The whispers began in 2012, among clubs and within the media, but confirmation remained elusive. Essendon was said to be up to something, prompting even Carlton's high-performance unit to secretly investigate a possible link between a South Yarra chemist and the Bombers. Then, in late January this year, the whispers took on substance.
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Asked about sports scientist Stephen Dank and his relationship with Essendon, one club chief executive told Fairfax Media: "That's something you should look at."
It became clear the Essendon players had been asked to sign consent forms and to keep quiet about this. The questioning intensified, leading to a flashpoint on the night of Monday, February 4.
Questions were also put to the AFL, and the AFL wanted to know what Fairfax Media had gleaned. Essendon maintained there was nothing to discuss and threatened legal action should anything be published. However, two former club officials appeared to panic when contacted by Fairfax Media.
It was on that same night that former Essendon chairman David Evans, former chief executive Ian Robson, football manager Danny Corcoran and coach James Hird held an emergency meeting. Evans and AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou spoke by phone, but both parties have denied the Bombers were tipped off about the impending Australian Crime Commission report and suspicions an AFL club was under the microscope.
The next morning Essendon self-reported to ASADA, and an investigation with the AFL was under way. The results have now been tabled in ASADA's interim report. It's unclear whether the players were administered anything illegal, and when this report will be made public. So, where do we now stand?
WHAT DID THE PLAYERS TAKE?
So damning was an internal report conducted by Ziggy Switkowski of the "exotic supplements" and injecting program, conducted at an off-site anti-ageing clinic, that he described it as a "pharmacological experiment".
Until ASADA's report of more than 400 pages is released, it remains uncertain exactly what the Bombers were given, although Jobe Watson said he believed he had been administered the banned anti-obesity drug AOD-9604. The players were of the opinion they were being given legal substances, although Watson said he never before had gone through such an injecting program.
Other drugs linked to the Bombers include GHRP-2, GHRP-6, CJC-1295, Humanofort, Melanotan, Cerebrolysin and Hexarelin – all banned for use by athletes. Dank confirmed he gave players colostrum, extract of cows' first milk used to increase body mass and stimulate growth hormone production.
An invoice suggesting the possible provision of Thymosin beta 4, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since at least 2011 for its performance-enhancing effect and viewed more seriously than AOD-9604, was also found.
Since Fairfax Media first approached Essendon in April about the possible use of Thymosin beta 4, the club has maintained its belief that only the WADA-safe Thymosin alpha was used. A Thymosin consent form obtained by Fairfax Media was signed by Dank and witnessed by suspended fitness chief Dean Robinson. The form was not signed by club doctor Bruce Reid.
Players believed that the Thymosin injections had been approved by the club doctor. Serious doubts have emerged whether this was the case.
In April, Dank said that Thymosin beta 4 had been part of his program at Essendon. However, when informed of the club's denial, he said he could not recall which type he had given players.
There was a $60,000 invoice for 112 different "amino-acid" treatments from the South Yarra clinic Hypermed, where players were treated between April and August in that clinic's hyperbaric chamber and repeatedly injected with substances. Just what constituted "amino acids" is unclear. Said Robinson: "I don't know what this amino acid is to this day, I wish I did." This invoice is said to have led to Dank's sacking.
Robinson, in his interview on Network Seven, confirmed David Zaharakis did not take part in the program. Matthew Lloyd has suggested David Hille, Jason Winderlich and Dustin Fletcher also avoided it.
WHO KNEW WHAT?
Well, that depends on who you talk to. Robson, in his departing press conference, said he didn't know anything about the program, but Robinson said on Seven that was not the case. Evans was unaware. Hird maintains he has done nothing wrong, and has been backed by biochemist, and convicted drug importer, Shane Charter, who worked with Dank.
Charter said Hird laid down three conditions to any program: "That there were no long-term dangers to the players' health; that it was all WADA-compliant; and that everything had to be run past the club doctor. He was adamant."
Robinson also claims Corcoran was aware of the program but, intriguingly, he did not mention Mark Thompson during the Seven interview. It is felt Thompson attempted to pull back the program.
Just where long-time club doctor Bruce Reid sits in this is unclear. Reid told ASADA that he voiced his misgivings about the program to several administrators and wrote to the board, although it is uncertain whether the Essendon directors were ever made aware of that letter.
Robinson was suspended on February 5, and recently quit the club. He believes he has been "framed".
DID DONS BENEFIT ON-FIELD?
According to Robinson, the injecting program did not work. "If you really ask me did they work, I don't think they did," Robinson told Seven. The Bombers stormed into 2012, winning eight of their first nine matches. But they would only have three more victories and, as the soft-tissue injuries mounted, they missed the finals. "The reason we collapsed was because James said we are pulling back everything, we are stopping everything. We did very little training, we didn't do any cardiovascular conditioning, we couldn't lift properly . . . we lost fitness," Robinson said. "He [Hird] was happy to keep the supplements and injections going, he just wanted to pull the training load back."
WHAT LESSONS WILL THE SPORT TAKE FROM THIS?
Plenty, on several fronts. AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou had already been on the warpath against sports scientists within football departments. This scandal has sparked major change, with the primacy of the club doctor reinforced. The AFL is reviewing its anti-doping code and integrity measures, with details to be unveiled once the Essendon saga is complete. Anti-doping measures include a football specific biological passport, allowing players to be tested against their own individual results.
There has been an audit of supplements used at all clubs. The AFL has banned all injections for players, outside of painkillers.
Through warning from the Australian Crime Commission, the AFL is also beefing up its intelligence gathering, and wants access to areas such as phone taps conducted by police and more information from imports through Customs.
Essendon's poor governance and player welfare failings have prompted rival clubs to strengthen their administrative and hiring measures.
A season of discontent...
February
Was it a political diversion for a failing government, or the darkest day in sport?
Broadcast live in a joint press conference between federal government ministers and the chiefs of the sporting codes the Australian Crime Commission announces the launch of an investigation into drugs in sport.
Essendon had already self-reported its concerns over a supplements program run at the club. High performance coach Dean Robinson is suspended pending an investigation.
April
Collective disbelief in the football world as everyone becomes instant experts on anti-obesity drug AOD9604 following claims that it was on the consent forms signed by Essendon players.
Former Bomber sports scientist Stephen Dank keeps bobbing up in the news as text messages clearly show Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority has plenty to work with.
May
“Pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged or documented” is the headline summation of the Essendon supplements program in an internal investigation conducted by Ziggy Switkowski.
Essendon chairman David Evans says: “I am not prepared to concede our players have taken any banned substances”.
By the end of the month, CEO Ian Robson’s resignation is accepted bythe Essendon board.
June
Essendon skipper and 2012 Brownlow medallist Jobe Watson (left) admits to taking the banned substance AOD9604, but maintains “it’s my belief that we’ve done nothing wrong”.
A visibly emotional Watson is subsequently booed all night during a stirring victory against West
Coast in Perth.
July
It starts to get murkier as Fairfax Media reports the AFL warned James Hird against involving his players in a peptides program in 2011. For his part, Hird pleads with fans and the media to “reserve their judgment” until the fi nal ASADA report.
It’s boom times for spin doctors and lawyers. The fans blame journalists. Essendon chairman David Evans resigns citing stress and exhaustion.
August
It’s into time on ... ASADA has blown the siren, the umpire has to end the game.
