Monday 21st March 2016

"We can beat anyone, as long as we do whatever it takes." Essendon Football Club Advertisement

As muscular sporting slogans go, it's a beauty. But for Essendon Football Club, it's become memorable for all the wrong reasons, symbolising the attitude that brought the Club undone. It was their motto as they prepared for the 2013 AFL season, just as the story of the Club's supplements program broke open, kicking off the biggest sports drug scandal in Australian history.

Three years on, despite numerous reviews, investigations and court hearings, there are still questions the club has not answered. To this day, the players still don't know exactly what they were given.

"If I don't get this information and I don't get the answers to the questions I'm asking, it's never going to go away." Hal Hunter, Former Essendon Football Club Player

This week Four Corners takes you inside one former Essendon player's battle to find out just what was in the supplements he was directed to take.

"They're not even willing to tell him what (the supplement) is, they're not even willing to tell him that they don't know." Lawyer

As a rookie with the club, Hal Hunter joined the other more senior players in the supplements program. He gives an eye witness account of what it was like to be part of the regime and what went on once the scandal broke.

"Now (they're) trying to make him pay for the privilege of finding out." Lawyer

He describes how the Club has stonewalled his attempts to obtain his medical records prompting him to take action in court, the first Essendon player to do so.

Hal Hunter's case gives an insight into the oversight of the club and its approach to the duty of care it owed all its players.

"I don't understand how an employer can treat an employee in that way." Player Agent

Whatever it Takes, reported by Quentin McDermott and presented by Sarah Ferguson, goes to air on Monday 21st March at 8.30pm EDT. It is replayed on Tuesday 22nd at 10.00am and Wednesday 23rd at 11pm. It can also be seen on ABC News 24 on Saturday at 8.00pm, ABC iview and at abc.net.au/4corners.

Transcript

Whatever It Takes - 21 March 2016

SARAH FERGUSON, PRESENTER: Hello and welcome to Four Corners. I'm Sarah Ferguson.

The footy season gets under way this week and few clubs in the modern era have faced a tougher start to the AFL season than the once mighty Essendon.

In January, 34 past and present players were banned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, for taking prohibited substances in 2012.

Back then they followed the instructions of their employer to take part in a supplements program run by sports scientist Stephen Dank.

Last week a New South Wales jury delivered a damning judgement against Dank for giving dangerous peptides to players at the Cronulla rugby league club in 2011 - accelerating the death from cancer of one player, Jon Mannah.

So what about the Essendon players? Four years on, they still don't know exactly what was in the pills and injections they were given.

Now one former rookie from the 2012 squad has decided to take on Essendon and the AFL, demanding answers to the obvious questions: "What exactly did you give me? And what harm could it do?"

This report from Quentin McDermott:

(Footage of Hal Hunter jogging by the banks of the Yarra River)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT, REPORTER: Hal Hunter's latest battle is preying on his mind.

As a football player he was tough and courageous. But now he's at war with the club and the league he once loved.

HAL HUNTER: They've been fairly disrespectful. They've treated me like I was the youngest player, I was a rookie, I wasn't important and I'm still not important.

Um, they're treating it like it's an issue that's just going to go away. But for me it's something that: if I don't get this information and I don't get the answers to the questions I'm asking, it's never going to go away.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Today Hal Hunter's going to court, where he's locked in battle with his former club, Essendon, and the mighty AFL.

HAL HUNTER: I fulfilled my part of the contract. I went to work every day. I did the training. I sacrificed areas of my personal life to try and benefit the team to achieve the success we wanted to achieve.

And then, when I asked them to fulfil their portion of the contract, for them to turn around and say, "I don't think so," was obviously really disappointing.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So to put it another way: has the club fulfilled its duty of care to you?

HAL HUNTER: No.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Has the club been open and transparent with you?

HAL HUNTER: No.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Has the AFL?

HAL HUNTER: No.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: He's taking the fight up to one of sport's most powerful bodies.

PATRICK KEYZER, BARRISTER AND LAW PROFESSOR: The AFL is an enormously powerful organisation in Melbourne. It's not like rugby league in New South Wales or Queensland; it's quite different. If you can imagine State of Origin, ah, but, um, nine months of the year: ah, that gives you an idea of, of the ah, of the cultural authority, if you like, of the AFL in Melbourne.

I mean, it really is phenomenal. It's, it's almost like a religion. They're a multi-billion dollar organisation. You know, it's a massive industry.

(Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008)

VOICE (off-screen): Get on it, fellas!

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): This isn't how Hal Hunter's love affair with football was meant to end.

(Hal Hunter takes a mark (catches football). Sound of applause and cheers. Footage ends)

HAL HUNTER: I can't exactly remember exactly when I fell in love with it. But I do remember that during primary school it started to become a big part of my life. And then I started to sort of gain aspirations of pursuing it as a career, um, as a lot of young kids would.

(Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008)

VOICE (off-screen): Come on, Hal.

(Footage ends)

MELITA STEVENS, HAL HUNTER'S MOTHER: It was very affirming for him. He was always a bigger-than-life toddler and then young boy as well. When he got onto playing football it was amazing for him.

(Amateur video footage of Hal Hunter playing Australian rules football, 2008)

VOICE (off-screen): Come on, Hunter.

(Hal Hunter kicks goal)

VOICE (off-screen): Goal!

(Footage ends)

PATRICK KEYZER: A phenomenal athlete and just so driven. You know, just a, um, ah, really driven by the sport.

(Amateur video footage post-game, 2008)

COACH: Number 31, Hal Hunter.

(Teammates and crowd cheer. Hal Hunter collects medal. Footage ends)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In 2011 at just 18 Hal Hunter hit the big time, when he was drafted by Essendon.

(Excerpt from promotional video, Essendon Football Club)

SKIP THOMPSON: Hal Hunter, welcome to the Bombers, mate.

HAL HUNTER: Thank you very much. It's great to be here.

Um, well, when my name got called out it was one of the best experiences of my life and...

SKIP THOMPSON: Yeah?

HAL HUNTER: Yeah, it's been great ever since I got here.

SKIP THOMPSON: Like winning Tattslotto?

HAL HUNTER: Yeah, better.

SKIP THOMPSON: Yeah, better. It is.

HAL HUNTER: Ah, I'll hopefully play some good footy and crack into the senior side and, ah, have a good season.

SKIP THOMPSON: Fantastic.

(Excerpt ends)

HAL HUNTER: It was obviously my goal for a long time to become a professional footballer and then to have that as my career. To be living that: I was loving it.

I did fit in really well with the playing group, the staff. Obviously the club had a lot of history, a lot of heritage, um, and that was something that, you know, everyone sort of bought into as a playing group.

JAMES HIRD, COACH 2011-13 AND 2015, ESSENDON FOOTBALL CLUB (Sep. 2010): We know that there's enormous upside if we get this right; also enormous downside if we don't.

SUPER: 11 September 2011

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: When Hal Hunter joined Essendon, James Hird, a legend of the game, was back at the Bombers and gunning for premiership glory.

PETER LARKINS, DR., SPORTS AND EXERCISE PHYSICIAN: He was the Messiah that came back to coach at the footy club: Brownlow medallist, one of the best players that I've ever seen play football personally.

SUPER: 11 September 2011

(Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, 11 September 2011, Channel 7)

BRUCE MACAVANEY, COMMENTATOR (Channel 7, 11 Sep. 2011): This is Carrazzo, 48 metres out and...

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: James Hird's first year as coach ended badly. In September 2011, the Bombers lost to Carlton by 62 points in an elimination final.

BRUCE MACAVANEY (Channel 7, 11 Sep. 2011): It's riding and riding: it's a goal. It's Carlton's day.

(Footage ends)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Fuelled by this crushing defeat, the club acted to turn things around.

A new supplements program was introduced.

HAL HUNTER: I can't remember specifically the first time I got my first supplement pill box for my fortnightly pills, or the first time I got blood taken, or the first time I received any injections.

But I do remember that it wasn't like: day one, you know, "Here's all your pills." You know, there were several meetings about: "This is the program we're gonna have for the upcoming season. These are the reasons why we're going to do it." And then after that we slowly progressed into being in the program.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: At a formal presentation given by sports scientist Stephen Dank, players were told the program was a vital part of their preparation for 2012.

HAL HUNTER: It was presented to the players that it was a cutting-edge program and these were the things that we had to do if we wanted to achieve the ultimate success in football, which is obviously winning a premiership.

And as a first-year player I really didn't know anything else. I didn't know what a normal supplements program looked like at an AFL club, so I just assumed that, you know, I was at Essendon, one of the big four clubs. And then, you know, this was what happened.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Were you told that the supplements were perfectly safe?

HAL HUNTER: We were told that they were WADA compliant.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: As part of the program, players were given containers of tablets and capsules to take home.

Over the ensuing season, at least 38 different supplements were provided to the players.

HAL HUNTER: I had several conversations with Stephen Dank. He was obviously the guy running the program. He was the person who I got all of my, um, tablets and pills off, um, for my fortnightly pill box.

Um, I don't remember specifically having any conversations about the specifics of any of the supplements we were receiving. But yes, obviously I did have interactions with him at the club.

{You have to have quite a number of people in it for it to be statistically...}

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal Hunter showed the capsules to his mother Melita Stevens, a scientist with a background in public health microbiology.

{Well, there's no evidence to show that it actually...}

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: She examined the scientific literature on the pills, which included a herbal supplement called Tribulus, which claimed to boost levels of testosterone.

{So it's a plant extract.}

MELITA STEVENS: I said, "This is not going to harm you, but I'm not convinced it's going to aid you." And he did arc up and say that, um, what would I know because I'm not a sports scientist?; and that there were sports scientists there that knew better than- knew, knew what was going on and they'd devised this program.

HAL HUNTER: I dismissed it as: "Mum, you've got no idea," um, which in hindsight I look back now and I feel like an idiot. Um... but yeah, I sort of said, "Mum, you know, this is the program and it's e- it's an elite club." You know, "It's Essendon Football Club. You don't, you don't work there. You don't know. You're not a sports scientist. You're not an athlete." Um, so I really just brushed it aside.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Some months after starting his course of capsules, Hal Hunter's blood was tested.

Hundreds of blood tests were carried out on Essendon's players to measure levels of testosterone, growth hormone and other markers.

HAL HUNTER: I remember getting blood taken on several occasions at the club. But what they were for, where they went, where the results were sent: I honestly can't say.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So none of it was explained to you?

HAL HUNTER: No. I just assumed that it was part of the regular tests that we would have. We had tests on our hearts; we obviously had a lot of tests on our, you know, physical wellbeing. And I just assumed at the time that it was part of that whole program.

ROBIN WILLCOURT,DR., HORMONE AND NUTRITION SPECIALIST: I knew Steve Dank and he and I were working on some things together and talked frequently about things that would be great to do for the Essendon players.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Melbourne doctor Robin Willcourt, who runs an anti-ageing clinic, signed many of the blood request forms for Mr Dank.

ROBIN WILLCOURT: Steve had asked me on a couple of occasions to write up blood request forms for the players, because they were doing a study on what the effects of a very intense training program would do to their cardiovascular and other health, over the course of a season.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Player consent forms later obtained by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority, ASADA, show that Stephen Dank planned to give the playing group up to 8,000 doses of Tribulus and 16,000 doses of the cows' milk extract colostrum in 2012.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Colostrum: how effective is that in helping an athlete get better or perform better?

ROBIN WILLCOURT: Mm. Well, have you ever heard of snake oil? Um, ab- it's a good food. Um, it's great for newborn babies. Calves love it. Ah, I think that's about all I can say.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The most controversial part of the supplements program was the peptide injection regime.

Player consent forms show that Stephen Dank planned to inject players with up to 1,500 doses of an anti-obesity drug, AOD-9604, which may help build muscle; and a peptide referred to only as 'thymosin'.

BRADLEY CLARK, SPORTS SUPPLEMENTS CONSULTANT: It's a peptide. It's an amino acid sequence which comes from the thymus. Within the thymus you've got, um, what, I think we know of eight or nine different peptides at the moment: thymosin beta-4, thymosin alpha-1, thymic protein; um, there's a, there's a lot.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (to Hal Hunter): Did anyone at the club ever talk to you about thymosin?

HAL HUNTER: I remember in- it getting mentioned. Um, there was a consent form for it. I do remember that it got spoken about.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Now as I understand it, there's thymomodulin, which isn't banned; and thymosin beta-4, which is. Do you remember what type of thymosin they talked to you about?

HAL HUNTER: I don't remember.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): In 2012 thymosin beta 4 and AOD 9604 were both banned, but were not specifically named in WADA's list of prohibited substances.

Stephen Dank discussed this grey area with Essendon's high-performance coach, Dean Robinson. In texts discussing a range of supplements, the two men agreed not to use the term 'peptides'.

TEXT MESSAGE FROM DEAN ROBINSON TO STEPHEN DANK (voiceover): Can we just call them amino acids? Or something of the kind?

TEXT MESSAGE FROM STEPHEN DANK TO DEAN ROBINSON (voiceover): Yes. That is all they are. An amino acid blend.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The safety of these supplements, and whether they would damage his health, was a key consideration for Hal Hunter.

HAL HUNTER: I don't drink. I don't smoke. I don't take drugs. So when we were told about all the supplements and what we were going to be given, obviously I was happy enough to partake in the program from the information I'd been given that it was something that wouldn't do me any ill-health. It was, um, certified by a doctor. It was all regulated medication.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But Hal Hunter was mistaken in believing that all the supplements were regulated, tested and approved for human use.

ROBIN WILLCOURT: Some of them probably don't need much in the way of clinical testing because, like thymosin beta 4, it's a naturally occurring substance. AOD-9604: a naturally occurring part of growth hormone. And we know what they do very quickly.

Ah, and, ah, by knowing what they do very quickly, they don't require 100 years of testing, like some other drugs might well have needed.

BEN MCDEVITT, CEO, AUSTRALIAN SPORTS ANTI-DOPING AUTHORITY: When we start to talk about substances being administered - these being substances that have not been through clinical trials, ah, and substances which are unapproved for human use - then surely, you know, that's got to ring alarm bells.

And in my view, it is just extraordinarily unacceptable that a regime could go ahead with such uncertainty, ah, as to the long-term health effects; ah, the side effects; the implications of having injections of unknown substances into healthy athletes.

SHANE CHARTER, SPORTS BIOCHEMIST: Yeah, I was a bodybuilder and a power-lifter for 20 years and as such, ah, I had experience with performance-enhancing drugs.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The man Stephen Dank used to source his peptides was Shane Charter, a biochemist and former bodybuilder who in 2007 was jailed for importing pseudoephedrine into Australia.

SHANE CHARTER: I sourced a range of peptides that was requested, ah, through a meeting with Stephen Dank, Nima Alavi and also through the clinic that they have in Sydney.

They made a list. They even emailed through the list as to projected volumes and quantities required. And thymosin alpha and thymosin beta-4 were both on that list.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In November 2011 Shane Charter travelled to China on Dank's behalf to procure the peptides. Charter set up a supply chain for future orders with a company in Shanghai called GL Biochem.

SHANE CHARTER: I had an office in Shanghai. And that office had already been through the process of quality control and sourced a company that was run by an American at the time.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So this company was GL Biochem. Is that right?

SHANE CHARTER: Yes.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So what level of quality were the products you sourced from them?

SHANE CHARTER: They were ni - ah, 98 per cent.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And is that sufficiently pure for human consumption?

SHANE CHARTER: Ah, they were not designed for human consumption. They were not purchased for human consumption.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Shane Charter had to sign an agreement before GL Biochem would release the products to him.

(To Shane Charter) Isn't it the case that they asked you to sign an assurance for them that these products would not be used for humans; they w- they were not for human consumption?

SHANE CHARTER: They did ask that. Yes. Correct.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: A- and you signed that?

SHANE CHARTER: Correct.

{So this is the style of product that you might find from a compounding pharmacist or a...}

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Bradley Clark is a scientist and consultant on drugs in sport, with a background in the development and manufacture of supplements.

(To Bradley Clark) If you wanted to source peptides intended for human consumption, would you get them from GL Biochem?

BRADLEY CLARK: No.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Why not?

BRADLEY CLARK: Um... purity issues and governance issues. Now, that's not an aspersion on GL Biochem at all. Um, to obtain peptides for use in humans, it has to come from a pharmaceutical company, not a, not a research company.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And GL Biochem is just a research company?

BRADLEY CLARK: A r-, they produce research chemicals.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Whether the supplements they were given were fit for human consumption seemingly never occurred to Hal Hunter or his teammates.

(To Hal Hunter) Did you talk to the other players about the supplements? And if so, did they have any concerns?

HAL HUNTER: I didn't personally have any conversations with any other players about, um, the program we were on. Um, I didn't have any reason to question it or to think that it wasn't the right thing to be doing.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The peptides Shane Charter bought from China included thymosin beta-4, which helps with tissue repair, and six growth-factor peptides. All, in 2012, were banned by WADA.

SHANE CHARTER: At the end of the day: if they're banned, they're banned. And if they shouldn't be used, they shouldn't be used.

(Footage of Stephen Dank in his front yard, carrying box. He locks his front gate)

REPORTER: Did they take thymosin beta-4?

STEPHEN DANK, SPORTS {}: No, they didn't.

REPORTER: They didn't?

STEPHEN DANK: They didn't.

REPORTER 2: AOD?

STEPHEN DANK: As I said, I'm not commenting on anything, boys. So I'll just leave it to the barristers for today. Thanks very much.

REPORTER: So these reports are wrong: that 11 players took thymosin beta-4?

STEPHEN DANK: Certainly are. Thank you very much.

(Stephen Dank walks away. Footage ends)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (to Ben McDevitt): Can I ask you about the raw materials that were imported by Shane Charter from China, from GL Biochem?

Does ASADA believe that those raw materials were compounded into products which were then injected into Essendon players?

BEN MCDEVITT: Absolutely.

(Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, April 2012, Fox Sports)

SPORTS COMMENTATOR 1 (Fox Sports): So he runs around, opens up the angle. And that is a terrific start for Essendon.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): In April 2012, it looked like Stephen Dank's supplements program had begun to pay off.

SPORTS COMMENTATOR 2 (Fox Sports): Kicks: advantage the call. Outstanding Bombers.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): Essendon went into their fourth-round game with Carlton undefeated, scoring an emphatic win against the team that had bundled them out of an elimination final seven months earlier.

SPORTS COMMENTATOR 2 (Fox Sports): How quick was that?

(Footage ends)

(Footage of exterior of HyperMED clinic, South Yarra, Melbourne)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But the pressure to win led Stephen Dank to experiment with different treatments, including oxygen therapy at this Melbourne clinic.

(To Graeme Little) Who at Essendon Football Club was introducing the team to you, to HyperMED? Was it Dean Robinson? Stephen Dank? Who was it?

GRAEME LITTLE, ADVISER TO HYPERMED: It was, ah, it was definitely Steve Danks who actually walked in off the street, would you believe? Um, ah-ah about two weeks before the round three match against Carlton.

And, ah, you know, there's been a lot said about Steve, but he was aware of hyperbaric's ability to help recovery.

HAL HUNTER: You sit in the chamber. It's pressurised. Then they pump, ah, pure oxygen into the chambers. And then it circulates into your blood more rapidly: is what I had led to believe they do.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: At HyperMED, at least 20 players - not including Hal Hunter - were also injected with cerebrolysin, a peptide derived from pigs' brains which is used to treat Alzheimer's.

Hal Hunter recalls being injected with another unknown substance, labelled as amino acids.

HAL HUNTER: I'd be directed to go to HyperMED and do a hyperbaric chamber. And then afterwards, I'd be directed to have my amino acid injection.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Did they give you any more detail about what the amino acids were and where they came from?

HAL HUNTER: No.

(Footage of Essendon playing against Carlton, August 2012)

SPORTS COMMENTATOR 3 (Fox Sports): ...kick the last goal. Could he kick one from the impossible angle? Impossible...

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): Despite the supplements program, the Bombers crashed in the second half of the season and missed the finals.

SPORTS COMMENTATOR 3 (Fox Sports): Blues get another! What an afternoon.

(Footage ends)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: But worse was to come: in February 2013, the Essendon scandal broke.

HAL HUNTER: We were called into the club and we had a team meeting in the auditorium. And we got told that some things had happened, um, that the club had uncovered; and that we would be self-reporting that afternoon and doing the press conference.

Um, and that was the first time I had really thought there was anything to worry about, or had even thought that we'd been doing anything that wasn't the right thing to be doing.

(Footage of press conference, February 2013)

JAMES HIRD (Feb. 2013): I'm very disappointed: shocked, I think, is probably the best word. Um, we believe that, you know, as a leader of the football department, as the coach: take full responsibility for what happens within our football department. And I believe we'd followed processes. We've put in place the right sort of processes.

Ah, my understanding is that we worked within the, the framework that was given to us, um, by the AFL and by WADA. And I'm shocked to be sitting here, really.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal Hunter's first thought was of his mother.

HAL HUNTER: When I found out that it was in relation to the pills we'd been taking and the injections, the offsite facilities...

It's actually a funny story: I told the player welfare manager that my Mum would be furious, because she had voiced, um, to me her, um, concerns with the program, um, 12 months prior. Um, and I just thought that it was a little bit ironic, um, that, you know, the thing she had said: there'd been an issue.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So you went home and ate humble pie?

HAL HUNTER (laughs): Yes.

MELITA STEVENS: I think he was, he was a little bit more frightened at the beginning about what my reaction was going to be, more so than what the, um, implications of the, um, supplements program was going to be.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: One by one the players, coaches and club officials were called in for questioning by ASADA investigators.

When Hal Hunter and his mother attended his interview, they were shocked by what they heard.

MELITA STEVENS: They did start the questioning by saying, "We're going to tell you something and you're probably not going to be very happy about it."

And then they explained that the injections that Hal had been given at HyperMED: I think it said six or seven injections on the list. They said it was probably an amino acid, but nobody really knows.

It was- belonged to a, um, different patient: a muscular dystrophy patient who had visited HyperMED; and that, um, that person had purchased these, um, medication in Mexico and it had been left at the clinic. And that's what Hal - and the other players that were there that had injections - were injected with.

HAL HUNTER: So when he mentioned that they think the supplements I was administered at HyperMED were originally sourced in Mexico and were for another patient's illness, it was the first I'd ever heard of it. And obviously I wasn't that happy about it.

Yeah, It rattled me a little bit.

MELITA STEVENS: The fact that it belonged to somebody else; the fact that it was purchased outside of the country: he was very upset about that.

I was upset because, because there's no chain of custody for those sorts of medications. And it sort of: it's, it's, you know, of course highly unethical to inject somebody with somebody else's medicine and to not have the appropriate controls in place, or the forms, or the provenance of those compounds.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The client with muscular dystrophy who'd imported the amino acids was a patient of Dr Robin Willcourt.

(To Robin Willcourt) So there was talk of a supplement which was bought over the counter in Mexico and administered to some of the players. What's your direct knowledge of that?

ROBIN WILLCOURT: Well, that's just rubbish. Ah, the person concerned picked up this, ah... ah... what do you call it? A concoction, if you will, of amino acids with vitamin B in it. And that's used in lots of detox programs. It- there's nothing bizarre and strange about that.

And it came from New Mexico: so thank those people for getting their geography screwed up. It wasn't Mexico - I'd be worried about that if it came from there; it was New Mexico which happens to be, for those who don't know, a state of the United States.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ASADA believes the concoction did come from Mexico. And that's not all.

(To Ben McDevitt) Is it also the case that your investigators believe it may have been a veterinary supplement: an equine supplement?

BEN MCDEVITT: Well, my understanding is that, ah, according to the evidence of one of the players, ah, they had at some point seen a l- a label on a jar which said, ah: "For equine use only."

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: This was another shock to Hal and his family.

MELITA STEVENS: Well, maybe it was, you know, designed for horses and not people.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: That has been suggested to us.

MELITA STEVENS: That it was for horses? Yes. Well, th- that- and that- Then you get to issues about concentration, because if you look at the size of a horse compared to the size of - I mean, they're big boys, let's be clear: those football players.

But if you were looking at something where you wanted to get an effective dose for a treatment for a horse: if you gave that to a person, um, there could be consequences, I imagine.

BEN MCDEVITT: Let me give you some information about the sort of clinical trial…

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ASADA CEO Ben McDevitt believes Essendon's players signed up to a program which in reality treated them as guinea pigs - as shown by this exchange between Stephen Dank and compounding pharmacist Nima Alavi when Essendon had started losing games.

BEN MCDEVITT (reads): Stephen Dank to Nima Alavi: "I need some help with this football team." Nima: "Don't worry, buddy. We can start them on the cocktails next week. When is the next game?"

We then have some further discussion about whether or not this particular cocktail might work. Nima: "Very much so. It's amazing and being used in the USA for elite horse racing. I can even put the thymosin and AOD into it." Stephen Dank: "Perfect. Let's get going. Let us test a couple of players."

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: What does that tell you about Mr. Dank's professionalism and, indeed, the risks that he was prepared to take with Essendon's players?

BEN MCDEVITT: Well, I think it shows an extraordinary lack of concern for players' health and welfare. It's a clear indicator of the absolutely experimental nature of this.

And for somebody who professes to have concern for the welfare of players and to be a friend of the players - and certainly has done them no favours.

PETER JESS, SPORTS AGENT: People who say that there is no health consequence: then I'm happy for them to come into a clinic and be injected with exactly the same stuff and let them wait for 10 years to see if there is. And then we have a control group.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Peter Jess, who manages the banned player Nathan Lovett-Murray, sees Essendon and the AFL as the real culprits in the supplements scandal.

PETER JESS: The real cheats are not the players but the people who have perpetrated this on the players. And they should be the ones who are going through this process and excluded from their livelihood.

And that includes the people in the AFL, the people at the club and everybody that is associated with this.

We've got the wrong group. It is not the players who should be sitting and being judged: it should be the people who let this happen.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Four months after being interviewed by ASADA, as he struggled with injuries and as scandal engulfed the club, Hal Hunter was delisted. He had never made it to the senior team.

HAL HUNTER: When they didn't renew my contract, obviously my football career at Essendon was over, um, and I was devastated.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: In October 2014, still shell-shocked by ASADA's revelations, Hal Hunter asked Essendon for details of the supplements he'd been given.

(To Hal Hunter) When you and your family and your legal team went to the club and asked them to answer those questions, what did they do?

HAL HUNTER: Um, firstly they asked me what the damage to me was. And then they refused to give me any information, um, about the supplements I received.

JIM CONSTANTINOU, FAMILY LAWYER: That to me is the most reprehensible part of the whole saga, so far as Hal was concerned.

He doesn't know what he was given. He therefore doesn't know whether to have concerns about his health or not. And he wonders each day whether the fact that he was given supplements may rear its head in a particular way that he doesn't- is unaware of.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: It took the club eight more months to hand over Hal Hunter's medical records, but none of these detailed the supplements he had been given.

HAL HUNTER: There's been lots and lots of delays. They seriously questioned why I needed them; what my motives were. You know, they claimed I was a disgruntled ex-employee. Um, they've tried to brush me off like I'm not important.

Um, and you know, it's been almost a year-and-a-half and I still don't have any answers to the questions I'm asking. And I'm no closer to finding out what I was given.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Two months after handing over his medical records, Essendon unearthed further records relating to Hal Hunter's supplements regime.

In those documents was only one signed consent form for a single supplement, Tribulus. The club hadn't been able to show any formal consent for the injections Hal Hunter received at HyperMED.

(To James Hunter) James, I'm right, aren't I, that this single line on this single page, um, from HyperMED is the only information that Essendon Football Club has given you about what Hal was injected with at HyperMED?

JAMES HUNTER, HAL HUNTER'S FATHER: Yeah, that's correct.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And-and, and what, if anything, does it say about the injections themselves?

JAMES HUNTER: Er, well, it acknowledges that there were injections, but it gives absolutely no detail. If- if anything, this is an invoicing record. It's probably the best way to describe it.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So the only description is up at the top: amino acid?

JAMES HUNTER: Correct.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Four Corners approached HyperMED and was able to obtain previously unseen records on Hal Hunter's behalf.

But even these are unhelpful.

(To James Hunter) The level of detail, even in these documents from HyperMED, is, is pretty sparse, isn't it?

JAMES HUNTER: Yeah, that's right. I mean, they refer to them as the "injectables": that's here in the documents. "Daily injectables."

But again: from Hal's point of view there's no further detail on exactly what were in these, ah, injections; um, where they came from; ah, where they were sourced; um, why they were given.

It almost raises more concerns that there was just no detail here. And the players were really in the dark about what they were being given.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: While Stephen Dank insists that no risk attached to the peptides the players were injected with, other sports scientists disagree. It's a highly contentious area.

One peptide which causes concern with some scientists is the peptide which led to Essendon's players being banned: thymosin beta-4.

BRADLEY CLARK: The positive effects of thymosin beta-4 are cell regeneration and repair, in a manner similar to an anabolic steroid.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: What are the possible dangers?

BRADLEY CLARK: Um... cancer, I guess; um, accelerated mutagenic response to growth factors. That's a, it's a complex term but it means that you're photocopying photocopies of photocopies. There's an error: it turns to cancer.

(Footage of Peter Harcourt addressing 'Anti-Doping in Sports' conference, FIFA headquarters, Zurich, November 2013)

PETER HARCOURT, DR., MEDICAL DIRECTOR, AFL (Nov. 2013): There was a lack of documentation of substance use...

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT (voiceover): The potential cancer risk of some peptides was highlighted by the AFL's chief medical officer, Dr Peter Harcourt, in an address he gave to an anti-doping conference in 2013.

PETER HARCOURT (Nov. 2013): My job now is to work out a program to monitor the players for the next five to 10 years, because they were given such exotic substances, many of them growth factors, which means that we're looking at potential hormonal issues or cancers.

So now we, we have to go through a process of looking after these 35-odd players, just to make sure that nothing really nasty happened to them from, from this crazy activity that, um, individuals allowed to, ah, to occur at the club.

(Footage ends)

PETER LARKINS: We've always said there's a potential for even cancers to grow. If you're stimulating your body with a stimulant chemical that makes your cells multiply an- and, and, you know, to do more things that they weren't designed to do, we may do that.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Last week, in a Supreme Court defamation action, a jury found that Stephen Dank had administered "dangerous and cancer-causing supplements" to members of a Sydney NRL team, Cronulla, thereby exposing them to risk.

The jury found that by administering dangerous peptides to rugby league player Jon Mannah, when his cancer was in remission, Stephen Dank had accelerated his death from cancer in 2013.

The jury found that Mr Dank had acted with "reckless indifference" to Jon Mannah's life and his conduct was "absolutely indefensible".

(Footage of Stephen Dank leaving court house, March. A group of reporters approach him)

STEPHEN DANK: Good afternoon, boys.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: So, Mr Dank, that's a very bad result indeed for you, isn't it?

STEPHEN DANK: Oh, not really. Not really.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: More importantly, it's shattered your reputation, hasn't it?

STEPHEN DANK: No, it hasn't. I'm fine. I'm fine.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And how about the peptides you gave...

STEPHEN DANK: I'm not, I'm not o...

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: ...to Essendon players? Did they damage their health?

STEPHEN DANK: I'm not offering you any more comment. I'm not offering you any more comment.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Shouldn't you be addressing these questions, Mr Dank?

STEPHEN DANK: Oh, I don't want to.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: They're very important questions, aren't they?

Let me ask you about Hal Hunter, Mr Dank, because…

STEPHEN DANK: Mate, there is no more comments, thanks.

PETER LARKINS: I mean, the great fear in a young developing athlete is: what if they develop skin tumours? What if they develop testicular tumours?

So they're the areas, I guess, that we, we say: when we don't know the content of a supplement - ah, particularly an injected supplement - that there are longer-term health risks that need to be monitored and watched out for, going forward, clearly.

BELLA DERHAM, HAL HUNTER'S GIRLFRIEND: He just sort of seemed a bit down all the time and...

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: The uncertainty of not knowing what he was injected with - and its long-term effects - has preyed on Hal Hunter's mind and his girlfriend Bella's.

BELLA DERHAM: The biggest fear is probably for Hal's health and wellbeing, and if it will take a toll on any of that. And also starting a family: um, that's something that's at the back of your mind - obviously not any time soon, but in the future - and if that will play a role in it at, at all.

HAL HUNTER: The saddest thing for me is seeing the effect that it has on the people around me.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: 'Cause it's obviously had a big impact on your relationships?

HAL HUNTER: Yeah. I'm well aware of how hard it would be to deal with for my partner Bella, for my parents, for my brother. And that's probably: yeah, the, the saddest bit for me is that... (sighs) sorry. (Fights tears)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Professor Ian Coyle provided a psychological assessment of Hal for his court action.

IAN COYLE, PROF., PSYCHOLOGIST: If we wanted to devise a system of work - if it may be called that - to cause someone to be stressed and anxious, we would do exactly what has happened to Hal Hunter: inject them with something, don't tell them what it is and then just wait to see what happens.

He's a human guinea pig. They're all human guinea pigs.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Last month, adding insult to injury, Essendon, one of the richest clubs in the AFL, asked a judge to order Hal Hunter to pay its legal costs.

JIM CONSTANTINOU: To say that an employer should have the employee pay legal costs of the employer, in circumstances where the employee is seeking to ascertain what he was ingested with and what documents are in existence to prove or disprove that, is beyond belief.

PATRICK KEYZER: I think everybody can identify with what's happened to the Hunters in this case. I mean, imagine if your child was injected with all this stuff.

Not only do they not know what it is: they're not even willing to tell him. They're not even willing to tell him what it is. They're not even willing to tell him that they don't know. Ah and now, you know - and trying to make him pay for the privilege of finding out. I mean, it's, it's, it's shocking.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Hal and his family emerged from court devastated, after Essendon won an order for tens of thousands of dollars in legal costs.

(Footage of Hal Hunter and Bella Derham emerging from court building)

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: Can you tell me what happened?

HAL HUNTER: No, not at present.

MELITA STEVENS: But it just shows to us that the club actually doesn't care about the players. They are setting an example. They're using Hal to say, "Don't fight us. We're going to fight you every step of the way."

And it's grubby and it's petty that they have gone after a 22-year-old boy to pay their costs for something that they sh- they had a year to do and they did it the night before.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: And it, it must be personally quite distressing?

MELITA STEVENS: Oh, it's, it's terrible. It's very upsetting.

JAMES HUNTER: Look, it's disappointing. It's frustrating. I feel really upset for Hal and, ah, and Mel. But we'll, ah, we'll keep heading on. We'll, we'll, ah, we'll fight this battle and it'll be fine. We'll get there.

QUENTIN MCDERMOTT: For Hal Hunter, his days with Essendon are not a happy memory.

HAL HUNTER: I don't play anymore. I'm not involved with the game at all anymore. And I don't watch it when it's on television.

I'm hugely disappointed that what the AFL and Essendon put out in the media is hugely at odds with the reality of how they're treating the players - and in particular me, in my pursuit to find out what I was given.

SARAH FERGUSON: In response to our questions, last night Essendon issued a statement saying they would no longer pursue Hal Hunter for legal costs.

The family's fight continues.

Next week we bring you the drama of our investigation into the scandal engulfing Malaysia's prime minister - including the question that led to the arrest of our reporter and cameraman.

See you then.

(Preview of next week's program)

END

Background Information

RESPONSES & REPORTS

Statement from Essendon Football Club - Following questions from Four Corners, Essendon Football Club has issued a statement apologising unreservedly for its governance failings in 2012, and acknowledging the supplements program was ill-conceived and the source of 'ongoing and immeasurable regret'. Read the questions and their statement here. [pdf]

Response from the AFL - The AFL has responded to questions from Four Corners: "The AFL will ensure that the Essendon Football Club delivers on its responsibility to players, and will ensure that the medical protocol agreed to by the Players Association and the football club is fully delivered." Read the questions and their statement here. [pdf]

Work Safe Statement in relation to Essendon Football Club sentence | 28 Jan 2016 - "Essendon failed to provide a safe workplace for its players by failing to provide them with a safe system of work. It admitted its guilt to two charges, and the Court has now imposed what it considers to be an appropriate penalty."

WADA's 2016 Prohibited List - The List identifies the substances and methods prohibited in- and out-of-competition, and in particular sports, and are classified by different categories.

Media Release: The Court of Arbitration for Sport | 11 Jan 2016 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport finds 34 Essendon players guilty of violating anti-doping rules and suspends them for two years. Read the summary of findings. [pdf]

Read the full text of the judgement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. [pdf]

NEWS COVERAGE

Essendon supplements saga: Former Bombers rookie fights to learn what he was injected with, by Four Corners | ABC News | 21 Mar 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-21/former-essendon-rookie-fights-to-learn-what-he-was-injected-with/7261818

Former Essendon Bomber sees 'direct link' between supplements and depression | The Age | 21 Mar 2016 - http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/exbomber-sees-direct-link-between-supplements-and-depression-20160320-gnmnqg.html

Tim Watson says former Bomber Hal Hunter is not alone in anxiety | Herald Sun | 21 Mar 2016 - http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/tim-watson-says-former-bomber-hal-hunter-is-not-alone-in-anxiety/news-story/84144ac93aebafab5dfe84fa7242d27c

Essendon doping saga players continuing the fight in Switzerland to clear their names | ABC News | 11 Feb 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-11/essendon-players-supplements-appeal-aflpa/7158650

Past, present Essendon players launch appeal against CAS judgement to clear their names over supplements saga | ABC News | 11 Feb 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-10/essendon-players-launch-appeal-over-bans-imposed-by-cas/7156812

Former Essendon rookie Hal Hunter to sue club over supplements program | The Age | 10 Feb 2016 - www.theage.com.au/victoria/former-essendon-rookie-hal-hunter-to-sue-club-over-supplements-program-20160210-gmqeea.html

Did Essendon players get a fair shake? By Adam Shwab | Crikey | 18 Jan 2016 - http://www.crikey.com.au/2016/01/18/did-essendon-players-get-a-fair-shake/

James Hird's best quotes on Essendon supplements saga and AFL player doping bans | ABC News | 18 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-17/james-hird-essendon-supplements-saga-quotes/7094138

Essendon supplements saga: 'Devastated' Bombers players exploring legal options after CAS decision, Jobe Watson says | ABC News | 14 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-13/essendon-bombers-players-devastated-by-cas-decision-jobe-watson/7086722

Essendon supplements saga: Players banned for 12 months after WADA appeal upheld by Court of Arbitration for Sport | ABC Grandstand | 13 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/cas-upholds-wada-appeal-essendon-anti-doping-verdict/7081874

OPINION Guilty: A devastating verdict for Essendon and its players, by Tracey Holmes | ABC The Drum | 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/holmes-a-devastating-verdict-for-essendon-and-its-players/7082930

Essendon supplements saga: ASADA backs Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to upheld WADA appeal | ABC News | 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-supplements-saga3a-asada-backs-cas-decision/7082970

As it happened: AFL community reacts to Bombers' 2016 season ban after doping verdict | ABC News | 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-players-ban-wada-decision-upheld/7083088

Guilty: Court of Arbitration for Sport brings three-year Essendon supplements saga to an end | ABC 7.30 | 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2015/s4387388.htm

Essendon supplements saga: AFL community reacts to Bombers' 2016 season ban after doping verdict | ABC Grandstand | 12 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-12/essendon-players-ban-wada-decision-upheld/7083088?section=sport

Essendon doping investigation: timeline | ABC News | 11 Jan 2016 - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-03-08/essendon-doping-saga:-timeline/4708474

Essendon coach deeply involved in supplement program | ABC 7.30 | 11 Apr 2013 - https://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3735256.htm

Cronulla Sharks and thymosin beta-4 ... is it doping? by Dr Ben Koh | The Conversation | 7 Mar 2013 - https://theconversation.com/cronulla-sharks-and-thymosin-beta-4-is-it-doping-12694

WATCH RELATED 4 CORNERS

Bad Sport | 1 Feb 2016 - Four Corners investigates the criminal networks threatening the integrity of sport. >>Watch Online