Mick Malthouse has spoken about the drugs saga. Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited
CARLTON Mick Malthouse fears the Essendon supplement scandal will turn the finals into a shambles.
He said the saga, which he predicts will drag into next year, has hurt a lot of people in a way that many would not appreciate.
But champion player Wayne Carey described the AFL charges as a "gross overreaction" and said it was a contradiction given the players were not issued doping violations.
Malthouse said the Essendon players had to take some responsibility and asked why they didn't question why they were being injected.
He said any player group he'd been associated with would have asked him why they had to sign consent forms and why they were being taken away from the club to be injected.
"I am only going by what I've heard and if in fact they've left the premises to get injected, wouldn't there be a cause for suspicion among the leadership group to say: 'Why do we need to sign these forms, why are going off the premises to have these supplements injected into our bodies?'
'Why can't we do it in our clinically clean rooms in front of our doctor? What is this all about?'"
While the AFL last night charged the Bombers and key staff, including coach James Hird, for bringing the game into disrepute, no infraction notices have served on the players by ASADA but the investigation is ongoing.
Malthouse said he understood there was "an inkling" and strong rumours of Essendon's supplement use last year but it had been brushed aside.
Speaking to 3AW's Neil Mitchell, Malthouse said that the AFL, which he says has to show strong governance, wanted the issue resolved before the finals while Essendon didn't.
"I think there is going to be a shambles at the end of the year," he said.
"I think that everything will be pressed into the court system and then delayed and delayed.
"I can see it being completed until well after the season.
"There are going to be things that the AFL have to put into place to protect their integrity of the 2014 season, let alone 2013."
Asked about the possibility of the ninth placed side making the finals if Essendon lost premiership points, Malthouse said: "It would leave you with a very poor taste and there would have to be an asterisk next to your name and you made the finals 'because of' and we all know what that 'because of' would be."
Malthouse said the science departments at the other 17 club, as well as opposition players, had become a victim of Essendon's supplements program.
"The common thing that comes out of Essendon and I'm really staggered is that it doesn't enhance your progress as a player why have they done it?" Malthouse said.
"They have done it for a particular reason and we all know something has happened. Essendon has done something there to enhance them as footballers. Whether it be legal or illegal, that's up to WADA and ASADA."
Malthouse said every ASADA briefing he had witnessed finished with a warning to the players that they were singularly responsible for what goes into their bodies.
He said with the average wage of an AFL footballer at $268,000, plus the glory of playing league football, youngsters could tread the fine line in an attempt to get an advantage.
"You give them an opportunity to take or do something or inject something that makes them better, you don't think they are going to go out there and do it." he said.
"It's up to the AFL to make sure without any fear of hesitation that this is illegal, we will not put up with it and if we find (any illegal substances) you are then not eligible for the draft."
Carey questioned what constitutes bringing the game into disrepute.
"How is that defined and who defines that? It is such a grey area. In fact, it almost feels like the AFL is acting above the law and it's exactly why this mess is going to drag on for some time yet," he wrote on his Nine MSN blog.
- with Sam Landsberger
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