The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks footy supplements saga was a sports controversy which began in 2011. The

Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Cronulla, in the Sutherland Shire, Southern Sydney, New South Wales. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australasia's premier rugby league ...

, a professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club playing in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

(NRL). The NRL later offered all five players a one-year ban, backdated to an effective six-month suspension, if they pleaded guilty to taking a banned substance. Sports scientist Stephen Dank provided sworn testimony about what involvement he had at Cronulla and which Staff and coaches were involved. Dank publicly admitted to overseeing a regimen that involved the administration of two growth hormone-releasing peptides, CJC-1295 and GHRP-6. Dank has never faced criminal charges in relation to dealing in or administering the aforementioned peptides. Both substances are banned by the World Anti-Doping Code, Dank admits both were injected into Cronulla players.

Drug Injections

The admission is significant, both for the 12 players who pleaded guilty claiming they had no knowledge of what they were given and for five players who refused the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s plea deal and were waiting for their cases to be resolved. Central figures in the Cronulla saga entered the witness box — head coach and head of the football department Shane Flanagan, head trainer and close friend of Flanagan Mark Noakes, former club doctor David Givney, physiotherapist Konrad Schultz, high-performance manager Trent Elkin and football manager Darren Mooney The Cronulla players were introduced to Stephen Dank by Shane Flanagan, Mark Noakes and Trent Elkin and told to work with him and trust him. They were given false assurances by Dank, Flanagan and Elkin about the substances they were given and that they were permitted for use in sport. What records were kept of players being injected? None Dank told the court that every week he had provided Elkin with a list of all the treatments administered. “I suspect the records were there, like I left at every football club,’’ he said. Elkin said no such records were kept. Dank’s work at Cronulla was loosely managed and undocumented. When Givney asked for details about what the players were given, he received a vague reply about amino acids and vitamins. Givney raised concern with Shane Flanagan regarding the practices of Dank however he was dismissed and eventually stood back and accepted the practices. The similarity with how Dank operated at Essendon a year later is striking. The process had serious ramifications and adverse effects on the football club as a whole. A number of senior staff were either dismissed or resigned, matches were played at a sub-par standard as players were physically, emotionally and socially affected, and it partially played a role in the club winning the

wooden spoon Wooden Spoon may refer to: * Wooden spoon, implement * Wooden spoon (award) A wooden spoon is an award that is given to an individual or team that has come last in a competition. Examples range from the academic to sporting and more frivolous e ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

. Several senior club members, including senior coach

Shane Flanagan Shane Flanagan (born 2 December 1965) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach, and was the Head Coach of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. He was appointed assistant coach of NRL team Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2006 and was s ...

and trainer Trent Elkin, received penalties and suspensions. Darren Mooney is no longer registered to be involved with the sport. Senior staff no longer at the club due to the controversy include Damian Irvine (former chairman) who stood down on learning of the malpractice and process failings of Flanagan and his off-field team, Bruno Cullen (former CEO), Darren Mooney (former football manager), Mark Noakes (head trainer) and Trent Elkin (former club trainer), among others.Cronulla Sharks chairman Damian Irvine quits club
''The Australian'', 13 March 2013 Shane Flanagan's suspension expired on 31 October 2014, whilst Trent Elkin is not allowed to work at another NRL club as part of his punishment.

Background

In February 2013, the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks were implicated in the Australian Crime Commission (ACC)'s report "Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport". The club conducted its own investigation into allegations of illegal performance-enhancing substance use but also awaited findings from

Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) was a government statutory authority tasked to protect Australia's sporting integrity through the elimination of doping. The authority was part of the Department of Health's portfolio and was ...

(ASADA)'s investigation.NRL clubs step into spotlight in doping probe
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 12 February 2013 This came a week after the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

asked ASADA to investigate concerns over the club's possible use of prohibited supplements during the

2012 AFL season The 2012 AFL season was the 116th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season featured eig ...

. In the wake of the report by the ACC, the Sharks then launched an investigation into a brief period of their 2011 season, and afterward claimed that none of its players had illegally taken any performance-enhancing drugs during that season.Sharks reveal probe into their 2011 season
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 13 February 2013 Shane Flanagan and Darren Mooney made statements to the board of the club that Stephen Dank had no involvement or contact with players during a short period of time in 2011. The board launched an investigation to verify those statements however Flanagan and Mooney retracted them and altered their story 3 days after the investigation was launched. This led to the sacking of Mooney and suspension of Flanagan by the Board and the resignation of Chairman Damian Irvine who was let down by the two men he employed who lied to him. In March, it was revealed that up to 14 unnamed Sharks players were interviewed by ASADA in relation to the distribution of banned substances during the aforementioned 2011 season. They were offered a voluntary six-month ban if they pleaded guilty to unknowingly being administered with a banned substance as they were told by Stephen Dank that they were being administered "vitamins and amino acids", but if found guilty they would have risked a maximum two-year ban from the sport.ASADA probe pushes Sharks into crisis mode
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 6 March 2013Sharks players warned to come forward
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 7 March 2013 Afterwards, just two days before the club's

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

-opening match against the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL), Australia and New Zealand's national rugby league club competition. The ...

, head coach

was suspended indefinitely pending the investigation by ASADA.Sharks stand down Flanagan
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 8 March 2013 At the same time, former

Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos Rugby League Football Club Ltd., commonly referred to as the Broncos, is an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos play in Australia's elite com ...

CEO Bruno Cullen was hired by the club as its interim CEO.Sharks clean house amid ASADA fallout
''ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 8 March 2013

Timeline of events

* 12 February 2013: The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are among six clubs named in the Australian Crime Commission (ACC)'s report "Organised Crime and Drugs in Sport". Shane Flanagan and Darren Mooney advise club officials that the club had nothing to worry about as Dank was not involved with any players and had no contact with players during a short time at the club in 2011 * 13 February 2013: The club launches an investigation into their 2011 season, in which the club denies distributing any illegal performance-enhancing substances to its players. *15 February 2013: Shane Flanagan retracts his initial statement and tells Cronulla Board that he stopped the practices after a few weeks once he realised Dank was injecting players * 6 and 7 March 2013: Up to 14 unnamed Sharks players named in ASADA's report into the club's supplements program are offered a six-month ban by the governing body, but all declined. * 8 March 2013: Head coach

is suspended indefinitely by the club as the investigation into the club's supplements program continues. Peter Sharp takes the reins of the club during this period. Mark Noakes, David Givney, Konrad Schultz and Darren Mooney are sacked by the club for their knowledge and involvement in the program * 10 March 2013: The Sharks win their opening game of the

2013 NRL season The 2013 NRL season was the 106th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia. The National Rugby League's main competition, named the 2013 Telstra Premiership after major sponsors Telstra Corporation, was contested by sixte ...

, defeating the

by 12–10 with Sharp in the coaches box. * 13 March 2013: Chairman Damian Irvine quits as the club's chairman. * 22 March 2013: Flanagan is reinstated as head coach of the Sharks. * 29 April 2013:

Wade Graham Wade Graham (born 25 October 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er for and captains the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. He has played for at international level. Graham previously played for the Penrith Pan ...

is among the first of many Sharks players to be interviewed by ASADA, however, he causes a major controversy by attending the interview in casual attire.Cronulla Sharks forward Wade Graham facing fine for fashion disaster
''The Daily Telegraph'', 1 May 2013 All further scheduled interviews are postponed for the remainder of the week. * 13 May 2013: Interviews between ASADA and the players implicated in the report resume. * 9 August 2013: Graham is interviewed for a second time three months after the aforementioned interview prompted investigators to postpone the inquiry into the Sharks by the same amount of time. He was the last of five Sharks players to be interviewed that week. * 23 August 2013: Sharks captain

Paul Gallen Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian professional boxer and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiership in 2016. ...

is the last of eleven players to be interviewed by ASADA. * 21 November 2013: ASADA's investigation into the Cronulla supplements use is completed, however this is not made public. * 17 December 2013: The NRL announce a series of penalties upon the club, which included the 12-month suspension of

as head coach, a $1,000,000 fine (with $400,000 suspended) and the deregistration of Trent Elkin as the club's trainer. * 20 August 2014: Several past and present Sharks players, notably those from the club's 2011 season, and five members of the current squad, are issued

show cause notice An order to show cause is a type of court order that requires one or more of the parties to a case to justify, explain, or prove something to the court. Courts commonly use orders to show cause when the judge needs more information before decidi ...

s and offered a playing ban of up to 12 months, backdated to 21 November 2013.Cronulla Sharks players receive show-cause notices from ASADA
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 20 August 2013 * 22 August 2014: The players in question, involving captain

and

prop Luke Douglas, among others, accept their bans but due to the backdating of them, will miss at least the remainder of the 2014 season only. For Douglas, it ended his record of 215 consecutive games from his NRL debut.Cronulla Sharks players accept doping bans
''Sydney Morning Herald'', 22 August 2014 * 30 September 2014: WADA announces in statement that it will not appeal the bans, in part due to delays not attributable to the players. * 31 October 2014: Shane Flanagan's suspension is lifted by the NRL.Shane Flanagan cleared by NRL to return
, ''Yahoo!7 Sport'', 31 October 2014 * 8 March 2016: Five Cronulla players who were not part of the group which accepted suspensions in August 2014 were issued violation notices relating to the program. * 12 October 2016: The aforementioned five players receive expired, backdated bans.

Outcomes

On 17 December 2013, following more than nine months of investigations into the Sharks' supplements program, NRL CEO David Smith announced the following provisionalNRL fine Cronulla $1 million, ban coach Shane Flanagan for 12 months over supplements program
''Yahoo!7 Sport'', 17 December 2013 penalties:NRL fines Cronulla $1 million, bans coach Shane Flanagan for 12 months over supplements: report
''ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 17 December 2013 *A 12-month ban for head coach

, effective immediately, with a possible reduction by three months pending further conditions as determined by the NRL;Sharks fined $1m, Flanagan suspended
, NRL.com official website, 17 December 2013 *A $1,000,000 fine for the club, with $400,000 suspended if the club could satisfy several governance conditions; and *The deregistration of Trent Elkin as the club's trainer in addition to an indefinite ban from the NRL.NRL hits Cronulla Sharks with $1m fine, year ban for coach Shane Flanagan, indefinite ban for trainer Trent Elkin
''news.com.au'', 17 December 2013 Flanagan and Elkin both lodged their appeals to the findings in early 2014, but both were dismissed and their suspensions stood.NRL dismisses Shane Flanagan and Cronulla appeals relating to Sharks supplements scandal
''ABC Grandstand Sport (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)'', 5 March 2014 At the time, no players or other club officials were officially implicated in the findings, however, on 20 August 2014, several players, notably those from the club's 2011 season and five players from the current squad, were issued show cause notices offering them twelve-month bans backdating to 21 November 2013 if they admitted to taking illegal substances during the 2011 season. Without hesitation, most of these players accepted the bans, including captain

; for the former, it ruled him out of the upcoming 2014 Rugby League Four Nations tournament at the end of the season. The players who were issued the show cause notices by ASADA under the politician

Peter Dutton Peter Craig Dutton (born 18 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been leader of the opposition and leader of the Liberal Party since May 2022. He has represented the Queensland seat of Dickson in the House of Representatives sinc ...

who is Sports Minister, and subsequently banned, were: *

* Nathan Gardner *

Anthony Tupou Anthony Tupou (born 1 March 1983) is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative, he played for the Sydney Roosters, ...

Jeremy Smith Jeremy Smith may refer to: *Jeremy Theron Smith a man charged with aggravated assault for wounding three women in Koreatown Dallas on 17 May 2022 *Jeremy Smith (Royal Navy officer) (fl. 1660s), British sailor * Jeremy C. Smith (born 1959), British b ...

* Luke Douglas *

Albert Kelly Albert Kelly (born 21 March 1991) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a or for the Redcliffe Dolphins in the Brisbane Rugby League. He has previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Gold Coa ...

* Kade Snowden * Matthew Wright It was later announced by the National Rugby League that each of the players implicated in the supplements scandal would be barred from receiving awards at the

2014 Dally M Awards The 2014 Dally M Awards were presented on Monday 29 September 2014 at Sydney's The Star, Sydney, Star Casino. Broadcast on Fox Sports Australia, Fox Sports, the awards ceremony was hosted by Matthew Johns. They are the official annual awards of ...

ceremony in September; in addition, captain Paul Gallen was also ruled ineligible for the

Brad Fittler Bradley Scott Fittler (born 5 February 1972), also known by the nickname of "Freddy", is the head coach of the New South Wales State of Origin team, a commentator and a television presenter. Fittler has previously coached the Sydney Roosters in ...

Medal for being the best performed

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

player during their victorious

State of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

series campaign.Paul Gallen and all suspended Cronulla Sharks players banned by NRL from Dally M awards
''The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)'', 28 August 2014 Five players further players alleged to have been involved in the program, but who were not part of the group which admitted guilt and accepted suspensions in 2014, were issued violation notices by the NRL on 8 March 2016. These players were:

Colin Best Colin Best (born 22 November 1978) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. He played primarily in the National Rugby League as a or for Australian clubs, Cronulla-Sutherland Shar ...

Paul Aiton Paul Aiton (born 1985) is a Papua New Guinean former professional rugby league footballer who is the current assistant coach of both the PNG Hunters in the Queensland Cup and the PNG Kumuls. A Papua New Guinea international representative , A ...

Ben Pomeroy Ben Pomeroy (born 10 January 1984) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Saint-Esteve XIII Catalan in the Elite One Championship. Telegraph poles for arms, he has played for Cambridge Park RLFC in the Penrith d ...

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (15 November 2022)Classic Connection review ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who wa ...

and

Stuart Flanagan Stuart Flanagan (born 5 January 1987 in Cooma, New South Wales, Australia) is a former Hungary international rugby league footballer who last played for the Appin Dogs and previously Cronulla Sharks in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) ...

. All five pleaded guilty, and were given twelve month suspensions; but, with backdating caused in part by the delays in prosecuting the case, the suspensions had already expired.

References

External links