SPORT llllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll ntnews.com.au Thunder coach confident team is clean Sport

By JESS WEBSTER ‘‘From someone who loves ‘‘Whether they go on to that really seriously.’’ throughout the season. scientists sport and loves using it as a play AFL or continue to play Archer said the club ‘‘It (supplements) is not my NT THUNDER coach Daniel tool to develop people, and on with us in the NEAFL or not, doesn’t feel any pressure to area of expertise but it’s my Archer says the NEAFL club top of that the willingness to we hope that we play a part in push the boundaries of sup- job to oversee our entire changing isn’t pressured to push the compete, it’s just disappoint- their development and what plement use and would wel- football program. I have total boundaries of anti-doping ing there are possible issues it means to be an elite athlete. come any changes by the confidence and support in guidelines. within our sport,’’ he said. ‘‘Taking supplements is all WADA or ASADA. what Kia (Naylor) does as our the game Archer was shocked by yes- ‘‘Lance Armstrong was a part of being an elite athlete, ‘‘We aren’t trying to find high performance manager terday’s Crime Commission big thing last year and then but you’ve got to know there that edge in our competition and Robbie McCullagh as our By GREGOR MACTAGGART report detailing wide-spread the potential that it does im- are rules and regulations, within an inch of what’s legal strength and conditioning illegal drug use and criminal pact us a little closer to home and that’s what we try and and what’s not,’’ he said. coach. At the end of this in- LEGENDARY NRL fitness activity in Australian sport. is quite disappointing. educate our players on. ‘‘We are happy with where vestigation, if the WADA and guru Billy Johnstone says Archer said educating ‘‘All we are trying to do at ‘‘We control everything we we are working within the ASADA change their regu- he was surprised by yester- Territory players on correct NT Thunder is provide the can give them, but we rules and regulations of high lations, we’ll change our pro- day’s revelations that the use of supplements was cen- most professional environ- educate them as well outside performance (and) our gram — that’s all we can do. If use of performance- tral to the club’s program. ment for our players. of the club — we take players also get tested they change, we adapt.’’ enhancing substances is prevalent at the elite level of Australian sport. Johnstone, who spent more than a decade as the strength and conditioning coach of NRL clubs Canter- bury, North ‘System will catch you’ and Gold Coast, said he never witnessed the use of the substances mentioned By GREY MORRIS in Crime Commission report. TERRITORY AFL stars PUB: Darryl White and say using any per- formance enhancing drugs at

TNEWS NT an elite level will end careers. White and Motlop played In my time, I never almost 400 AFL games between them in a combined saw any player use 25 seasons with anything like that Lions, North and Port Adelaide.

DATE: ‘‘If you rort the system you will come out at the wrong ‘‘I’m a believer in the old- end,’’ White said. ‘‘Drugs, school principles that you salary cap breaches or tank- get results by working and ing, the system will always training hard, not taking 8-FEB-2013 catch up with you.’’ the easy way out by cheat- White was at the centre of ing,’’ Johnstone told the NT Brisbane’s saline drip saga in News. 2001 when the Lions players ‘‘In my time, I never saw ran on to the ground with any player use anything like small plastic stents inserted that (peptides and growth into their elbows. hormone).’’

PAGE: The knockers said the Johnstone said the biggest practice was performance drug issue during his time enhancing and contrary to in the game came in the use fair play. of prescription sleeping tab-

46 Brisbane’s logic was the lets, which generated head- players could rehydrate lines back in 2011. through the drips without ‘‘When I was at the Titans COLOR: drinking large amounts we sacked a young man of water. because he pinched the ‘‘We got told off for using prescription pad of the club that saline fluid stuff when doctor,’’ he said. everyone’s using it legally to- ‘‘Because the clubs have day,’’ White said. driven the grog under- C ‘‘The truth was we were the ground and force the

M forerunners, it was all done players to blow in the bag under our doctor’s supervis- when they turn up to train-

Y ion after we had lost more ing, they are looking for

K than two litres of fluid. something else. ‘‘We got a couple of steps ‘‘Stillnox and drinking ahead of the competition then plenty of Red Bull was and it really helped us out popular.’’ with our recovery mechan- and are seen wearing bandages covering small plastic stents inserted into their elbows in Johnstone added the in- isms when (coach) Leigh 2001. The thought was to hook the players up to drips at half-time so they could rehydrate quicker fluence of sports scientists Matthews, Craig Starcevich, at club level has risen our strength and condition- to mask a lot of stuff. need to do anything like ‘‘The bottom line is you’ve ganised crime were also wide sharply in the past 18-24 ing and medical staff all got ‘‘But the only time I ever that,’’ he said. got to have a lot of faith in of the mark. months as the stakes in pro- together.’’ noticed blokes getting bigger Motlop said he was never your fitness coaches and the ‘‘I don’t think anyone in the fessional sport get greater White said the saline drips was when they’d been in the offered anything out of the medical people looking AFL would do it when there with each passing year. had enhanced recovery, not gym working their butts off.’’ ordinary in his 11 seasons at after you. are processes in place to stop ‘‘You have 5000 sports performance. Motlop cannot believe the top level. ‘‘It’s up to them to make it happening,’’ he said. science graduates from ‘‘That’s the thing with this claims a club with Essen- ‘‘Obviously there is the sure you have the right stuff ‘‘Even if there are outside university each year and Essendon stuff, it’s all a don’s great tradition would normal stuff we took that and don’t step over the line.’’ influences, at the end of there’s probably 100 jobs, so bit scary with the Lance need to cheat. was all legal like protein, Motlop said claims match the day it’s your life and the someone needs an edge to Armstrong stuff being talked ‘‘As I said on twitter, why recovery tablets and caf- fixing was an off-shoot of integrity of the sport is on stand out from the crowd,’’ about and it’s pretty easy would a great club like them feine,’’ he said. drug use and associated or- the line.’’ he said.

FOOTROT FLATS 1080127v7 NT racing not under cloud

THOROUGHBRED Rac- tration of peptides and ing NT chief executive hormones to thorough- Andrew O’Toole said bred racehorses,’’ the re- our horse racing indus- port stated. try had no problems to But not in the Territ- face regarding the use of ory according to peptides and hormones. O’Toole, who said he While the bulk of the had no correspondence Crime Commission re- with investigators prior port concerned human to the report’s release. athletes, thoroughbred ‘‘There has been no racing didn’t escape contact from anyone at their investigations. the ACC to me or (TRNT ‘‘The ACC has also chairman of stewards) identified the adminis- Lindsay (Lane),’’ he said.

46 NT NEWS. Friday, February 8, 2013. www.ntnews.com.au