Doping in football

[Queenslander]

The rules will allow for more testosterone than the average person (Olympic testing does anyway), so they will definitely be topping it up as much as they can. The Roosters very nearly got touched up for it in 2013 when a few players recorded elevated levels, so unless they were all doing it in Boyd Cordner's bathroom you would assume it's a programmed effort. Union likewise, although I would guess the focus may be more on physicality than week-to-week recovery.

Paul Gallen's heroic 80 minute effort at Origin level a few years ago always comes to mind when drugs in League is brought up. He didn't run of gas for the whole bloody game!

[The Merse]

It's rife in Rugby Union. The Welsh youth and national level is full of it, and there's little doubt it's following through to the Regions. I think it was Pen Y Graig that had to fold after their whole team tested positive.

Of course, something few people have talked about of late is that the great Jonah Lomu's decline was apparently linked to heavy creatine usage too.

[Boydy]

I thought the creatine and kidney thing was meant to be untrue?

[phonics]

Creatine was one of those 'Oh go on then' drugs no?

Wenger for all his anti-doping nonsense is well known for leaving creatine around the training ground (of the invincibles era, Bergkamp mentions it in his book) where pinches of the stuff weren't encouraged but you were able to take as much as you were willing,

[Lewis]

Creatine isn't a drug. It isn't particularly great (as far as I know) for people with existing kidney complaints, but even then you would have to be hoovering the stuff up at a ridiculous rate.

[Pepe]

http://chrisfroome.esquire.co.uk/

[Lee]

A judge in Madrid has cleared Eufemiano Fuentes but ruled that all athletes implicated in the Spanish doping scandal can be identified and blood bags (211 of them) can be handed over to the relevant sporting authorities. This could get interesting.

[Disco]

Shiiiiiit, that will make an interesting read. Lets hope it's published before being dogpiled by 1000 lawyers at once.

[Max Power]

This is when we find out the blood bags have mysteriously disappeared.

[Lewis]

I was going to bump this the other day when Muhammad Ali was all over the news. He was pretty much the supreme athlete of all time, and yet by modern standards his physique (and those of his rivals) was pretty ordinary.