Power mothballs injured Salter

Port Adelaide's Nick Salter may have suffered another serious foot injury. Picture: Simon Cross Source: The Advertiser

PORT Adelaide has put one of its players on the long-term injury list before a ball has been kicked this season.

Utility Nick Salter was yesterday placed on the list after scans revealed he has stress fractures in his "good" foot.

He will miss at least eight weeks of football.

It is a major setback for the 25-year-old, who has played only six AFL matches in the past two years and none last season after consecutive operations to repair stress fractures in his other foot.

Salter was sent for scans last week after complaining of more foot soreness.

"It's really disappointing for Salts given his history (with injury) at this early stage of the year. He can't get a run at it but the reality is that in elite sport setbacks will happen," Port director of coaching and strategy Alan Richardson told the club's website.

By placing Salter on its long-term injury list, the Power is in position to elevate one of its four rookies to the senior squad after the NAB Cup.

Port's rookies are Darren Pfeiffer, Sandover Medallist Kane Mitchell, who has been burning on the training track, Justin Hoskin and the injured Danny Butcher.

Rookies are eligible for selection during the pre-season competition.

Salter is one of six senior-listed Port players already ruled out of Sunday's first-round NAB Cup clashes against St Kilda (5.15pm) and Adelaide (6.20pm) at AAMI Stadium, joining Robbie Gray (knee), John Butcher (hip), Dom Cassisi (calf), Brent Renouf (knee) and Cameron Hitchcock (foot).

Ruckman Matthew Lobbe (hamstring) also is in doubt.

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Anzac Day game investigation

"We obviously won't train properly, it's all about recovery; it's all about the high performance guys, we will leave the guys in their hands." - James Hird before Anzac Day, 2012 Source: Herald Sun

ESSENDON'S rushed preparations for last year's Anzac Day game against Collingwood will come under close scrutiny by anti-doping investigators.

The Bombers had a 94-hour turnaround between their match against Carlton on April 21 and the Magpies clash on April 25.

The recovery period was managed by fitness staff Dean Robinson and Stephen Dank.

A source said yesterday: "The whole season will be scrutinised but heavy scrutiny will be on the period leading up to Anzac Day."

The Bombers beat Carlton by 30 points and lost to Collingwood by a point.

The activities of Dank and Robinson, which included the use of injections and intravenous drips, are at the centre of an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation into the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs by the club last year.

In the lead-up to Anzac Day, coach James Hird said about the four-day turnaround: "We obviously won't train properly, it's all about recovery; it's all about the high performance guys, we will leave the guys in their hands."

They made one change for Anzac Day - Michael Hurley out, Jake Carlisle in.

Hird said after the Blues game "there would be five or six that probably won't get up for the Collingwood game in four days time".

The Herald Sun is not suggesting Bombers players did use performance-enhancing drugs and Dank has strongly denied anything inappropriate was administered.

Calls to sack Hird off the mark

But if proved, a ban of six months to two years can be levied at players, even if use was without their knowledge.

Spotlight moves to the coaches

Club chiefs told the players' parents on Monday night that, in their knowledge, banned drugs were not given to the players.

Buckley wants more specifics

Parents were told the club had documented each and every supplement supplied to players during the season.

Those electronic documents will be given to ASADA.

Essendon boss Ian Robson responds to calls for heads to roll following Stephen Dank's interview last night.

As the Bombers prepare to open all aspects of their club to the ASADA inquiry, it can be revealed:

HIRD and assistant coach Mark Thompson had a disagreement over Robinson in December.

DANK had his authority curbed about halfway through last season.

ESSENDON continued its supplement program while Dank took a back seat. He left the club at the end of the year.

The Thompson-Hird disagreement is understood to have centred on whether Robinson should continue as high-performance manger.

Hird wanted a review of the position and Thompson wanted Robinson to continue.

Sponsorship standoff hurting clubs

That Robinson had two years to run on a contract worth up to $300,000 a year helped sway the decision to continue with Robinson, although his suspension after the announcement of the ASADA inquiry suggests his career at Essendon is over.

Dank last week told the Herald Sun he had not given players banned drugs.

The Bombers are bracing for a forensic examination of their supplement regimen including what was administered and the amount.

Coaches, players and support staff will be interviewed. Clubs officials refused to comment yesterday on the investigation.

Coach James Hird (back on) instructs the team as a group during an Essendon training session at Tullamarine last week. Picture: Hamish Blair Source: Herald Sun

WINDY HELL: ESSENDON'S PRE-SEASON WOES
LATE NOVEMBER, 2012
Essendon denies to the Herald Sun that it has concerns over its sports science department after sacking sports scientist Stephen Dank.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 4
Essendon again denies to the Herald Sun that it has an issue in its sports science department, particularly around performance-enhancing supplements.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 5
Essendon holds a press conference at AFL House where it announces it has asked the AFL and Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority to investigate the club over concerns players may have been unknowingly given supplements that do not comply with the WADA code. It is revealed that Bombers players received off-site injections of supplements in the stomach.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 6
Dank denies to the Herald Sun that he gave Essendon players banned supplements, feared to be banned peptides.

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7
- The ACC, Federal Government and a coalition of major sporting bodies front a press conference in Canberra as the ACC releases a report saying performance-enhancing drug use is widespread in Australian sport and that there is also of links to organised crime and concern about match-fixing.

- The AFL Commission holds an extraordinary meeting and announces that the league's integrity department will be beefed up.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 10
AFL second in command Gillon McLachlan confirms the league has been made aware that a player at a second club is also under investigation for possible use of performance-enhancing drugs.

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 11
- The AFL refuses to alert the second club on the advice of its lawyers.

- The 17 clubs other than Essendon tell the Herald Sun that they have not been contacted by the ACC or the AFL in relation to the matter.

- Dank appears on ABC TV and declares some Essendon coaches had taken WADA-banned supplements.

- He again denies administering banned drugs to players.

YESTERDAY
- Sources close to Essendon say they expect heavy scrutiny over the short turnaround between Round 3 win over Carlton and the Anzac Day clash.

- It emerges Hird and Thompson in December had a disagreement over whether Robinson should stay at the Dons, Hird pushing for his departure.

WHERE THE INVESTIGATION STANDS
- ASADA and AFL investigators will interview all Essendon players and officials, as well as other relevant parties.

- Samples taken during the 2012 season likely to be flown to Cologne for special testing for peptides.

- Electronic and other records relating to supplement program will be examined.

- Details about investigations into the second club remain unknown.

WHAT THE MAIN PLAYERS SAY
JAMES HIRD, COACH
"I'm shocked to be sitting here. As a coach, I take full responsibility for what happens in our footy department. It's my belief we've done everything right." - February 5

DAVID EVANS, CHAIRMAN
"This is a minefield ... we've received information that's concerned us." - February 5

STEPHEN DANK, FORMER BOMBERS SPORTS SCIENTIST
On what the Bombers' hierarchy knew: "There was a very significant involvement from Dean (Robinson) as the high-performance manager, there was detailed discussion with James Hird, there was detailed discussion with the club doctor (Bruce Reid). They were sort of the main people involved in the knowledge of the program."

On coaches taking supplements: "A couple of coaches were using supplements that were a little bit outside the WADA code but, again, they were entitled to it and nothing illegal in those". - February 11

ANDREW DEMETRIOU, AFL CHIEF EXECUTIVE
"Under the ASADA rules whether you knew or not it's no excuse . . . they are the WADA rules." - February 5

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It's no deal, Joel

Geelong captain Joel Selwood, pictured here at a clinic for Barooga Football Club juniors, will lose a third-party property deal at the end of the season. Picture: Jake Nowakowski Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG captain Joel Selwood's property deal with Cats patron Frank Costa will continue within the salary cap this season before finishing.

The AFL on Monday knocked back Selwood's deal with Costa Property Group as part of the crackdown on third-party payments by league salary-cap boss Ken Wood.

Land development business Costa Property Group had paid first Gary Ablett and then Selwood to have their images used on billboards in the greater Geelong area.

Now with the AFL rejecting the deal, Geelong has accepted it will have toinclude the money in the salary cap this season.

It is understood Geelong has sufficient room in its injury payments allowance to absorb the money believed to be $30,000-$50,000 - without any effect on Selwood (right) or any other player.

Geelong might have appealed against Wood's decision, but the league is seen to have total discretion over the issue.

So rather than take on the AFL about a matter not of its own making, Geelong will move on, despite its frustration the deal is not considered legitimate.

Selwood was furious at reports last year during the Kurt Tippett scandal that had him under investigation for the Costa contract.

But the focus on Carlton skipper Chris Judd's deal with Visy has clearly affected Selwood's arrangement, which Costa said should be ticked off as a fair market deal.

"I have always felt it has no need to go into the cap, because it has value in it for us," the former Cats president said last night.

"But the AFL says it has to go into the salary cap, but there is area in the injury (allowance).

"We are very open about what Joel does.

"His name is pretty high profile in the area so we get the benefit of having him on sales boards and as an ambassador for us.

"We spoke to the AFL and explained what we were doing and they (had) seemed quite happy with the details.

"What we are paying is not a big amount of money, and it's worth having a bloke like Joel."

The Herald Sun revealed in November the AFL had ruled that the final year of Judd's six-season deal with Visy could no longer be exempt from the salary cap.

LUCKLESS Brisbane Lions utility Brent Staker has had surgery to clean up cartilage in his left knee as he tries to make a long-awaited return.

Staker will be sidelined for six to eight weeks, forcing him to miss the NAB Cup.

The 28-year-old's two knee reconstructions were on his right knee.

with AAP

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Kangas midfield looking sharper

North Melbourne star Daniel Wells works through traffic during an intra-club match in Ballarat. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

THE orange team didn't kick a goal for almost three quarters.

That probably gives an insight into the lop-sided nature of North Melbourne's intra-club practice match with the blue team - which was essentially the senior line-up - doing as they pleased and looking fairly impressive at a windswept North Ballarat Oval.

The stand-out for the blue boys was midfielder Ben Cunnington, which gives Roos fans hope that the No.5 pick in the 2009 draft might be ready to make his mark on the competition this season.

He has shown glimpses throughout his 54-game career, but the 21-year-old looked particularly impressive working in tandem with captain Andrew Swallow through the middle of the ground.

Swallow was so dominant he actually had to change sides in the second quarter to try and help out the second stringers in the orange.

There was only one injury concern, with key forward Lachie Hansen copping a knock midway through the first quarter that forced him from the field. He never returned, but North officials said it was purely a precautionary measure.

Ballarat-born Drew Petrie, who had been the man in the spotlight during the Roos two-day community camp in his hometown, kicked five goals in the first three quarters before pulling up stumps.

A major positive was Daniel Wells getting through his comeback from an achilles injury.

Great Scott a Roos leader

The silky midfielder played as a permanent forward pocket alongside Lindsay Thomas and the pair combined for a handful of goals.

Suspended veteran Brent Harvey was the biggest name in the orange team - which included a handful of players from Werribee and North Ballarat - at the start of the game alongside two of the more interesting characters on the ground Majak Daw and American Eric Wallace.

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Cats now short of talls

Geelong ruckman Hamish McIntosh will miss three weeks after minor knee surgery. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

GEELONG is taking a long-term view on ruckman Hamish McIntosh, whose start to the season is threatened by a knee injury.

McIntosh will be out for about three weeks after having surgery this week on the same knee that limited his season to only seven games at North Melbourne last year.

Cats coach Chris Scott said yesterday the surgery was only minor.

"He understood and we understood that it wasn't going to be smooth sailing with Hamish," Scott said.

"He came in with an existing injury that was significant. There was always a little bit of a risk taking him and we accepted there might be some minor setbacks.

"We're still extremely confident that over the medium-term, a period of years, he's going to be a very valuable acquisition."

Scott said arthroscopic surgery to remove fluid from the back of McIntosh's knee was "loosely related" to his problems last year.

"It's the same knee, different problem. Very minor though, something that the surgery can fix quite quickly, the surgeon tells us," he said.

"He could have put up with some discomfort for a long time or we could have nipped it in the bud and tried to give him some relief short-term, so we think that's going to be the best outcome for him."

With Dawson Simpson also out after back surgery and young ruckman Nathan Vardy not making the trip to Perth this weekend for the Cats' NAB Cup opener, Geelong's ruck stocks look thin.

"Two ruckmen who aren't in ideal shape right at the moment is a little bit concerning," Scott said.

"We'll take a couple of rookie ruckmen over (to Perth), plus Trent West.

"It's almost vindication for our policy of having four ruckmen on our list. It's not ideal having a couple injured but we do have some cover."

Scott also ruled out James Kelly and Paul Chapman for the trip west, but said Jimmy Bartel and Travis Varcoe would be among a large squad for the weekend.

Kelly had post-season surgery on his hip, but has been back in full training, and Bartel was wearing a moonboot at the end of the season.

Varcoe played only one game last year, his season ruined by a foot injury.

"He's had a lot of bad luck in the last year and a half and he's starting to look really good on the track," Scott said.

"I think he's just keen to get out and play a real game. He's trained well and he's looked good on the track, but it doesn't mean much until you can put that good form into practice on the field in a real game."

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Footy sponsorship deals on hold

Port Adelaide Football Club president David Koch. Source: The Advertiser

AFL clubs - including Port Adelaide - are being forced to put off lucrative sponsorship announcements as corporate Australia fears linking itself to the damaged AFL brand.

The Power this week was to finally reveal a major sponsor with international links.

That deal has now been put on hold.

The potential backer - like so many others around the AFL - has stepped back as the fallout from the Australian Crime Commission report on drugs and organised-crime links in sport continues.

One former AFL club president told The Advertiser if the damage to sport continued and threatened the growth of television rights, an 18-team AFL competition would be impossible to sustain.

Port's eagerness to get assurances from the AFL that it is not implicated in the ACC report is complicated by league executives being bound by confidentiality agreements with the crime authority.

Power chairman David Koch, a noted figure in the Australian business community, yesterday accepted his club was not alone in having sponsorship deals and presentations put on hold.

February and March is renowned for AFL clubs rolling out sponsorship announcements.

There has been none since Essendon declared last Tuesday it was under investigation for alleged performance-enhancing drug use on a team scale at Windy Hill last season.

"Sponsorships are on hold because business is wary of being attached to a club under suspicion," Koch told The Advertiser yesterday.

"While the whole issue is shrouded in secrecy  and every club tainted by the issue the business world will hold off to see the fall-out."

It is not only potential sponsors, but current sponsors reviewing their place in the AFL.

Toyota spends as much as $7 million a year as a major sponsor of the league and Adelaide Football Club.

Toyota says its wants clarity from the ACC report so it can assess how it remains involved in Australian sport.

Adelaide chairman Rob Chapman said he had spoken to two sponsors who wanted assurances that their brands would not be tarnished by being associated with the AFL.

"Sponsors will only be involved if your brand can hold up in the eyes of the community," he said.

Both Chapman and Koch shared concerns for how the AFL's major revenue stream  media rights currently worth $1.25 billion  would be hit by the ACC report.

"Imagine trying to sell television rights now ... our brand has been hurt and will continue to while there is a dark cloud over every player," said Chapman.

Koch added: "The business world is not stupid. It knows sporting clubs will push the boundaries.

"But they also want to know the facts and be sure the game is being cleaned up."

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Great Scott a Roos leader

North Melbourne defender Scott Thompson has enjoyed his hectic preseason. Picture: Michael Klein Source: Herald Sun

IT'S been a fairly hectic off-season for Scott Thompson.

The North Melbourne defender came runner-up in the best and fairest, got engaged, spent three weeks in Utah where he caught a serious staph infection, got married and then yesterday was promoted to the Roos leadership group.

That's called not wasting the summer.

Thompson is excited about his elevation to the six-man leadership team led by captain Andrew Swallow.

"As a junior I was always sort of the captain of the team at school and stuff so it's something I've always strived to be, a leader in the team," Thompson said.

"I won't be changing anything but it's going to be very exciting.

"If you look at our list, it's so young and we have probably got about 10 guys on the 40-game mark so it's really an exciting time.

"Some exciting footy was played in the second half of the year and it's a good time to be at the club.

"We have a pretty tough draw to start off so we'll know where we're at after the first eight weeks."

Thompson proposed to his girlfriend, Lauren, in October and rather than wait another 12 months, they got married in December.

"It was a shotgun wedding, but not really because she's not pregnant. We thought it was either this December or next December and we didn't want to wait around as we'd been living together for three years," he said.

North's midfield shines in hitout

The day before he left the Roos' training camp in Utah, Thompson got a small cut inside his nose. By the time he got home that had developed into a serious infection needing hospital treatment.

"My face was all blown up and it was only a few days out from the wedding so it was an anxious time but it all worked out in the end," he said.

After stringing together 86 games, Thompson, 26, missed two games for the first time last year.

"It was the first two games I've ever missed in my life," he said. "It was a back-related tight hamstring and I was pretty disappointed to miss those two.

"I thought I was right for the second one but they wouldn't let me.

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Buckley wants the specifics

Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley says the cloud over players, and the lack of information filtering down to clubs is tarnishing the sport.

Essendon boss Ian Robson responds to calls for heads to roll following Stephen Dank's interview last night.

Clean: Collingwood players are addressed by coach Nathan Buckley on the track yesterday. Picture: Rob Leeson Source: Herald Sun

COLLINGWOOD coach Nathan Buckley says players' reputations are being tarnished by a "frustrating" lack of detail supporting claims they are using illegal substances.

After reviewing supplement programs back to 2002 yesterday, Collingwood is "very" confident it is clean.

The AFL has confirmed Essendon, and one player from another club, are under investigation by the Australian Sports Anti Doping Authority.

Buckley yesterday said the vagueness of the Australian Crime Commission's findings was damaging football.

"It is yet to be proven about Essendon's situation and we need to wait for the facts to understand that," Buckley said.

"But I wouldn't think it (performance-enhancing drug use) would be wide-spread and I think all of us have seen it watered down as the time has gone on over the last week or so.

"To the point where there is an element of frustration in that, 'OK, if you are going to make those claims, be specific about them because you have tarnished the sport and brought individuals of great quality and reputation into disrepute'.

"That's not good for the code and we need to fix it."

Calls to sack Hird off the mark

Buckley said "as a sports fan, as much as a coach, I want answers" about performance-enhancing drug use in the AFL, but was happy Collingwood's supplement program was clean.

Spotlight moves to the coaches

"We take TGA-approved substances and proteins and carbohydrates ... all that are well-recognised brands that have all got the rubber stamp," he said.

"We are not a club that lives in the grey area. We believe that there is plenty of one-percenters to be found in things that are in our control and that are quite mundane."

A long time friend of Essendon coach James Hird, Buckley yesterday expressed sympathy for his Bombers' counterpart, amid calls for Hird to resign due to the doping authority probe.

"I can't imagine how he would feel," Buckley said.

"I'm sure he would never have contemplated it, even in his darkest times. But I'm sure with his qualities he will navigate the club through."

Geelong coach Chris Scott says the decision-making processes used at the Cats mean they have nothing to worry about, concerning the ACC investigation into drugs and organised crime in sport.

The AFL has also warned clubs about the lurking danger of outlaw bikies mixing with players.

Buckley said clubs must guard against association with the underworld .

"The majority of people who are involved in footy are of good character," he said.

"But when you are as big as we are there are going to be people who take short cuts."

Geelong coach Chris Scott also called for patience.

"As a competition, we've got to suck it up and just ride it out," he said. 

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Spotlight moves to the coaches

Stephen Dank's allegations likely to widen investigation. Source: The Daily Telegraph

ASADA is likely to investigate allegations Essendon coaches used performance-enhancing substances, despite the AFL's drug code applying only to players.

Essendon refused to confirm or deny substance use by any member of its coaching department, following allegations by sacked club biochemist Stephen Dank.

"To be perfectly honest, there were a couple of coaches that were using some supplements, if you like, that were a little bit outside the WADA code," Dank said on the ABC's 7.30.

"But, again, they were entitled to it. There's certainly nothing illegal there."

An AFL spokesman said yesterday ASADA's investigation was wide-ranging and could include those allegations.
"The code only applies to players within the club, not coaches or officials," he said.

"I would imagine everything alleged on the 7.30 (interview) would form part of the investigation to varying degrees."

Dank's allegations drew widespread condemnation from football and sports medicine worlds yesterday, with leading figures staggered at the potential for non-WADA compliant drugs to be at Windy Hill.

Essendon senior assistant Mark Thompson has denied he took those drugs.

Calls to sack Hird off the mark

Also in the Dons coaching department last year were senior coach James Hird, assistants Sean Wellman, Simon Goodwin and Matthew Egan, development coaches James Byrne and Rick Ladson, and high-performance coach Dean "The Weapon" Robinson.

Buckley wants more specifics

Some sports science experts were stunned that practices including coaches using performance-enhancing drugs might be allowed in AFL football.

"Mud sticks, and that's just a harsh reality," one said.

"Whatever happens, there will always be a cloud over 'Hirdy' and everyone there. It will hang over Essendon for decades. They have become the drug club."

AFL coaches and club executives can be fined up to $10,000 for administrative breaches like failing to keep proper records under the drug code, but are not subject to testing.

Exercise and Sports Science Australia board member David Bishop, pushing for greater regulation and accreditation in the industry, was shocked to hear about potential drug use by coaches.

"It is an amazing revelation," Bishop said.

"Even if he is denying he administered to athletes, it is allowing people to make that link. It is a pretty shocking revelation. You wouldn't expect that of a sports scientist.

"I know he gave the example of a medical doctor working at a club and having prohibited substances in his bag, but I think good practice and sensible practice is that you don't bring anything into the club that could be construed as performance enhancing drugs that could risk the livelihood of players."
 

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