Jobe Watson

By Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

Just eight teams remain. In one of the tightest finishes in AFL history, the final regular season round had footy fans reaching for their calculators until the last few minutes of the final game of the year between the Adelaide Crows and the West Coast Eagles. Incredibly, the 29 point Eagles victory was enough to see them through to the final eight, while Melbourne, sitting a game and percentage inside the final eight prior to the round, saw their finals dreams shattered on the back of a shock loss to Collingwood and the Eagles win.

AFANA AFL POWER POLL (Round 1)
by Boris Kilpatrick, special to AFANA from Australia

1.    Western Bulldogs
Not at their best but still good enough to beat an impressive Collingwood at the MCG. They will only get better as the season unfolds and their injured talls return– a scary prospect for the other seventeen teams.

2.    Adelaide Crows
The Crows made a mockery of claims their midfield is not top class with a comprehensive victory over the premiership favorite Giants. Every other team should fear playing the Crows at Adelaide Oval this season.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Just when everyone thought the Essendon supplements saga was done and dusted, it has reared its dubious head once again. Ironically, it has been just about exactly four years since the Bombers came out and "self-reported" with a request that the AFL investigate the 2012 supplements program. Now, Melbourne's Herald Sun newspaper has obtained audio recordings of a crisis meeting which was held in August of 2013. Present at that meeting were chairman Paul Little (chairman), Jame Hird (coach), Mark Thompson (asst coach) and Danny Corcoran (football manager). The meeting was held to discuss the charges laid against the 34 players. The quartet are furious, believing the AFL had betrayed them and gone back on their word that the players would not be charged. In expletive-riddled conversations, all four express their anger at the league.

 by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Stephen Dank's appeal against his lifetime ban from international sports was set for November 21. However, the day before the hearing he emailed his former attorney that he would be unable to attend due to a family member being seriously ill in the hospital. He, in turn, notified lawyers for the AFL and ASADA and requested an adjournment. After 45 minutes of deliberation, board chairman Peter O'Callaghan announced the rescheduling of the hearing for December 1, contingent on Dank providing evidence from the hospital concerned and attending physician by November 26. This went against the request by the attorneys that the appeal be immediately dismissed due to their skepticism regarding Dank's latest excuse.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

 The AFL Commission was scheduled to meet on November 15 to discuss, among other things, whether or not to strip Jobe Watson of his 2012 Brownlow Medal. However, about a week before the meeting Watson decided to return the medal himself. He said he had "mixed emotions" regarding his decision. Now the Commission will decide whether or not to award the medal retrospectively to the two runners-up in Sam Mitchell and Dustin Martin. 

 by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The Swiss Court For Arbitration in Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by the 34 former and current Essendon players. The player were initially cleared by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, but WADA's appeal to CAS overturned that verdict and the players then launched their appeal against the banishment. With the penalty backdated to account for procedural delays, the players were effectively ruled out of the entire 2016 season.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

There has been speculation throughout 2016 about whether or not Essendon's Jobe Watson would return to the Bombers or walk away from the game. The supplements saga and resulting one-year banishment had taken a heavy toll on him and he left Australia to travel and get away from football.

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

The 34 former and present Essendon players have lodged an appeal in the Federal Court of Switzerland against the CAS verdict. The club's insurance will pay all legal fees. The appeal paperwork has to be translated into French or German as those are the only two languages in which the court, based in Lausanne, operates. Club chairman Lindsay Tanner said on 3AW radio, "The club is supporting that. We feel it's the right thing to do. It's obviously very important to the players to clear their name ... ".

It is unclear what time frame there would be on what would be a final appeal. However, the current players are resigned to missing the 2016 season. According to AFLPA CEO Paul Marsh,

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

THE FALLOUT

For the immediate present, the two biggest issues facing Essendon are replacing the suspended players and whether or not Jobe Watson keeps his 2012 Brownlow Medal. The league has already put provisions in place for replacement players for Essendon as well as Melbourne, Port Adelaide, St Kilda and the Western Bulldogs. For the latter four, they can upgrade rookies to their a rookie to their respective senior lists to replace the suspended players.

Of course, it is a bit more complicated for Essendon. However, the AFL had held meetings with Essendon and the AFLPA and came up with several resolutions: