Saints in the paper again!

[Johnny Member]

Ramadan commenced on July 9th this year. When was he tested?

I don't see the relevance.

There are a lot of Muslim athletes in the world, and if was screwing up blood chemistry we would already know about it.

Don't know if there is any, SRS. It's just something a bit different and I'm interested. It may introduce some extra complexity e.g. what level was the banned substance found to be, is there a level of the substance below which it is not seen as a violation, was his system normal for other stuff? It's just a different set of circumstances and often the full story isn't available this early.

It must be hard to train play AFL footy during Ramadan.

[PaytonPlace]

So let me get this straight

We all know who the "un-named" Victorian club from 2008 is and it can never be printed
We all know of at least two "injured" players who went away for a while after failing Strike 3
We still don't know the Essendope players to this day

And yet our guy, it gets out in an HOUR...

Do we have any PR savvy, media department, lawyers, anyone doing any work down there!

Becca

[The OtherThommo]

Link it with Ramadan he'll be off in a day

Without understanding whether it might have any effect, I did wonder whether it might assist mitigation. There was a lot of to and fro re Alex Watson (any relation to Jobe, by any chance...?) and caffeine. I think OTB posted some of it very recently. It had something to do with Watson's system being a bit different in how it handled caffeine, and adjustments to sanctions and permissions were made subsequent to the original.

May mean absolutely nothing but I often recall the 3 clues the Giant gave "Coop" in "Twin Peaks".

1. There is a man in a smiling bag.

2. The owls are not what they seem.

3. Without chemicals, he points.

I see a lot of owls and I hope some of the pointing might be at, or by, Ahmed. Not sure the smiling bag's involved here.

[Sobraz]

Whatever it is that Saad took, it has been proven to not have any performance enhancing qualities, and for that reason he is fine and must be cleared...

Essendon Defence 101...

He is the victim in this whole, Anti-St.kilda campaign..

He signed a waver??..

Got an email/letter/carrier pigeon from ASADA giving it the all clear... ASADA stuffed up... Wheres Whateley when we need him...

[SainterK]

Ramadan commenced on July 9th this year. When was he tested?

I don't see the relevance.

There are a lot of Muslim athletes in the world, and if was screwing up blood chemistry we would already know about it.

It's relevant in the sense he probably had a meal replacement protein shake....that would be my bet

[The OtherThommo]

Whatever it is that Saad took, it has been proven to not have any performance enhancing qualities, and for that reason he is fine and must be cleared...

Essendon Defence 101...

He is the victim in this whole, Anti-St.kilda campaign..

He signed a waver??..

Got an email/letter/carrier pigeon from ASADA giving it the all clear... ASADA stuffed up... Wheres Whateley when we need him...

"I'm sorry, Gerard's out of the office right now"

[Bernard Shakey]

Ramadan commenced on July 9th this year. When was he tested?

I don't see the relevance.

There are a lot of Muslim athletes in the world, and if was screwing up blood chemistry we would already know about it.

It's relevant in the sense he probably had a meal replacement protein shake....that would be my bet

Pretty sure they don't fit the bill during Ramadan either. My guess is a cold or flu over the counter medication.

[PaytonPlace]

Can we trot out the Essendope "Good bloke" defence? Get a lot of people to say Ahmed Saad is a good bloke who knows a lot of good blokes?

How can a club with Lenny Hayes etc etc...he's a good bloke!

Who's our voice in the media these days...Spud?

[joffaboy]

Well my guess is anabolic steriods +HgH+AOD+EPO in a cocktail.

And my guess is as valid as any other guess.

[joffaboy]

Can we trot out the Essendope "Good bloke" defence? Get a lot of people to say Ahmed Saad is a good bloke who knows a lot of good blokes?

How can a club with Lenny Hayes etc etc...he's a good bloke!

Who's our voice in the media these days...Spud?

Stephen Milne as a character referee???

[SainterK]

Pretty sure they don't fit the bill during Ramadan either. My guess is a cold or flu over the counter medication.

Not during, but you don't think they could potentially try to make up for lost time after sundown?

I would of thought so?

We'll see.

Only thing that makes me slightly optimistic is that he has been playing VFL, so he wasn't suspended for the investigation.

[AP Erebus]

The main difference with the Essendon case is that he's failed a test. They'll do a test of his B sample, and if that turns up positive, then he'll be given an infraction notice.

I don't think it helps anyone to sit here and try and compare this to Essendon's case...

This looks like a standard doping violation by an athlete. Not the first, not the last.

[older saint]

IF he did take something banned, innocently or not he needs to cop his whack. These are professional athletes and they have access to resources to check things. The same argument applies to Essendon and any other athlete which takes banned substances.

[SainterK]

The main difference with the Essendon case is that he's failed a test. They'll do a test of his B sample, and if that turns up positive, then he'll be given an infraction notice.

I don't think it helps anyone to sit here and try and compare this to Essendon's case...

This looks like a standard doping violation by an athlete. Not the first, not the last.

Not sure on that.

If he failed a test he wouldn't be playing VFL while investigated under ASADAs guidelines.

This is an irregular test, so perhaps it will only proved to be heightened levels or something like that?

Fingers crossed that it's the case, if he fails a B sample though, thanks Saady but goodbye.

[saintsRrising]

Ramadan commenced on July 9th this year. When was he tested?

I don't see the relevance.

There are a lot of Muslim athletes in the world, and if was screwing up blood chemistry we would already know about it.

Don't know if there is any, SRS. It's just something a bit different and I'm interested. It may introduce some extra complexity e.g. what level was the banned substance found to be, is there a level of the substance below which it is not seen as a violation, was his system normal for other stuff? It's just a different set of circumstances and often the full story isn't available this early.

It may of been a reason why he offended though if he was after some energy supplement to carry him through the day.

[saintsRrising]

The main difference with the Essendon case is that he's failed a test. They'll do a test of his B sample, and if that turns up positive, then he'll be given an infraction notice.

I don't think it helps anyone to sit here and try and compare this to Essendon's case...

This looks like a standard doping violation by an athlete. Not the first, not the last.

Not sure on that.

If he failed a test he wouldn't be playing VFL while investigated under ASADAs guidelines.

This is an irregular test, so perhaps it will only proved to be heightened levels or something like that?

Fingers crossed that it's the case, if he fails a B sample though, thanks Saady but goodbye.

It's not failed till the B sample is tested.

Irregular may also mean however that an indicator like testosterone was too high, and that they are seeking the cause. Not looking good for Saad though as a failed test is pretty black and white.

[PaytonPlace]

The main difference with the Essendon case is that he's failed a test. They'll do a test of his B sample, and if that turns up positive, then he'll be given an infraction notice.

I don't think it helps anyone to sit here and try and compare this to Essendon's case...

This looks like a standard doping violation by an athlete. Not the first, not the last.

Not sure on that.

If he failed a test he wouldn't be playing VFL while investigated under ASADAs guidelines.

This is an irregular test, so perhaps it will only proved to be heightened levels or something like that?

Fingers crossed that it's the case, if he fails a B sample though, thanks Saady but goodbye.

It's not failed till the B sample is tested.

Irregular may also mean however that an indicator like testosterone was too high, and that they are seeking the cause. Not looking good for Saad though as a failed test is pretty black and white.

If it was black and white, they'd get away with it...

Allegedly

[desertsaint]

I reckon its Roo, Lenny, and Jack Steven.

No reason at all for me to think so, but mindless speculation seems to be the go on here.

Poor Saad.

Who will be the first to make some kind of Muslim racist connection.

You were. Well done.

[joffaboy]

I reckon its Roo, Lenny, and Jack Steven.

No reason at all for me to think so, but mindless speculation seems to be the go on here.

Poor Saad.

Who will be the first to make some kind of Muslim racist connection.

You were. Well done.

Thanks. it was rhetorical after all.

[fingers]

I reckon its Roo, Lenny, and Jack Steven.

No reason at all for me to think so, but mindless speculation seems to be the go on here.

Poor Saad.

Who will be the first to make some kind of Muslim racist connection.

You were. Well done.

Thanks. it was rhetorical after all.

Racist comment.

[Bernard Shakey]

The main difference with the Essendon case is that he's failed a test. They'll do a test of his B sample, and if that turns up positive, then he'll be given an infraction notice.

I don't think it helps anyone to sit here and try and compare this to Essendon's case...

This looks like a standard doping violation by an athlete. Not the first, not the last.

Not sure on that.

If he failed a test he wouldn't be playing VFL while investigated under ASADAs guidelines.

This is an irregular test, so perhaps it will only proved to be heightened levels or something like that?

Fingers crossed that it's the case, if he fails a B sample though, thanks Saady but goodbye.

Of course he'll fail the B sample, they all do, never heard of a B sample coming up different.

[suss]

Who the hell leaks this stuff? ASADA? The AFL?

It would be nice if the cow would disclose her source.

[plugger66]

As we should be doing with Essendon and was my point all along lets just wait for all the information to come out. I will say one thing though, those people who were so strong on the strict liability for Essendon players surely cant be now making excuses for Saad.

[plugger66]

Who the hell leaks this stuff? ASADA? The AFL?

It would be nice if the cow would disclose her source.

Well she doesnt have to but my guess would be our club. Get it out there.

[maverick]

As we should be doing with Essendon and was my point all along lets just wait for all the information to come out. I will say one thing though, those people who were so strong on the strict liability for Essendon players surely cant be now making excuses for Saad.

Why, are they exactly the same instances or are both scenarios claiming the same defence?