Five current National Rugby League side Cronulla Sharks players are "among the players from their 2011 squad identified by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority as having cases to answer," according to Chris Barrett of the SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. ASADA’s 15-month inquiry was "drawing to a conclusion with show-cause notices to be issued to 17 players who were at the club three seasons ago, as well as up to 40 players" who were at Australian Football League side Essendon during the course of its supplements program in '12. Five remaining Cronulla players can expect "show-cause letters, which is ASADA's first step in the process of taking action against athletes they suspect of using or being given prohibited substances." The others expected to be sent notices are "either playing elsewhere or are no longer in the game." The anti-doping watchdog is "preparing to make the most significant move of its protracted and highly criticised probe" only days after former Federal Police assistant commissioner Ben McDevitt was announced as ASADA's new CEO. Cronulla CEO Steve Noyce said that he had heard "nothing on the matter from ASADA or the NRL and his priority was the welfare of players." Noyce: "I think the most pressing thing, as I've said all the way through this, is to make sure that we look after the players" (SMH, 5/13). In Sydney, Richard Hinds wrote the "very notion Cronulla and Essendon could be gutted by suspensions instantly clears the fog created by ASADA's eternal dithering, the AFL's bungled deal-making and the cries of persecution from the clubs, fans and media cheerleaders." Both the NRL and AFL have "formulated plans for the mass suspension of players much as they might perform fire drills." As a contingency "against a situation that -- you suspect -- they never genuinely believed would eventuate." Now? The "catastrophic scenario whereby clubs are stripped of their players and forced to play out months, possibly years, with uncompetitive makeshift line-ups is again given credence" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 5/12). In Sydney, Patrick Smith opined what "began as an inquiry has descended into nothing short of prolonged mental torture." It is "remarkable how well the footballers -- boys some of them, still now no older than 19 or 20 -- have held up to the slow drip of speculation about their very futures, their good names and states of mind." We can "only guess how it has rattled and hurt their families as well." From the day the story broke, "some of the nation's finest footballers have been held ransom to an inquiry that has never gained momentum." Nor, "for that matter, respect." No matter "what conclusions are finally drawn from these interminable investigations, the players and their families are owed an apology from ASADA" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 5/13).
