Sleeping tablets concern in NRL

Wests Tigers Robbie Farah in action. Source: Brett Costello / News Limited

WESTS Tigers captain Robbie Farah says he's concerned about NRL players regularly taking both caffeine and sleeping tablets.

Speaking at an anti-doping roundtable alongside disgraced Olympic sprinter Ben Johnson in Sydney on Thursday, Farah said he was among many athletes who used caffeine tablets before a game.

"I think caffeine's widely accepted," he said.

"(But) I worry about players I do know of that do take downers, or sleeping tablets after games.

"I notice when I take caffeine tablets before a game, I'm awake in bed at four in the morning staring at the ceiling. You just can't get to bed.

"There have been times where I've had to take something when I go to bed. I don't do it regularly but I do know of players that are doing it week-in, week-out. It does become a concern.

"...I don't want it to become a widespread issue."

Farah said it was purely his decision to take the caffeine tablets, which are offered to players by doctors and trainers and are a legal substance.

"It's our choice, it's not forced upon us.

"There'll be games I don't take it. But some games I'll feel the need or I feel like I want to take it to get my energy levels up a bit."

Farah also opened up about "absolute shock" he felt when learning of the doping allegations that sparked ASADA's investigations into the NRL and AFL, saying before this season he didn't even know what a peptide was.

"I've been around for 11 seasons now, and I can honestly say ... I'd never seen or heard anything or suspected a player or anyone I knew of being involved in doping," Farah said.

"I was probably naive to the fact that there were players out there taking illicit drugs.

"I don't think it's as widespread as everyone thinks - I'm hoping it's not anyway. From my experience, I know that 99 per cent of the people are doing the right thing."

Farah said players, including himself, placed enormous trust in club support staff in charge of their supplements program.

"As soon as our we've finished our weights session we come out the kitchen and I've got a shake - every player's got a shake - with their name on it with supplements in it.

"I've got no idea what's in it, but we're told to take it.

"I'd never think twice to ask what's in it, because you just don't expect for anything to be in there that's illegal.

"I'm a bit older now so anything I put in my body, if I've got question marks over it, I will ring the WADA hotline and double check it.

"If I was told you've got to take a needle offsite, I'd start waving the red flag."

"But a lot of players are at such a young age and they don't think twice about asking questions."

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Blatter feels heat over Qatar farce

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IT's been almost three years since Qatar was announced as the host of the 2022 World Cup and, after countless denials, FIFA have finally admitted they might have made a mistake.

The heat during summer months hasn't been the only issue plaguing Qatar's hosting of the event, with the gulf nation being accused of buying the right to host the Cup.

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With Blatter and FIFA back-flipping on the scheduling of the tournament, it's looking inevitable that a winter World Cup will be confirmed when the game's governing body next meet in early October.

Here's a timeline of the farce that has become of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

2010

December 2: The FIFA Committee awards Qatar the rights to host the 2022 World Cup.

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2011

January 7: FIFA president Sepp Blatter backs the idea of a winter tournament, after testing the heat for himself during a summer trip to the Middle East.

May 11: The first rumours circulate that the president of the African football confederation, Issa Hayatou, along with executive committee member Jacques Anouma, were paid $1.5 million by Qatar in a bid to 'buy' their votes votes.

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May 23: Allegations arise that Qatar paid millions of dollars to other members of FIFA's executive committee to buy votes in order to host the World Cup. The Qatari FA "categorically deny" the allegations.

July 11: The whistleblower in FIFA 2022 corruption claims, Phaedra Almajid retracts her claims.

July 13: Hassan Al-Thawadi, the secretary-general of the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, dismisses bribery claims. He also outlines the nation's plans to construct air-conditioned stadiums.

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2013

March 22: Blatter insists that Qatar will host the World Cup in the June-July summer slot as planned, amid growing speculation it could be moved to the cooler winter months.

May 16: Playing the 2022 World Cup in the searing summer heat of Qatar is "not rational and reasonable,'' FIFA President Sepp Blatter says in a newspaper interview.

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July 24: FIFA executive committee member Theo Zwanziger labels the decision to award Qatar the hosting rights of the 2022 Cup as a "blatant mistake."

August 25: Blatter confirms that that the FIFA executive committee will meet to decide on a time change, due to Qatar's hot climate.

September 10: Blatter admits for the first time that FIFA made 'a mistake' when appointing Qatar as the host nation for the 2022 World Cup, says The Daily Mail.

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V8 racer sets Nurburg record

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HOLDEN V8 racer Jonathon Webb can head to this weekend's Wilson Security Sandown 500 safe in the knowledge that his co-driver definitely knows what he's doing.

The Tekno Autosports driver will pair up with German racer Marc Lieb, resuming a partnership that brought them a podium at last year's Gold Coast 600.

Webb and Lieb on the podium. Source: News Limited

Although Lieb is not a regular in V8 Supercars and has not piloted one of the new generation Cars of the Future, he will arrive at Sandown Raceway match fit.

He is fresh from resetting the road car lap record at the infamous, 20.6-kilometre Nurburgring Nordschleife circuit in Germany.

Lieb drove Porsche's new 918 Spyder hybrid supercar around the Nordschleife in a scintillating 6 minutes, 57 seconds, lopping a massive 14 seconds off the previous record for a road-registerable car.

Compared to conquering "the Green Hell", the high-speed esses at the end of Sandown's back straight shouldn't faze him at all.

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Boks unchanged for All Blacks clash

Willie Le Roux and Ruan Pienaar celebrate a Springboks try against the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. Picture: England Darren Source: Darren England / Getty Images

COACH Heyneke Meyer says the Springboks will need to go up a gear when they face the All Blacks in a top-of-the-table Rugby Championship clash in Auckland on Saturday.

South Africa will field the same starting 15 and the same bench as they did for their 38-12 humbling of Australia in Brisbane last weekend.

Meyer says it's a great position to be in to be able to name an unchanged squad, but adds that he has utmost respect for the All Blacks.

"You don't want to get into the situation where it's easy to pick the same side and everything goes well and you've won,'' he said.

"We know we have to make an unbelievable step up. This is the best team in the world we're facing.''

Meyer said some of his players had the `flu but he expected they would all be over it by match day.

Both South Africa and defending champions New Zealand have won their first three matches of the tournament, but the Springboks lead the table because they have an extra bonus point.

New Zealand will name their team on Thursday morning.

South Africa: Zane Kirchner, Willie le Roux, JJ Engelbrecht, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Ruan Pienaar, Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Flip van der Merwe, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira.

Reserves: Adriaan Strauss, Gurthro Steenkamp, Coenie Oosthuizen, Juandre Kruger, Siya Kolisi, Jano Vermaak, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein.

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Pies need to make hard calls: Shaw

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COLLINGWOOD premiership captain Tony Shaw says the Magpies need to make some hard decisions on their list and the club can't "get caught up in names".

And Shaw suggested it was time for midfield star Scott Pendlebury to take over as Collingwood captain, saying skipper Nick Maxwell was coming to the end "very quickly".

Shaw yesterday gave an honest appraisal of the Magpies' state of play after they were bundled out of the finals by Port Adelaide on Saturday night.

He said the Magpies were "small", lacked pace in the midfield and natural rebounders out of defence and needed another quality forward to take the pressure off Travis Cloke.

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"There is going to be some hard decisions made," Shaw said.

"Our midfield's not super quick and Luke Ball, Nick Maxwell, these blokes are 30, 31 now.

"Sooner or later the game goes past you a bit. They have been great servants but you have got to make some hard decisions.

"You can't get caught up in names, you make those decisions, you bring an influx of new players. If it means eight to 10 changes to the list, you go for it.

"Bucks (Nathan Buckley) will be given time to build a list again and he will make changes.

"You don't have to bottom out. You can still make finals and do it pretty quickly. Look at Port (Adelaide) last year to what they've done this year."

Shaw's comments followed a similarly brutal summation from Magpies coach Nathan Buckley after the match on Saturday night.

"The club has got to ask itself questions. We've got to ask if we're making the right decisions in regards to culture and environment, personnel, game plan, coaching staff etc" Buckley said.

"You've got to consistently ask yourself those questions and when you're coming off a performance like that it gets asked pretty strongly.

"If we have any person or anyone or any thoughts at all that we need to cling on to what we've had well then this is the last blow that lets that go."

Shaw said it was time for premiership captain Maxwell to stand aside after five years in the role.

"I think the captaincy will be moved over," Shaw said.

"I think Nick Maxwell's coming to the end very quickly. Great servant, and great captain, but Scotty Pendlebury now will put his hand up for the job.

"I don't know whether Nick should play next year."

Shaw said it was time for the Magpies to move veteran Alan Didak, Andrew Krakouer and ruckman Darren Jolly on, also questioning the future of Quinten Lynch.

"I think it's time for Dids," Shaw said.

"Darren Jolly has been sensational for our club but if he wants to play on, I would look at moving him on myself. It's just time.

"If you're going to go down the track of playing Jolly and Quinten Lynch, they're not going to improve.

"I wouldn't be going with Lynch and Jolly on the list at the same time. You make a decision on one or the other, I would even say make a decision on two."

While Shaw said it was a bonus the Magpies had been able to blood so many young players this year, he quickly identified several areas the team was lacking.

"We need a another quality forward who can take some pressure off Travis Cloke and not make it so predictable," Shaw said.

"We're not a super quick side, we haven't got natural rebounders out of defence.

"Marley Williams has been a bit of a find this year, there is no doubt about him, but you need more than that.

"You need probably four out to your six that can defend and then rebound to put pressure on the opposition side. It's too stagnant at the moment."

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Voss won't return to Lions

Coach ... Michael Voss talks after being sacked by Brisbane. Source: Chris Hyde / Getty Images

MICHAEL Voss has categorically ruled out a return to Brisbane should a potentially revamped Lions board decide they wanted him back.

Voss said he was eager to continue coaching as an assistant at another club, but said he was not interested in being a "fallback option".

The sacking of favourite son Voss last month and the subsequent failed attempt to recruit Paul Roos as coach prompted a challenge to the Lions board.

Four-time premiership coach Leigh Matthews joined a rival ticket with current board members Paul Williams and Mick Power to oust chairman Angus Johnson.

Asked if he would consider a return to the Lions if a change at board level called for his reinstatement, Voss said: "Categorically, no".

"You know, when someone falls in love with someone else you don't become the fall back option," Voss said on Chanel Seven's Game Day.

"So, I'm not going to be that so it's time to move on."

Voss said his next move would be a family consideration, with a desire to put down roots wherever his next job took him.

"I'd be more than happy to just trundle along and be an assistant somewhere," Voss said.

"(It's) probably going to be more of a family decision for us this time, though.

"Our family's sort of, you know, younger kids getting into high school so where we go next, we really want to plant our feet and stay there for a while."

Voss nominated veteran forward Jonathan Brown as a future coach, but expected him to play on next season.

"He (Brown) would be a good coach," Voss said.

"He has a great temperament for it. The thing that doesn't get spoken a lot with Browny is his footy knowledge. He has an outstanding knowledge of the game and, you know, studies the game like no one else"

Meanwhile, Cameron Ling has dampened talk of a move into coaching next year after he said he was keen to stay in the media for another year.

The former Geelong captain's name has been linked with the Demons as part of a succession plan under new coach Roos.

"I've been asked a little bit over the weekend ... and I'm really enjoying what I'm doing now and I'm pretty keen to do that again for another year next year," Ling said.

"So I'm probably not ready to jump into coaching.

"I think it's something that you've really got to be ... got to be really excited about and I reckon there would be a couple of other guys who would be better for that."

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