Dons stars blast back in doping saga

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A GROUP of senior Essendon players is considering launching a class action against the AFL, and possibly the club, if found guilty of doping offences.

It comes as one former Bomber began his own Supreme Court action, seeking documents about the medical treatment he received while at the club.

It is understood lawyers for the player, who on Tuesday applied for a suppression order and wants to be known as Mr X, initiated the legal action after requests for Essendon and the AFL to hand over documents related to his health and safety were not met.

The Herald Sun understands at least three senior Bombers have told their managers they are keen to explore an action against the league, which would involve a legal firm covering the cost of the case and pocketing a percentage of any payout.

Alan Jones grills AFL chief executive Gill McLachlan on the Essendon ASADA investigation.

The players would also be suing for damages in the Supreme Court, for breach of duty of care and breach of contract in relation to the supplements scandal.

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"They are wanting to explore a class action," a source close to the players said last night. The players would prefer to sue the AFL rather than their own club — but understand it may be necessary to sue both organisations.

The players are facing suspensions of up to two years for use of the prohibited peptide Thymosin beta-4.

Essendon players in a huddle. Picture: Alex Coppel Source: HeraldSun

A ruling in the case against the 34 current and former Essendon players will be handed down by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal on Tuesday.

A WorkSafe Victoria probe into the AFL and Essendon is continuing, but it is believed no action will be taken by the authority until after anti-doping charges are determined.

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Mr X, who named the AFL as first defendant and the club second defendant in papers lodged yesterday, is expected to make an application for pre-action discovery.

He is seeking documents held by the AFL and Essendon so his lawyers can assess whether to pursue a damages claim. Such a claim could relate to possible negligence or a breach of occupational health and safety regulations.

AFL boss Gillon McLachlan has publicly stated the league must accept some level of responsibility for the saga.

michael.warner@news.com.au

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Kent: Time to end muddled thinking

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BRAVERY is a badge in the NRL.

John Sutton was brave when he suffered a hairline fracture in his jaw, grimacing as he rose to his feet and rubbed away the pain. He played on against the Roosters.

Dylan Walker was brave when he broke his hand and saw out the game against the Tigers. That was him reaching out with his one good hand to push the Rabbitohs further ahead.

Bravery is a celebration in the NRL and it is everywhere.

Was there bravery in Nathan Peats returning to the field on Sunday?

Rabbitoh Adam Reynolds comes back to the sideline after a concussion test. Picture Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia

Peats was knocked out and in no state of mind to make any sort of conscious decision. With his brain briefly incapacitated, his return was as much as instinct as it was bravery.

If Peats' return to the field revealed anything it is that it is time we protect the players from themselves.

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And from the clubs.

It is time we accept that the culture of bravery we celebrate is made redundant when playing through what could be irreversible injury.

While the NRL is pressing hard to be proactive clubs are being dragged, unwillingly as is their way.

Few here in Australia have heard of Chris Borland, who might be about the bravest guy running around.

Borland was on the American sports show, Outside The Lines, on Monday talking about his decision to quit playing football.

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"I just honestly want to do what's best for my health," he told the program. "From what I've researched and what I've experienced, I don't think it's worth the risk."

What's brave is that Borland is a linebacker with the San Francisco 49ers and in the absolute prime of his career. He is 24 and in the middle of a four-year $3 million contract but walked after concerns with the prevalence of head knocks.

Borland walked to protect his future. If you don't have your health, they say ...

It is staggering to believe, then, that as one man is making about the bravest decision around, we are still arguing in the NRL over the level of concussion for a man that was asleep on the ground, and whether he should have been allowed to later return, as he was.

The sideline concussion test is not designed for players who were asleep on the field _ the NRL considered that decision so obvious it did not need to stipulate it.

David Mead is concussed against the Bulldogs. Pics Adam Head Source: News Corp Australia

As an NRL official said on Tuesday, "It appears that ultimately punishment is the best deterrent."

Clubs are defying the game and until the game stands up to them they will continue to do so.

It's that simple.

Where the bravery of the player elevates the game, the interests of those caring for them destroy it.

Clubs are committing to only the minimum standard required and some not even that.

At what price? How much is two points worth?

So far more than 70 dead NFL players have been diagnosed with long term brain injury, called chronic traumatic encephalopathy, which in some cases caused their death through suicide.

Young men are filled with dreams of today. It should not come at the cost of their tomorrows.

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Webcke’s challenge to big Sam

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BRONCOS legend Shane Webcke has challenged Sam Thaiday to fight for his Brisbane career as the Maroons forward faces a $100,000 pay cut to remain at Red Hill.

Speaking for the first time since his demotion to the bench, Thaiday hit out at his critics, claiming speculation over his future is nothing more than a "beat-up".

But Thaiday's tenuous hold on a Brisbane deal is real, with the Origin enforcer confronting the biggest salary downgrade of his career if he opts to become a Bronco for life.

Broncos Sam Thaiday takes on the Cowboys defence. Pic Peter Wallis Source: News Corp Australia

The off-contract star earns about $400,000 annually, a salary the Broncos simply cannot continue amid the turbulent shake-up of their roster under coach Wayne Bennett's new regime.

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Complicating the Thaiday saga is Brisbane's battle to retain other off-contract players.

Webcke won a premiership with Thaiday at the Broncos in 2006 and the Queensland front-row great urged his former teammate to prove he is worth retaining.

"Every game you are playing for your future. Sam should see every game as a litmus test because there are no guarantees in the NRL," Webcke said.

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"If Sam has a real poor year he might be in danger, but I am confident he can produce his best form again."

Thaiday, 29, has another five games, starting against the Warriors on Sunday, to convince Bennett to open talks on a new deal.

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Mateship on hold for Manly connection

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NEVER in his wildest dreams did Anthony Watmough imagine he'd have to face off against his good mate Glenn Stewart in the NRL.

Watmough and Stewart are as close as players get, and made a pact to start and finish their careers at Manly together.

Even when the Dragons tried to lure Stewart away from the northern beaches with a huge offer at the end of 2011, Watmough was the first ­person he called.

"We made a decision to stay together at Manly years ago,'' ­Watmough said.

Anthony Watmough during a Parramatta Eels training session. Pic Brett Costello Source: News Limited

"I was in Manchester (on a Kangaroos tour) and Glenn rang me and was on the cusp of leaving, and so was I when we were younger, and he said, 'I don't want to play with anyone else, and if you're going to stay, I'll stay'.

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"I said to him, 'you know what? I'm staying', and he said, 'fine, I'll ring now and tell them I'm staying'. "That was a few years ago.

"When I spoke to him the other week, I said, 'we made that pact years ago, and now we have to go up against each other'.

"We'd been together for so long, we thought we played our best footy together. Now we have to try and rip each others heads off.''

Friday night will be the first time Watmough and Stewart square off. They'll pack down for Parramatta and South Sydney respectively.

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Despite hoping to remain at the Sea Eagles forever, the pair were part of the well-documented clear out and forced to find new their homes on the other side of the Harbour Bridge.

Hearing Watmough speak so fondly of Stewart makes it easy to understand why their teammates were so gutted when the pair were virtually squeezed out of Manly so they could do everything to keep Daly Cherry-Evans.

For Watmough, going up against 'Gifty' will be more emotional than running out against his former Manly teammates in the opening round.

"It will be tough. I told him this will be the toughest one for me personally,'' Watmough said.

"It will be weird and exciting at the same time. I told him it was fun going up against your brother (Brett) in round one, and I love him, and he's a good mate. But the conversations I've had with Glenn, it will mean more.''

Glenn Stewart and Anthony Watmough during a training session with the Sea Eagles. Source: News Limited

Watmough and Stewart spend more time together now than they did when training and playing on the northern beaches.

With a little luck, the pair will pack down in the backrow for NSW come Origin I, especially with a fit Stewart in great form for the premiers.

Watmough said a trimmed-down Stewart was hard to stop, and was preparing for the same hits he enjoyed watching his mate deliver on so many rivals.

"He's a little wombat,'' Watmough, 31, said.

"Like when a car hits a wombat, and it's the car that comes off second-best. He can hit.''

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’Why does a doctor tell me I can’t go back on?’

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CANTERBURY enforcer James Graham has demanded NRL players be allowed decide whether they return to the field after suffering a head knock, stressing: "We know what the risks are".

Less than 24 hours after League HQ promised yet another concussion crackdown, Graham sensationally insisted it be players — not doctors — who have the final say on returning to battle.

While initially reluctant to speak — "I've got strong thoughts that could get me into trouble" — the Englishman eventually explained why he opposes a push to have independent doctors patrolling the sidelines at games.

Rabbitoh Adam Reynolds comes back to the sideline after a concussion test. Source: News Corp Australia

"Why does a doctor tell me I can't go back on?'' Graham asked. "Why can't that be my choice?

"For me, concussion is such a grey area. I know something has happened over in America, in the NFL, and that's had a ripple effect through to here.

"But this is a contact sport and things are going to happen. We know the risks.

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"No one wants to see players suffering serious damage, but I think (when a player has received a knock) you should really ask them and see if they want to play on.

"I know I've had a knock to the head, a doctor has asked me to come off and he's probably right. But I've also had a slight knock before and been told I had to come off. And I've felt fine."

Told his opinion would be hotly debated, Graham continued: "I'm happy for people to disagree, this is just my opinion.

"People might think it's a stupid example, but if I smoke all the warnings are there on the packet, saying what the damage can be.

"But does a doctor walk down the street, go into a cafe and stub out someone's cigarette because they're technically killing themselves? No they don't.

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"It's why I think, given players know the risk, they should have more say. Let them say 'no, I'm okay'. I want to play on."

Graham even questioned the effectiveness of current NRL concussion testing.

"For the tests, they get you to stand on one foot for 20 seconds with your eyes closed," he said.

"Some players couldn't do that on a daily basis … let alone when they've got boots on and a thousand different things going through their head regarding the game."

As reported in Tuesday's The Daily Telegraph, Parramatta are under investigation over three separate incidents involving their players — Nathan Peats, Will Hopoate and Isaac De Gois — who suffered head knocks against the Warriors.

South Sydney, meanwhile, are still to be investigated over an incident involving half-back Adam Reynolds while Manly are also in the NRL cross hairs for a head knock involving centre Brayden Wiliame.

Bulldogs' James Graham against the Panthers. Picture Gregg Porteous Source: News Corp Australia

An apparent flouting of the NRL concussion guidelines has some convinced coaches are putting excessive pressure on club doctors to clear players for a return.

"But it's not a coaching thing,'' Graham says. "You look at last weekend, that was the player who (after being cleared) made the decision that they wanted to go back on.

"Plus, why would coaches want someone out there with a concussion? Someone who doesn't know what they're doing anyway?"

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Two-year-old sets archery record

Two-year-old Indian archer Dolly Shivani Cherukuri takes aim during a world record target attempt. Picture AFP PHOTO/STR Source: STRDEL / AFP

A TWO-year-old Indian girl groomed from birth to be an archery champion after the tragic death of her older siblings has set a new national record.

Dolly Shivani Cherukuri was conceived through surrogacy after the death of her brother, an international archer and coach, in a road accident in 2010.

The couple's eldest daughter had died in 2004.

Two-year-old Indian archer Dolly Shivani Cherukuri was groomed from birth to be an archery champion after the tragic death of her older siblings. Picture: AFP PHOTO/STR Source: AFP

On Tuesday — nine days before her third birthday — she became the youngest Indian to score 200 points over five and seven-metre distances according to Biswaroop Roy Chowdhury of the India Book of Records.

"She has become the youngest in the country to achieve the feat," Mr Chowdhury said from the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, where the successful record attempt was made.

"It's a record which will be difficult to break."

Two-year-old Indian archer Dolly Shivani Cherukuri (R) receives a trophy and certificate from The Editor Indian Book of Records Biswaroop Roy Choudary (L) after a world record target attempt. Picture: AFP PHOTO/STR Source: AFP

Dolly's parents said they had arrows specially made for her out of carbon when she was first learning the sport to ensure she could carry them.

"When we came to know that the baby was on her way we decided to mould her as an archer," said her father Cherukuri Satyanarayana, who runs an archery academy.

Dolly retrieves her arrows from the bullseyes. Picture: AFP PHOTO/STR Source: AFP

"The preparations started when she was in the womb itself."

Pictures showed the toddler posing for photographers with her golden medal and certificate after she fired 72 arrows in all, in 24 attempts over the 5-metre and 7-metre distances.

India boasts a strong record of success in archery.

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