Waterhouse V. Singleton horse racing issue, so how the hell is Andrew Johns involved?

When a disagreement between the world renowned horse trainer Gai Waterhouse and multi millionaire horse owner John Singleton was first brought forward in the media nobody really new what was going on and then the Rugby League champion Andrew Johns and Gai’s bookmaker son Tom were brought into the feud! After a week of new stories and evidence coming out around this high profile, high stakes relationship breakdown, the whole picture of the situation has almost been clarified.

To explain briefly, John’s had been told by Tom Waterhouse at the ANZAC Day NRL game that “he didn’t like” Singleton’s horse ‘More Joyous’, and when John’s relayed this information to one of his close friends it was eventually passed on to Singleton, who was outraged to here this. Singleton severed all ties with the Waterhouse family and himself, creating a dispute that surrounded both that they were colluding to give themselves an unfair advantage in terms of betting and that he was never given any information of More Joyous’ circumstance. It was discovered later that More Joyous was in fact on antibiotics prior to the race, without Singleton’s knowledge.

With Gai immediately sacked as Singleton’s horse trainer, there was a clear display of the seriousness that the situation presented to the horse racing and sports betting community. It is hoped by people in these circles that the situation can be totally sorted out and the true facts of it presented to the public, so as to not hurt the sport any further. This is particularly important for many at this point in time as online betting and actually the particular involvement of Tom Waterhouse as the odds presenter for the NRL are facing a lot of scrutiny and backlash later. Furthermore horse racing is under fire from another angle also, after many horse crashes at a specialist derby over the weekend have stemmed public and animal rights group concerns.

Hopefully full communication of the Stewards Enquiry looking into this whole Waterhouse V Singleton saga can alleviate concerns surrounding such a high stakes controversy in our sport. 

Not such a good business relationship after all...

Why weren’t there any 'send offs' or 'sin bins'

Round 7 was set for a cracker between two of the top teams in the NRL, between the South Sydney Rabbitohs and the Manly Sea Eagles. However ened in controversy involving the refs not sending off or sin-binning Sea Eagles prop Richie Fa'aoso or Jason King, who was involved in three situations where he spear tacked South Sydney's star fullback Greg Inglis head first into the turf.

This was similar to the tackle that Bulldogs centre Krisnan Inu made on Greg Inglis, with which he copped a 8 week ban, but still questions were raised, to why he wasn’t sent off. The video shows, Krisnan Inu spear tackling Greg Inglis.

After the NRL controversially banned the shoulder charge from the game for the protection the player head, South Sydney coach Michael Maguire, as was concerned with the welfare of his player.

Three comments that he made particularly stood out:

“At the end of the day what does it take for someone to be sent off?” he asked.

“Greg was dropped on his head three times in the game and it has happened on various occasions in other games.

“I think it is an area where you have to protect your players. It’s just madness it has got to this point. I’m concerned about all my players if this sort of thing is going on."

Fa'aoso spear tackes Greg Inglis

As a result of this, the NRL referee boss has said "It's a big decision to sin-bin someone and it's a big decision to dismiss them from the field." But he added that they will review the sin bin rule and the prospect of using the sin-bin for repeated incidents of foul play, a move which could prevent a repeat of the attack South Sydney star Greg Inglis endured on Friday night.

It is likely that Richie Fa'aoso will now receive a hefty suspension as he has carry over points from an earlier incident, which Jason King is also likely to come under scrutiny by the NRL match review panel.

Hopefully in the future, refs are able to use sin-bins in particular more effectively to penalise players who put other players welfare at risk. 

Drugs in sports

New evidence has surfaced about a convicted drug trafficker claiming he had helped NRL and AFL players dope and avoid positive blood tests.

Controversial sports biochemist Shane Charter, who worked for AFL club Essendon as a strength and nutrition adviser, made the new claims in an interview on Four Corners in which he was asked:

Just to be clear, you've assisted NRL players and AFL players with their use of performance-enhancing drugs? He replied: I've kept them in a safe and non-toxic range so that they didn't do long-term damage to themselves.

Charter made headlines on Saturday when he revealed he had even been asked by underworld figures to spike players' supplements with illegal drugs so they could be blackmailed into joining a match-fixing ring. He denied ever having done so.

This is a massive step forward in finding out the drug cheats in sport. Its looking more and more suspicious every day. Its not looking very good for Australian sport right now. As a massive Bombers fan I'm really hoping they have done nothing wrong, fingers crossed. 

Bombers have won 5 out 5 this season and they are looking in the best form they have been in for quite some time.

COME ON THE BOMBERS!!!!!!

No Sri Lankan to participate in IPL at Chennai after being 'BANNED'

IPL Season 6 began with controversy with Sri Lankan players, umpires or match officials being banned from playing any game that occurs in Chennai, at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium.

This decision came after the political tensions, stemmed from the treatment that ethnic Tamils are receiving in Sri Lanka, between the government of Sri Lanka and the Tamil Nadu state government (a state that is Tamil dominant).  The ban came after the Tamil Nadu government wrote to the Prime Minister that they will allow IPL games in Chennai as long as they don’t involve Sri Lanka: players, umpires and match officials.

This has had a significant impact on the franchises that consist on high profile Sri Lankan players, who are unable to use their full strength team whilst playing in Chennai, especially the Chennai Super Kings who play half their game at this venue.

Mike Hussey told ‘The Hindu’ newspaper "It's a shame. The Sri Lankan players have nothing to do with what happened or not. The Sri Lankan players, like the others, just love playing the game. CSK itself will be without Nuwan Kulasekara, who I believe, is an extremely useful bowler in these conditions.”

Sri Lankan player affected:

• Mahela Jayawardene and Jeevan Mendis (Delhi Daredevils)
• Sachithra Senanayake (Kolkata Knight Riders)
• Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians)
• Ajantha Mendis and Angelo Mathews (Pune Warriors)
• Kushal Janith Perera (Rajasthan Royals)
• Muttiah Muralitharan and Tillakaratne Dilshan (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
• Kumar Sangakkara and Thisara Perera (Sunrisers Hyderabad)

As a result of this, franchises have asked for the first 2 play-offs of the IPL to be shifted out of Chennai, so that they can play their best strength teams.

ASADA investigation taking its toll on the Cronulla Sharks

As soon as NRL chief executive Dave Smith announced that 31 players were being targeted by a new ASADA (Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority) investigation into drugs in sport, information that the Cronulla Sharks would be a focus of this process surfaced.

After putting together one of the strongest teams the Sharks ever over the offseason, there were many expectations of greater success for the sharks this season. We are now coming up to round 7 and the Sharks have only won 2 of their 6 matches, with many pointing at the ongoing ASADA investigation as a major reason for this poor performance.

The ASADA investigation requires players to participate in a grueling and lengthy interview process, with a constant communication stream between players, their lawyers and their managers to ensure that they are protected. As reflected by many high profile figures in the NRL such as commentators, previous NRL greats and coaches, the switch in focus from sport to the investigation, both physically and mentally, makes in impossible for the Sharks players to be in the best form. As Brad Fittler put it, “They can’t have any intensity at all because what is on their mind all the time is what the lawyers have just been speaking about… they are going home with problems on their mind”.

A real controversy on this issue awakened when Sharks Coach Tim Flanagan finally admitted that the ongoing ASADA investigation was taking its toll on the teams preparation and game. He admitted after a couple of consecutive losses that he was trying to play down the investigation in order for the team and followers to concentrate on the game however now notes that preparation is being stunted “because there is too much stuff going on off the field”.

All participants and followers of the game are hoping that the investigation concludes on the earlier end of the four to six weeks initially exclaimed as the expected length of the investigation, especially considering the secrecy and lack of information to players, teams and fans from ASADA on their progress and findings. Worried sports fans are anticipating the process to drag out for extended periods and are expecting other teams to be more conclusively dragged into the investigation, thus damaging their season as well. The weight that is on the Sharks players and staff will hopefully be lifted as the focus on them wraps up, helping them to regain the best chance of turning around their season before its too late.

A lot weighing on the sharks minds...

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs In Turmoil

Within the period of six months the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have gone from winning the minor premiership and one win away from being grand final winners to currently bottom of the table and looking like a club in turmoil.

The one win from first six attempts is not the major concern; the major concern at the moment with the Bulldogs is the innuendo behind the scenes. In saying this the rumours are circulating around the rugby league world that Ben Barba wants an immediate mid-season release to join the Brisbane Broncos. The underlying issues with Barba stem prior the season even kicked off; he was originally placed into a rehabilitation clinic to deal with his own admission of having an alcohol and gambling problem and was consequently stood down for the first four rounds of the competition. Moreover, further rumours circulating state that Barba's behaviour has led to angst among his team mates and damaged the strong team bond they once had. Bulldogs CEO Todd Greenberg has come out as recently as yesterday to dismiss the rumours that the club is in turmoil through his personal twitter account (https://twitter.com/Todd_Greenberg). However, just as all league fans are aware of, for rumours to be circulating there must be some substance behind them.

James Hird to confirm jabs from Stephen Dank

James Hird to confirm jabs from Stephen Dank: Essendon coach James Hird is set to reveal he received two injections from sports scientist Stephen Dank for health reasons.

As some of you may know, James Hird and the Essendon Football Club are in the spotlight of one of AFL’s biggest drug scandals ever.

The allegations are targeted towards Essendon’s use of banned substances in sport. The most recent allegation is James Hird’s use of this banned substance.

Sports scientist Stephen Dank came forward and admitted he had injected Hird with a drug banned under doping codes, with the Essendon coach describing the allegations as "very upsetting".

Further information has come out that James Hird has admitted to receiving two injections of the substance last year. Also, text messages have surfaced which show that James Hird was aware of his team’s use of the substance.

While there is nothing to prevent Hird taking the drug, competitive athletes including the footballers he coaches are banned from doing so under the World Anti Doping Authority code. 

Scenes of James Hird and team after game celebration of one of the greatest wins of all time over Fremantle last weekend.

First Post

Our blog will be on the topic 'Controversy in Sport' which will be based on the controversies in various sports such as: rugby league, Australian football league, cricket, soccer, swimming and rugby union.

We a group of 4 members will be posting 15 blogs on different controversies that are part of sport at this point in time. This will over a period of 3-5 weeks, with an aim to post a blog every 3-4 days. Our blogs will include features such as images, videos and links.

Our layout for our blog is simple as you can see in the image below, we also have kept a simple color scheme so that the images and the text for our blog stands out.

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