taking injections against their will last season - despite voicing mid-year objections.

As the probe into Essendon's controversial supplements practices deepened yesterday, it emerged a group of players was told it was club policy to continue the "experimental" practice despite complaints.

Sources said players known to be deeply troubled by the injections were told they would continue as it was a team strategy.

The Essendon players, led by skipper Jobe Watson, yesterday met the AFL Players' Association and were briefed on their rights and the risks of the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority-AFL probe.

They were told ignorance was no excuse if they had taken illegal substances.

The players' union is expected to engage a QC to oversee the matter.

Bombers coach James Hird talked to the players before training at Tullamarine.

The Herald Sun can reveal at least four Essendon players sought independent advice last year from a senior sports administration figure about the consent forms they were asked to sign while taking the supplements.

Recently retired Essendon onballer Mark McVeigh was adamant the club had done nothing wrong, saying he had taken only vitamins.

"I can honestly tell you that everything I took I knew 100 per cent that it was within the WADA and AFL doping regulations," he said.

Players were told that while it was pushing boundaries, the supplement program was legal and would help aid performance, boost recovery and help players sleep better.

As Geelong and the Gold Coast distanced themselves from the controversy despite links to Essendon sports scientist Stephen Dank, rival clubs scrutinised their own medical departments.

The AFL continues to search for evidence of the practice across other clubs, including whether Dank had personal clients from across the competition.

Hird reiterated his confidence in the club's compliance with WADA.

Asked yesterday if he had confidence in stood-down high-performance manager Dean Robinson, Hird said: "I have confidence in our processes at our footy club that we'd get it right.

"Our players are moving on, we're training hard and we're looking forward to the start of the season. I'm sure it (the allegations) does have an effect (on them), but we're moving on."

Club veteran Dustin Fletcher said: "I'm not too fussed about it, the boys upstairs will deal with it."

Former Port Adelaide captain Warren Tredrea yesterday revealed he was offered banned substances during his playing career by an individual outside the club.

"But I went and got it tested and came back with three illegal drugs in it," Tredrea said.
 

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Off-site needle common practice

At least two other Melbourne-based AFL clubs are believed to have taken their players to special locations for what they termed "vitamin boosts". Source: adelaidenow

OFF-SITE injecting is common place in the AFL.

The Herald Sun can reveal at least two other Melbourne-based clubs are known to have taken their players to special locations for what they termed "vitamin boosts".

The players were told they were receiving vitamin B or C injections straight into the bloodstream.

It is also believed at least one interstate club has followed similar procedures and even led the way in "cutting edge" medical practices with their players.

There is widespread speculation in the football world that the supplement at the centre of the Essendon drugs scandal is the peptide GHRP-6, which promotes muscle growth and thus has similar properties to human growth hormone.

GHRP-6 is classified as a banned substance by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority.

It's understood the Essendon players were given their injections at a clinic close to the club's headquarters at Windy Hill.

Recently retired Essendon defender Mark McVeigh yesterday confirmed he had been taken off-site to a "sterile environment" to be injected last year.

"We were taken into a sterile environment and the only injections that I ever had was a vitamin C or vitamin B injection, which would be at the time I had a little baby girl," he said.

"I wasn't getting much sleep, I was run down, I had a bit of a cold. I had a vitamin C injection. It is not uncommon - natural vitamins they are.

"That's all they were, nothing any more sinister than that."

Supplement use in the AFL has gone through the roof in recent years with one former player revealing he had "between 10 or 15" different tablets when he woke up in the morning.

"It's no wonder vitamin companies are booming because they're making it all out of the AFL," he said.

"We would have powder supplements and protein shakes after every training session and on game day.

"You were forever popping pills."

Leading sports doctor Peter Larkins has labelled the Essendon scandal "the most serious drug story the AFL has ever had".

"The allegations of a dramatic program at a club, designed to improve performance using any agent or product that alters a player's physiology by stimulating components is widely recognised as one of the biggest anti-doping challenges in world sport," he said.

"So for a club to go down that path, if it's true, is the biggest drugs story the AFL has ever had.

"This is about a whole club using a strategy, allegations of anyway, that raises all sorts of questions of what is the medical supervision of that particular program.

"And if they are getting players off-site and sign indemnity forms that to me is completely out of line."

Dr Larkins said the players could not claim ignorance as they should have raised questions immediately.

"To be going down some method chemical manipulation of your body, whether it's through a supplement or a hormone ... the content of the allegations is without precedent." he said.

The man at the centre of the allegations, Stephen Dank, is not a credited sport scientist despite being hired by Essendon as an expert in the field.

He is not accredited or have a professional membership with the Exercise & Sports Science Australia.

"There is no record of him being an accredited sports scientist," Professor David Bishop, a board member of ESSA, said.
 

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Goodes praises indigenous support

Sydney champion Adam Goodes says the support for indigenous footballers has never been better, but admits there is still lots of work to do. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Herald Sun

SWANS champion Adam Goodes believes there is a more supportive environment for indigenous players and a greater understanding of their challenges than ever before in the game's history.

But he still believes more needs to be done.

Goodes, who is attending the AFL's indigenous camp in Alice Springs this week and will help coach the All-Stars against Richmond tomorrow night, said significant progress had been made in the time since he attended the inaugural indigenous camp on the outskirts of Craigieburn in 2000.

"I think it's really important that all of the player welfare managers are invited and a lot of the clubs have sent them up to be a part of the camp, part of the workshops and seminars," Goodes said.

"They get to hear about the things we might struggle with at football clubs, and the younger players get to be involved in those discussions."

Since the end of the 2012 season, more indigenous players have left the game than were drafted, and Goodes suggested one reason was that clubs had gambled on drafting players from more remote communities such as central Australia (Liam Jurrah) and (the Kimberley) Zephaniah Skinner.

"We've got to remember where we're plucking some of these kids from. Liam and Zephy, they come from traditional backgrounds and have a lot more demands on them from their community than they have even from their football club," he said.

"They're in the middle of two worlds, one that's a traditional culture and one where they devote themselves to footy.

"And that's incredibly hard. I mean, they've done it tough on their journey just to get drafted and find their way to an AFL club, let alone playing games and making it at that level.

"That's where we as football clubs and leadership groups need to have our eyes wide open to where we're drafting some of these kids from. We do need to care for them a little bit more, and try to understand that while we might be trying to get them to play the best football we can on the weekend, we have to be conscious that they're under pressure to satisfy some unique family needs during the week.

"The last thing we want to do is make kids feel guilty for not being able to help out or provide for his family.

"But even if they leave the game I still see them as successful stories. A lot of people get inspired by what they've managed to achieve, and they will have made it easier for the next kid who wants to jump from a remote community and come to Melbourne to play on the MCG."

Goodes said he believed it would be worthwhile for the AFL to appoint an indigenous welfare officer in each state.

The 33-year-old dual Brownlow medallist said such a person would need to be proactive because "many Aboriginal boys might not feel comfortable about approaching the development officer at their club with their problems".

Goodes said he had tried to take on a mentoring role not only with young Swans footballers, but also indigenous players on the Greater Western Sydney list.

"They can call me up and talk to me, and maybe I can point them in the right direction," Goodes said.

That was another reason he believed the AFL's indigenous camp, held every two years, was so vital.

"As a younger kid I was a bit shy and any chance to hear those great older players talk about their journey, and how tough they had to do it, it was just a really important stepping stone for me to learn from the blokes who had come before me," he said.

"I'm happy that these kids seem to come in with a confidence now and I think that's a credit to the indigenous guys who came before me and broke down barriers."
 

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