ASADA Rooster Article in SMH

[Spanner in the works]

That's why she was voted 2012 worst journalist of the year. She is a grub and sees an opportunity to get a few front page articles on the back of our great season and our high profile going into this years grand final week.

LOL! I assume you are referring to the Australia's Worst Journalist awards run by convicted criminal Geoffrey Edelsten? I'll take my chances on her judgement rather than his thanks very much. See, the problem for you is that there is nothing in those stories that isn't true. It's all been confirmed by the club which, by all accounts, acted responsibly.

[Guest]

DT

HE MIGHT not have made the grade in his playing career, but former league journeyman Ben Darcy has emerged as the latest key figure in the widening ASADA investigation into rugby league.

The Daily Telegraph can reveal Darcy, who went to school with several NRL identities including suspended winger Sandor Earl, is the reason why his junior club - Sydney Roosters - have been dragged into the probe.

The links to Darcy emerged over the course of ASADA's investigation into Earl, who is facing a four-year ban after admitting to trafficking and use of banned peptides.

ASADA's case against Earl relied heavily on intercepted text messages, which expose discussions about prohibited substances between a range of people not currently involved in the NRL.

Darcy's identity was gleaned from the text messages, and subsequent investigations revealed connections between him and other NRL players apart from Earl.

At least two of those players are currently contracted to the Roosters, with both now at risk of being handed ASADA interview notices as a result of their links to Darcy.

One is prop Marty Kennedy, who has also known Darcy since high school and leveraged their relationship to introduce the Roosters to a new paleo diet over the off-season.
Ben Darcy

Ben Darcy.

At the time, Darcy worked for the company responsible for formulating the raw food diet - Nubodi - and its owner, Sean Carolan, arranged for preliminary blood tests.

Three players - Boyd Cordner, Roger Tuivasa-Sheck and Sam Moa - recorded elevated Human Growth Hormone (hGH) levels that were provided to ASADA earlier this year, after they were intercepted from a mobile phone belonging to an organised crime figure.

Subsequent tests have revealed normal levels hGH levels among Roosters players, but those with individual connections to Darcy are expected to be questioned further.

The Daily Telegraph understands Darcy is also close with a player who left the Roosters several years ago to link with a rival Sydney club.

Roosters players have noticed a sharp rise in blood testing over the past month, and ASADA officers were again at Moore Park to take samples from at least three players on Tuesday.

Earl and Darcy have been friends since their school days at top league nursery Matraville Sports High in 2007, when they were members of a star-studded squad that claimed that season's Arrive Alive Cup.
ben darcy

Roosters players Jake Friend (far left) and Martin Kennedy (second from right) pose with Ben Darcy (second from left) at the opening of Nutrition Station in June.

Kennedy was also a member of that side, packing down in the front row for the grand final against Patrician Brothers Fairfield.

A promising half/hooker, Darcy was also involved in the Roosters junior representative program and his name appears in a SG Ball Cup (U18s) list for a clash against the Bulldogs in February 2009.

Earl was also named for that match, and later in the same season made his NRL debut under head coach Brad Fittler.

Earl moved to Penrith the following year, where he started with NSW Cup feeder club Windsor before finishing the season in first grade and claiming Penrith's 2010 Rookie of the Year Award.

Darcy also made the move west that season, appearing in 11 matches at halfback for Windsor's third tier Bundaberg Cup side.

Wolves officials recall that he and Earl were close, but Darcy didn't return in 2011 - the season where Earl used banned peptide CJC-1295 on the recommendation of sports scientist Steve Dank to help overcome a double shoulder reconstruction.
Ben Darcy and Tom Symonds

Ben Darcy (left) with former Roosters player Tom Symonds.

After being sacked from Nubodi, Darcy claimed a stake in a new franchise selling protein shakes and frozen yoghurts beneath Pitt Street Mall, named Nutrition Station.

Kennedy used social media to encourage followers to visit the store when it opened in mid-June, posing for photographs alongside Darcy and Roosters hooker Jake Friend at the front of the store.

Darcy has continued to spend plenty of time with Earl. The pair met in Thailand just days after Ear made his confession to ASADA on 28 August.

[Salvatori Grubber]

When I first heard this I didn't know if I wanted to cry or be sick. Then I thought ..... we have a Preliminary Final this weekend and what a perfect time to derail us by releasing this sort of thing.
I'm sure it is nothing, now that I have read more

I'm not sure I buy this line of thinking.

I reckon the timing is less likely to destabilise us. Surely this cloud will draw us tighter together for 2 freakin' weeks?

Imagine this had been ongoing since mid-season? That would have been a hard situation to rally against for 15-odd weeks.

[Guest]

Meh. Whats the worse that can happen? As long as we win it and the TAB pays out winning GF bets I don't really give a shit what happens after that.

[Tom Verlaine's Ghost]

They will find a way of taking our premiership away, you wait and see.

[TDK]

LOL! I assume you are referring to the Australia's Worst Journalist awards run by convicted criminal Geoffrey Edelsten? I'll take my chances on her judgement rather than his thanks very much. See, the problem for you is that there is nothing in those stories that isn't true. It's all been confirmed by the club which, by all accounts, acted responsibly.

No investigative journalist is reputable my friend, they are all after a dirty seedy story and if they cant find one, well they simply make one up. I'm sure this story is the start of one of her grubby vindictive witch hunts that will once again see her go into foetal and hibernation once challenged by the truth and a good QC lol.

[Spanner in the works]

No investigative journalist is reputable my friend, they are all after a dirty seedy story and if they cant find one, well they simply make one up. I'm sure this story is the start of one of her grubby vindictive witch hunts that will once again see her go into foetal and hibernation once challenged by the truth and a good QC lol.

Pity Canavan confirmed the story was true then hey? I await with bated breath the court case.

[ism22]

Pity Canavan confirmed the story was true then hey? I await with bated breath the court case.

No, he confirmed that some HGH tests were done. While a few blokes had slightly high readings, these were reported to the NRL at the time and the subsequent tests showed no abnormal readings.

THE STORY SAYS...
- Sandor earl knows a guy who some Roosters players know, they must all be on peptides because they know him.
- This same guy played 1 junior game for the Roosters so anybody who knows him is corrupt.
- This is a massive blow and the Roosters are cheats.

1) Peptides aren't HGH and will not show high HGH readings... they'll show peptides. NOBODY within the club has 'admitted' that anybody except Sandor Earl used peptides.
2) A guy who worked for a company that the Roosters used for a raw meat diet (who there's no proof even worked with the Roosters) was sacked at some stage for under performing. He MUST have been dealing peptides right? MUST.
3) Footy circles are footy circles. Footy players will ALL know people like Sandor Earl. Guilty just because you know a guy isn't really the rule of law.

[TDK]

Pity Canavan confirmed the story was true then hey? I await with bated breath the court case.

Haha you must be either related to her or a journalist lol, but it still won't change the fact that her and her kind are grubs. The timing of these articles tell it all, they have been planned and designed to cause harm. As for the truth, she usually starts out with a factual story to gain a sniff of credibility then quickly descends into a wilful misrepresentation of the facts with draw dropping bad articles to build a hysteria to prolong the story.

[Guest]

Human growth hormone (hGH) is commonly referred to as the ''Hollywood drug''. It helps aid vanity but is unlikely to lift performance if used in isolation.

However, according to the World Anti-Doping Agency, research has shown it enhances the anabolic power of steroids.

Use and possession of the hormone in Australia is illegal. Athletes caught with an irregular level of hGH risk a two-year ban for a first offence. It can be prescribed medically to patients with growth defects.

According to the agency, ''hGH is a hormone that is naturally produced by the body. It is synthesised and secreted by cells in the anterior pituitary gland located at the base of the brain. HGH is known to act on many aspects of cellular metabolism and is also necessary for skeletal growth in humans.
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''The major role of hGH in body growth is to stimulate the liver and other tissues to secrete insulin-like growth factor [IGF-1]. IGF-1 stimulates production of cartilage cells, resulting in bone growth and also plays a key role in muscle and organ growth.

''HGH is prohibited both in and out of competition under WADA's list of prohibited substances and methods.''

The hormone is naturally produced by the body, but it also occurs in synthetic form. Anti-doping researcher Robin Parisotto said high levels of it could lead to an onset of diabetes.

''Usually if a patient has a raised hGH they are suffering from a disease,'' Mr Parisotto said. ''It's not natural to have high levels.

''It is natural for it to spike. Exercise or sleep can cause a spike in a person's natural hGH.

''In terms of it improving performance, there's no truth or study to support that. On its own, growth hormone doesn't do anything to improve performance.''

The hormone is widely promoted as an anti-ageing medication but can be used by athletes to avoid drug testers and mask steroid use. It is commonly used by bodybuilders. ''It does get rid of water from an athlete and makes them look buff,'' Mr Parisotto said. ''The only study which shows that it does increase muscle mass is when it's used with steroids - whether that's the growth hormone or steroids which create the muscle mass is unknown.''

HGH was first tested at the Olympics in 2004.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/l...#ixzz2fwglBRB8

[bondi-boy]

After he was contacted by Fairfax Media following its discovery of the revelations, Brian Canavan, the Rooster's chief operating officer, said that the firm Nubodi, run by Sean Carolan, was hired by the club in December last year to provide blood profiles of players in preparation for detox diets.

Can't go back, but valuable lessons should be learned from this experience.

1. Never let anyone touch the blood of our players except ASADA, and our club.
2. Our club doctors are the only ones who should be doing blood tests for any detox diets that they, and only they, put our players on.
3. There are shady characters everywhere who are looking to use other people to make money...organised crime figures for example.

A friend of mine believes that he once [innocently, long ago] had a drug smuggler/dealer at his home for dinner...the new boyfriend of one of his long time friends.
He coming to this conclusion from what the female friend later asked his advice about...disappearing and reappearing luggage on overseas trips with the new BF, and his stories about why she should take his bag thru customs. Young woman was from a rural area and very naive.
Imagine if the cops had arrived at his home at dinner time, he would no doubt have been either arrested or under suspicion.

None of our players have failed a drug test.
The end of the matter.
We move on, older and wiser.

[Spanner in the works]

No, he confirmed that some HGH tests were done. While a few blokes had slightly high readings, these were reported to the NRL at the time and the subsequent tests showed no abnormal readings.

THE STORY SAYS...
- Sandor earl knows a guy who some Roosters players know, they must all be on peptides because they know him.
- This same guy played 1 junior game for the Roosters so anybody who knows him is corrupt.
- This is a massive blow and the Roosters are cheats.

1) Peptides aren't HGH and will not show high HGH readings... they'll show peptides. NOBODY within the club has 'admitted' that anybody except Sandor Earl used peptides.
2) A guy who worked for a company that the Roosters used for a raw meat diet (who there's no proof even worked with the Roosters) was sacked at some stage for under performing. He MUST have been dealing peptides right? MUST.
3) Footy circles are footy circles. Footy players will ALL know people like Sandor Earl. Guilty just because you know a guy isn't really the rule of law.

That's your own speculation, assumptions and innuendo. The article doesn't actually say any of that. You've jumped to conclusions.

Haha you must be either related to her or a journalist lol, but it still won't change the fact that her and her kind are grubs. The timing of these articles tell it all, they have been planned and designed to cause harm. As for the truth, she usually starts out with a factual story to gain a sniff of credibility then quickly descends into a wilful misrepresentation of the facts with draw dropping bad articles to build a hysteria to prolong the story.

You raised it yourself. Until the writs have been issued for court and/or a solicitor compels Fairfax to pull the article, one must assume what is said in the article is true.

[Guest]

You guys have forgotten about the allegations earlier in the year that a player who had been sacked for drug use was still playing for another club.

Think about it. Roosters management are not stupid.

[Darkone]

Peeps here might be loathe about the timing

Given how DT wants to use it as a hammer, the SMH hve gazumped them & its highly factual without the crap assumptions...

This is a positive as it answers the BS put out by Bourbon Bec.

[bondi-boy]

We were hated by all and sundry before this story...so, it cannot get any worse.

Hire some lawyers, sue!

Sue, drag all their asses thru the courts!