The Cronulla Sharks board stood down coach Shane Flanagan and sacked four other key staff members because the directors believe they knew about alleged doping procedures at the club and kept it hidden.
The board believe Flanagan had enough evidence of the alleged doping to ban the practice and report this to the board. A club insider said the board claimed that when injections began on the eve of the 2011 season, Flanagan allegedly said: ''I don't want to know about this.''
The board believes the other members of the football department did not act responsibly. Football manager Darren Mooney, club doctor David Givney, head trainer Mark Noakes and physiotherapist Konrad Schultz were sacked on Friday.
Mooney reported to the board on a monthly basis but did not say anything about the alleged doping practices until May 29, 2011. It is understood it was Mooney, not Flanagan or Givney, who finally sacked controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank. Nor did Givney make any earlier protests about injections to the board. His sacking has caused considerable angst for directors with whom he has been close. They maintain he should have prevented injections being given by people other than trained doctors and nurses.
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Two pieces of legal advice, including one from Alan Sullivan, QC, recommended sacking the five, including Noakes and Schultz, who were also employed in 2011. The Cronulla board engaged lawyers more than two weeks ago and the advice to dismiss was carefully considered. The choice of Trish Kavanagh, a former board member of ASADA, now ASADA, and an arbitrator on the Court of Arbitration for Sport, has been suggested to have assisted in demonstrating the Sharks were not a party to a ''blokey cover-up.''
When contacted by Fairfax Media on Saturday, Flanagan said: ''Stephen Dank was involved with our strength and conditioning coach Trent Elkin. There were procedures we were not happy with. We had a meeting with our staff and there were clear and defined guidelines given not to proceed. There was a communication breakdown between Dank and our doctor. Eventually Dank was told not to have anything to do with our club. We couldn't take the risk of anything he was doing.''
The NRL/AFL doping scandal could blow up this season's schedule, and result in the obliteration of clubs, the early retirement of players, the ripping up of broadcasting contracts and strict new guidelines on the employment of staff at all clubs.
The near death sentence given the Storm because of their salary-cap breaches could be duplicated across the football landscape. Many believe that if this is necessary to force clubs and players to abide by world-wide doping rules, so be it. The Sharks and their players are the first casualties.
THE CLUB
Cronulla could disappear. WADA rules state that if two players from the one team are found guilty of doping, the team can be banned. Fourteen Sharks players face serious doping charges from the 2011 season, with only three likely to be cleared.
If rugby league wants to play internationally and receive federal grants, it must abide by WADA rules. Five women players from the recent North Korea FIFA World Cup were found guilty of doping and
banned for two years. However, the North Korean women's soccer team are banned from the next World Cup, effectively a four-year ban, punishing players who were not even members of the last World Cup squad.
If Australia wishes to compete in the Rugby League World Cup this year, the Sharks may have to take the fall. The Sharks believe their co-operation with ASADA will save the club from sanction but are unsure of the WADA implications.
Even if legal matters delay a WADA decision, Cronulla insiders fear the NRL's ongoing support of the Sharks could obligate them to re-locate to Perth in four years. Cancelling the Sharks' NRL licence to please WADA would void the recently agreed $1.2 billion broadcasting deal, which depends on eight games a week. The deal in the AFL, where Essendon is in jeopardy, demands nine games a week.
SHARKS PLAYERS
Fourteen current Sharks players have been offered six-month bans and the Sharks believe NRL/ASADA rules allow them to pay the players during their suspension, although ASADA bans suspended players from even training on club premises.
The players argue they were not told the substances breached anti-doping rules. Players are responsible for what enters their bodies, however. A Bulgarian gymnast, Andreea Raducan, lost a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics because she tested positive to a banned substance she believed was safe that was administered by her coach.
Sharks players have also argued the substances were not on the banned list. This is wrong. Two of the substances allegedly used were on the WADA prohibited-substances list. Players were allegedly injected initially, then given lozenges and finally a cream to rub into their biceps. ASADA officials argue they should have asked questions first.
The injections allegedly began in the Sharks' away dressing room on the Friday night before the first game of the 2011 season. They continued until April, 2011 when one player, believed to be Isaac Gordon, complained of bruising. When Givney, as club doctor, said he would have to give Gordon an injection, the wing/fullback said: ''Not another injection.''
Givney began asking questions, protesting to strength and conditioning coach Trent Elkin, who allegedly told him to ''piss off''. However, the performance and strength program continued, including the alleged use of lozenges, then the cream. There is a suggestion three Sharks players continued to see Dank, brought to the club by Elkin, after the club gave him his marching orders. Dank and Elkin have denied any wrongdoing.
OTHER NRL AND AFL PLAYERS
When the Sharks contacted potential spin doctors and other NRL/AFL clubs, they received an indication of the widespread nature of the scandal. One PR consultant declined, saying he was already employed by Newcastle. The Knights have two former Sharks from the 2011 season, Jeremy Smith and Kade Snowden, on their roster.
When the Sharks called Essendon to see if they could share information on strategies, they received no assistance. All 25 players at the Sharks in 2011 are being investigated and a further nine players are under scrutiny. One NRL club has quizzed a former Sharks player who reports seeing the use of cream but was never a user himself. People are asking about Manly, where Dank worked for five years, much longer than his stay at Cronulla.
THE TRAINER AND THE SPORTS SCIENTIST
The Sharks believe Elkin is the key figure in the scandal. He brought Dank to the club. They allege he initially injected himself to show the safety of the product. Elkin was seen at NRL headquarters about a month ago and it is believed ASADA have been receiving information from Customs, the ACC and Federal Police about shipments of banned substances from China being distributed by motorcycle gangs.
Fairfax Media has been told Elkin's phone was tapped. A Sharks insider says there is evidence of Elkin standing in the dressing room with vials behind his back to avoid TV cameras. Elkin left the club last year and is now a trainer at Parramatta.
The Eels have declared their faith in him, causing angst with Sharks players, who point to Parramatta's support of Elkin, compared with the standing down and sacking of their coach, manager, doctor, trainer and masseur. It is uncertain whether ASADA has offered Elkin indemnity but should this be so, it will cause anger across the NRL, given its opposition to the ''give-up'' mentality. However, Elkin has strong support from Flanagan and the Cronulla football department, who believe that he nearly told ASADA when he met with them in Canberra that the players were using legal supplements supplied by Dank. Earlier, when the club was drug-tested and no players returned a positive result, there was a confidence that the products were legal.
SHARKS BOARD
Five of the nine-man Cronulla board were not directors in 2011. Chairman Damian Irvine is overseas and was to return on Saturday night, on the eve of the opening game against the Titans. Elections are due in a month.
Irvine seemed willing to fulfill the joint role of chairman and interim chief executive. He is popular with season ticket holders and is one of the first in the dressing room, yet his critics claim he is first and foremost a fan rather than a chairman who closely watches all aspects of the club.
There is a suggestion some directors will not continue unless a chairman demonstrating greater distance from the players and staff takes control.
THE SHARKS AND THE NRL
The Sharks were called to the NRL last week for a meeting with ASADA, where they were told the extent of the information gained. The club had been conducting its own inquiries and reached similar conclusions. It was then the Sharks doubted whether any of their players could succeed with a ''not my fault'' defence.
ASADA offered six-month bans in exchange for guilty pleas and the Sharks sweetened this with a commitment to keep paying them. The players rejected the offer.
The Sharks board accept that their coaching/training staff have been negligent and will stand by their players. The Sharks players are furious and met at a local hotel with three former players, now directors, Jonathan Docking, Glenn Coleman and Phil Tiernan. After 45 minutes of vitriol, the players settled and some understood the club's stance.
Read more:
http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/league-news/sharks-allege-coverup-20130309-2fsj7.html#ixzz2N2aKyi2A
