Biggest Scandal In Sports History?

The Essendon Bombers used to be one of the most renowned clubs until this devastating blow.

The most iconic controversial AFL that almost tore the AFL to bits started with a team that wasn’t doing too well. The Essendon Bombers were in a rough patch with not even winning any sort of final for eight years. The once great team that is tied with the most VFL/AFL premierships was struggling to even make the finals. But their star captain Jobe Watson was on top of the world when he won the Brownlow in 2012. He was the diamond in the rough in that 2012 season by averaging a whopping 29 disposals per game. The Bombers future was looking more brighter than it has before. The bombers went on a decent run with coming 9th in 2013 then following that up by finishing 7th but losing to North Melbourne in the qualifying final. 2015 was quite a shocking year but 2016 was the year that tore the once great and respectable Bombers apart. The doping of the Bombers was one of the darkest days for the Bombers and it all started in 2012.

In 2016 the Essendon Bombers were accused of doping in the 2012 season. After further investigation the Essendon Bombers owned up to the claims. There was a total of 34 players that were confirmed to of been involved. And of those 34 that were still playing they were suspended for the whole 2016 season. Some players consisted of Jobe Watson, Dustin Fletcher, Dyson Heppell, Cale Hooker, and Michael Hurley. The players reportedly used the banned peptide thymosin beta-4. Thymosin beta-4 makes it so that it quicker to move. It also can help wound healing which explains the few injuries by those Essendon Bombers. ASADA or the Australian Sport’s anti-doping agency is the agency that decides what drugs are aloud and not aloud. ASADA banned thymosin beta-4 a few months after the Essendon Bombers reportedly stopped taking the substance. Even though they took the substance before it was banned the ASADA still believe that it shouldn’t of been taken in the first place. Since WADA The World Anti-Doping Agency are the people in charge it doesn’t matter what others think because they get to decide. Many speculated that they could’ve manipulated the case since the substance wasn’t on the ban list. ASADA replied with the claims with a couple of statements. “The World Anti-Doping Agency has sole responsibility for setting and determining prohibited substances. It is not possible to manipulate whether or not substances are prohibited.” They then followed up with another statement defending the WADA. “It is impossible to list every substance that may be used for performance enhancement in such a tool, particularly those not approved for use by humans.” The results affected all of the players, but one player took the hit the hardest.

Jobe Watson was the captain of the Essendon Bombers team that was later suspended. In that year that they took the banned substance he won the Brownlow medal. The Brownlow medal is that award that every player strives to get. Only one player every season gets the prestige medal. It is essentially the AFL’s MVP award. This meant that Jobe Watson was the best player in the AFL in the 2012 season. But the AFL was given a hard task. Because Jobe Watson reportedly took that substance. When the AFL concluded the suspension for the players who were in that team, they also deemed Jobe as ineligible to win the Brownlow medal, so they gave the award to the player with the next most votes which was a tie between Trent Cotchin and Sam Mitchell. This is the only time that this has ever happened and it most likely will be the only time that this happens. When Watson was asked if he believed that he was the rightful winner of the medal he said. “I feel like I am”. He also stated, “if I felt I had cheated, then I wouldn’t have accepted the medal in the first place.” It is quite an unfair process that has led to many players retiring. Even though Jobe kept playing he was never the same and never topped that 2012 season he said, “I look back at it and wonder how I got through it.” Even though the blow arguably hit him the hardest with the medal being wrongfully taken away from him he was not the only person that lost something.

The Essendon Bombers now have never been able to properly recover from that moment that has defined them for so long. If you go on the street and ask people what is the most notable thing that has happened to the Essendon Bombers, they would, refer to that scandal. Right now, they are still in a dry spell with finishing 15th on the ladder last season. They were once known as an attractive club with having the most premierships in the league and having many popular games including the ANZAC match and along with the Dream Time match. But this year they have had coaches and board members leave. They are still waiting for that finals victory, but it isn’t looking to good. But they do have a lot of young talent. Yet no players are wanting to go to this Essendon Bombers team because of how good they are and possibly because of their past. Though they have a long way to go they will slowly but surely resort to the way they used to be. The winning team that has a great abundance of fans that will watch every game and support this team like what happened in the golden days.

To conclude the Bombers have had a very bumpy journey to get to where they are now. They are slowly progressing from the scandal that left the league with many holes. The Bombers have now changed their ways hoping to never experience anything like that again. The players still thinking about what happened and how they are involved with one of the biggest scandals in all of sports history. And poor Jobe the man who rightfully won the Brownlow medal in 2012 sitting at home with nothing to hang around his neck. The scandal era is starting to come to a close all of those former Bombers hope as they watch the game still to this day through their TV screens.