RANKED: GOLD COAST’S TOP 10 SPORTING SCHOOLS
THEY’RE the on-field scandals that left the Gold Coast in shock.
From claims of ball tampering to netball punch-ups to footy brawls, these are the true stories behind the city’s most infamous sporting incidents.
BRAWLS ACROSS THE COAST (2006)
NEW reports of sideline violence surfaced in 2006 with Gold Coast soccer and hockey officials investigating brawls at matches over one weekend.
Police were called to stop a fight that broke out between two fathers at a Mudgeeraba v Broadbeach under-13s soccer match.
Meanwhile, a Burleigh Heads hockey player was accused of hitting an umpire in an A-grade match at Labrador on the same day.
The claims added to a number of incidents of sideline violence at Gold Coast sporting matches, including one in which an 11-year-old boy was allegedly threatened by a father.
The Bulletin revealed at the time a father of a Labrador Tigers under-12 player faced a life ban from junior AFL games after allegedly threatening a boy at a match in Tweed Heads.
Tweed-Coolangatta player Hunter Battye was walking off at the three-quarter siren when a father supporting the opposing team jumped the fence, grabbed him by the jersey and threatened him.
The incident happened following a schoolyard-type scuffle between Hunter and another player.
An official complaint was sent to AFL Queensland which reviewed the matter.
In a separate incident, a rugby league player was on an immediate ban after he allegedly hit an elderly spectator at a Runaway Bay match.
The University-Parkwood player was due to face a committee at the time and if found guilty he may have been banned indefinitely.
Meanwhile, Broadbeach police said the fight at the junior soccer match stemmed from `bad blood’ between two parents and was not related to the match.
It is understood one father, a former Broadbeach supporter, moved his son to Mudgeeraba.
The matter is under investigation. No one was charged.
A Gold Coast Soccer spokesman said at the time until the `two sides of the story’ were revealed they could not make comment on the incident.
However, Mudgeeraba Soccer Club president Jeff Kemp said the behaviour alleged would not be tolerated.
“This is not acceptable behaviour and appropriate action will be taken against this parent,’’ he said in 2006.
“I was not aware of the incident but I will investigate it and it will be taken to a committee.
“We do not tolerate this, especially when there are children around.’’
Gold Coast hockey president David Hogan said at the time the player accused of striking the umpire could face suspension if found guilty.
Witnesses said the player threw `open-hand punches’ at the umpire after the match at Hunt Park, in Labrador.
They said the attack was sparked after the player was sent to the sin bin.
“We have a zero-tolerance for this type of behaviour and any physical action taken against an umpire is not looked at lightly,’’ he said at the time.
“If the accused is found guilty he could be suspended.’’
Then Queensland Minister for Sport Tom Barton said at the time violence at sporting matches was not consistent with Australian values and beliefs in `a fair go’. He said the Government ‘deplored aggressive behaviour by parents at junior sports competitions’.
COAST SPORTS BLACKEST INCIDENT (2009)
THIRTEEN Gold Coast regional under-19 rugby league players were suspended in 2009 for a total of 54 weeks after one of the blackest incidents in Coast sport.
“It was atrocious. I hated watching it. In fact I didn’t want to watch it,’’ said longtime local judiciary boss Doug Lipp in 2009 of the video of abrawl that erupted in a match between Beaudesert and Tugun Seahawks.
“People were being kicked while they were on the ground. There were kicks, there were punches. But most worrying was that the fighting kept going for about five minutes.
“It would stop and it would start up again, stop and start. In fact it took officials from both clubs to come on to the field to stop the fighting.’’
Mr Lipp, the then chairman of the Gold Coast Rugby League judiciary, said a total of 15 players were charged as a result of the brawl, which occurred late in the game at Willis Park, Beaudesert.
Of those, nine Beaudesert players and four Tugun players were been suspended.
Two players, one from each club, were each outed for 10 weeks on charges including kicking. Those bans were reduced to seven weeks after early guilty pleas.
Both clubs were adamant they would also be handing out their own discipline to the players involved.
“We are looking at harsher suspensions. We have a responsibility to act and we will,’’ said Beaudesert club president Keith Gee, a former Brisbane Bronco and Gold Coast Seagulls player, at the time.
“I spoke to our players straight after the match in pretty harsh terms.
I told them they have a responsibility to this club.
“I can tell you now that there is a fair bit of remorse within the team.’’
Mr Gee said the suspensions would force the club’s second-last placed team to forfeit this weekend’s match.
Tugun Seahawks president Scott Swain said his club was considering imposing fines.
“We will be reacting very sternly,’’ he said. ``We don’t want this in our football. We want families coming along and watching. We never want to see this happen again.’’
Mr Gee, who was at the game, described the match as `intense’ and `highly competitive’.
“There had been a break in play for about 15 minutes when one of their players was taken away in an ambulance (as a result of a collision with one of his own teammates),’’ he said in 2006.
“There was a few minutes left, Tugun were ahead 24-20, which was the final score, but Beaudesert were coming home with a wet sail.
“I don’t know what sparked it (the fighting), but it got out of hand to a point where officials had to intervene.’’
Mr Lipp, who said he had to go through the video of the incident `100 times’ over seven hours to collate the charges at the time, said there had been a bit of push and shove at a play-the-ball before fighting erupted across the field involving almost every player.
“We had trouble with the under-19 division a couple of years ago, but we thought we had sorted it out,’’ he said.
“Let’s hope the message has gotten through loud and clear now.’’
Gold Coast Rugby League chairman Craig Marks described the behaviour of some players as ‘nothing short of pathetic’ in 2006.
The league refused to name the players or release footage of the brawl.
POSITIVE TEST AND LIFTIME BAN (2010)
GOLD Coast rugby league was rocked after Southport Tigers player William Morunga was sensationally slapped with a lifetime ban for testing positive to cannabis in 2010.
In an Australian first, Morunga was not allowed to take part in any competitive sport in any capacity, the harshest penalty ever handed down in this country.
Morunga politely declined to comment at the time but GCRL operations manager Tom Marzella said in 2010 the matter was disappointing for all involved.
“The GCRL is obviously very disappointed about the matter,’’ he said at the time.
“But we have 1400 senior registered players at club level.
“Some individuals will always make silly mistakes in life and unfortunately, sometimes it comes back to bite them on the backside.’’
The penalty was so severe because it is the third time Morunga had returned positive tests for cannabis, having been caught on two previous occasions while playing touch football in New Zealand.
His first violation following a test in 2005 resulted in a two-month ban and his second in 2006, resulted in a two-year ban.
The talented playmaker was tested by Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority while playing for the Gold Coast representative side in the national final of the XXXX Challenge against Illawarra that year.
Morunga had the chance to defend himself at the Queensland Rugby League’s Drug Judiciary Tribunal on September 14 that year but failed to appear.
Under the then World Anti-Doping Code, committing a third anti-doping rule violation invoked a lifetime ban.
As the QRL adhered to the WADA code, they said they had little choice but to enforce the rule.
``Mr Morunga was asked to appear before the tribunal and did not attend,’’ said a QRL spokesperson in 2010.
``This did not give the tribunal a lot of options.
``It is not our place to comment on whether the suspension is harsh.’’
Morunga joined the Tigers in 2010 and played in the Southport club’s first grade grand final win over Bilambil on September 12 the same year.
His period of ineligibility commenced on September 14 that year.
``It may seem harsh,’’ said Marzella.
``But this being his third offence, which both the GCRL and Southport Tigers were not aware of, means the life sentence was imposed.
``I believe he can contact ASADA to discuss the findings, but I have been led to believe the decision is final.’’
Southport Tigers chairman Craig James did not return the Bulletin’s calls at the time.
BIG BAZZA IN STRIFE (2017)
The Gold Coast Australian rules community celebrated when it was revealed AFL premiership player Barry Hall would play for Labrador in the QAFL in 2017.
The move turned sour in the grand final when footage was captured of hall striking two Palm Beach Currumbin opponents.
Hall then hit the opposition player in the face, sending him to the turf.
The tall forward didn’t return in 2018, with Labrador officials revealing the abuse from spectators played a big role in his desire to not come back.
SPECATORS TURN FINAL INTO BATTLE FIELD (2020)
PALM Beach Soccer Club President Michael Hanns vowed to undertake a cultural overhaul in 2020 after an ugly brawl broke out between Sharks and Surfers Paradise supporters in the aftermath of the Gold Coast Premier League grand final.
It’s believed the ‘Palm Beach Palmy Army’ grew increasingly rowdy as the game progressed, swearing at Surfers Paradise players and allegedly throwing drinks at players as they were taking sideline throw-ins as they watched their side crash to a 3-1 loss.
It’s alleged a female Surfers Paradise supporter was assaulted while the game was still ongoing, elevating the tension between opposing camps. Around three Palm Beach supporters continued to instigate trouble, walking back and forth between their supporter camp behind the players’ benches and the Surfers Paradise clubhouse where a bar was located.
Police arrived shortly before 9pm after the major scuffle had largely broken up.
One male patient was transported to Gold Coast University Hospital with an eye injury after being punched in the face.
Mr Hanns condemned the behaviour of Sharks affiliated supporters in 2020 and said the club was already in the process of instigating educational programs to ensure the club’s juniors understood respectful behaviour.
“The loss wasn’t on my mind at all the night after the game. I was up until 3am in the morning trying to think about what we could do to fix it,” Hanns said at the time.
“It is at the top of my agenda to start change. I want a strong culture but Saturday night is not what I’ve been trying to endorse at all.
“I’m absolutely disgusted, I have no other word for it. I wouldn’t bring my kids to the game last night. We want to develop a code of behaviour and educational programs with our juniors to stop the trend and break the cycle.
“We’ve even thought about creating a photo database of our core supporters to create ownership and put the emphasis on our guys to set a standard.”
It’s unclear whether the aggravating supporters were directly linked to Palm Beach’s core group of supporters or even whether they travelled on the Sharks’ supporter buses to the venue.
Surfers Paradise president Telly Karadimos at the time said his club would work with Palm Beach and Football Gold Coast to investigate the incident.
“I was very disappointed, it was disgusting,” he said following the game.
“We will be investigating our spectators as well and if we believe anyone was involved, it’ll be taken very seriously.
“It didn’t take the gloss off our win.
“We created a record at our club, going undefeated and winning the grand final.”
Only two security guards were on hand at the venue.’
MAGIC AND MILLIONS LOST (2020)
ALLIGATOR Blood’s managing owner said he was organising a “Men In Black-type” private security detail to shadow the Group I winner’s every move during the 2020 Sydney spring, including a motorcade to escort the galloper to the races.
Allan Endresz, who was declared a bankrupt in 2020 for the fourth time in his ongoing multi million dollar 21-year legal battle with the Commonwealth Government, said he would pull out all stops to ensure Alligator Blood isn’t “got at”.
He claimed at the time Alligator Blood was “got at’’ when the horse was stripped of his $2 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas win in January that year because of a prohibited substance irregularity.
Endresz said at the time he was in talks with a private security firm to protect Alligator Blood in a Sydney campaign which will be focused on the $7.5 million Golden Eagle and he was also taking advice about COVID-19 protocols and potential social distancing issues.
Endresz revealed his extraordinary security plans, saying his star horse’s arrival at the track would resemble US president Donald Trump’s movements in a high-security motorcade.
Security staff were to be booked to keep watch on Alligator Blood at his offcourse Sydney stable and Endresz said he would contact Racing NSW and chief steward Marc Van Gestel about his blueprint for around-the-clock security, including on track on race day.
“I want a presidential, Donald Trump-style security environment that says. ‘look Alligator Blood has arrived this time’. He’s not going to get caught on a highway and have someone get to him,” Endresz said at the time. “I have visions of a Men In Black-type scenario.
“The idea is he will have security entourage in terms of arriving at the track. I’m looking at a security motorcade.
“We can’t get any answers from anybody as to what happened (at the Magic Millions) so I am taking no chances this time. “I’m dead serious.”
Endresz said his security plans will only be deployed in Sydney and not in Brisbane where Alligator Blood is likely to run first-up on September 12.
“We have got more control over things in Brisbane – and there will be far more high-profile attention on him when he races in Sydney,” he said.
Although Endresz was bankrupted by the Commonwealth for a fourth time, the matter was on appeal to the High Court where he is confident of overturning the ruling.
FIVE YEAR BAN FOR UMPIRE ASSAULT (1990)
LABRADOR reserve grade utility Brett Howell was outed for five years after being found guilty of assaulting an umpire in 1990.
Howell, 23, was reported for assaulting umpire Tony Hendry at the completion of his side’s controversial one-point loss to Surfers Paradise in the 1990 grand final.
Howell, who pleaded not guilty, said at the time he was contemplating a life without football after the decision was handed down.
“It’s very hard and I’ll be 28 when the time’s up, said Howell, who played for Southport for 11 years, in 1990
He was a member of the Sharks’ 1988 senior grand final side before switching to the Tigers for the 1990 season.
Labrador senior player Paul Drever, 22, was suspended for two years after being found guilty of abusive language and assault during the same game.
A member of Southport’s 1989 QAFL premiership side, before crossing to Labrador, Drever was acting as a runner for the reserves on grand final day.
“I’m very disappointed,” Drever said in 1990.
“I thought the evidence didn’t do the actual incident justice. It made it look worse.”
Drever, 22, has been playing for six years and, before last night, had not faced a tribunal.
Both were found guilty after the umpires produced video evidence to support the charges.
INTERNATIONAL RUGBY PLAYER IN COAST BRAWL (2017)
A GOLD Coast footy coach urged Queensland Rugby officials to throw the book at an ex-Tongan international he claimed was responsible for a brawl at a game at Helensvale in 2017.
Helensvale Hogs coach Mark Dobson said at the time former Tongan winger Pila Fifita, who was playing for Surfers Paradise at the time, stomped on a Hogs player who was on the ground before exchanging blows with Helensvale youngster Dean Brandon.
“Definitely Pila from Surfers was the instigator,” Mr Dobson said at the time.
“The most difficult situation for Dean (Brandon) from Helensvale is if you’re being hit, it’s hard not to retaliate. We’re just disappointed. We’ve got clear photos of Pila (Fifita) stomping on one of our players.”
The Bulletin understands the brawl escalated when other players and spectators joined in the melee as it neared the sideline.
Surfers Paradise Rugby Union Club manager Justin Huntingdon said in 2017 he did not want to comment on the incident but refuted Helensvale’s version of events.
Referees called time on the Hogs’ home game with nine minutes left on the clock.
Surfers Paradise, who have not lost a game this season, led 15-10 at the time referees deemed the match no longer “safe” to continue — a factor that led to Surfers Paradise coming away with the win.
Brandon and Fifita were both due to face the judiciary hearing.
The Bulletin attempted to make contact with Fifita in 2017 but Surfers Paradise captain and coach Kris Burton said at the time Fifita had asked him to speak on his behalf.
Mr Burton said the fight was likely the result of heightened tensions in a particularly hard-fought game.
“It was a physical game,” he said in 2017. “There were little cheap shots everywhere.
“We had a few spectators join and that escalated things.
“There were a few big tackles. Maybe some people got annoyed that they got tackled too well.”
CROWDS FLEE AFTER BIKIE IN LEAGUE BRAWL (2013)
IT was the scene local rugby league officials were hoping to avoid in 2013.
Fans, especially family groups, began leaving the Bycroft Cup grand final early that year after an incident at the ground.
Families could be seen heading for the gate at Pizzey Park after a violent brawl erupted among fans watching the grand final between the Tugun Seahawks and the Southport Tigers.
The fights were quickly broken up by police, who were out in force after previous incidents at Tugun Seahawks games.
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Seahawks player Anthony Watts and members of the Finks Outlaw Motorcycle Gang were involved in some of the ugly incidents.
The former NRL player turned Finks associate did not attend the 2013 grand final, after being suspended for striking a Bilambil player in the previous weekend’s preliminary final.
Tensions were high among the group of young men at the clash, who began chanting profanities long before kick-off.
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About halfway through the first half the first punch was thrown and police moved in quickly to remove trouble-makers from the grounds.
The second brawl broke out about five minutes later with a melee spilling on to picnic blankets occupied by families with small children. Several families packed up and left while others moved across the grounds.
Tugun supporters who asked not to be named said it was an embarrassment and those involved should be ashamed.
Tugun local Shayla Connor said at the time it was disappointing.
``People get a bit worked up on big game days, but it was unacceptable for adults to fight in front of kids,’’ she said in 2013.
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Other supporters screamed at those responsible for the fights in 2013 to ``grow up’’ and also ``you are worse than the bikies and you’re supposed to be one of us’’.
About six men were removed from the grounds, with one taken away in a police van.
More than 20 uniformed and four undercover police patrolled the grounds until fans had left.
Peter Daley, chairman of Gold Coast and Tweed Rugby League, said at the time he did not want to dwell on the bad behavior of a handful.
``There was an isolated incident, but it was so small most here did not even notice it,’’ he said in 2013.
``There were no other incidents on the day, we had three good games of football and it was a great family day.’’
DID HE OR DIDN’T HE BITE HIS PENIS (2013)?
IT’S the question we have long wanted the answer for.
Former NRL bad boy Anthony Watts, who had ties with the notorious Finks and Mongols bikie gangs, found himself in strife in 2013 when he was given an eight-match ban for allegedly biting an opponent’s penis while playing for the Tugun Seahawks against Runaway Bay in a Gold Coast Rugby League preliminary final that year.
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Television footage showed the Jets player apparently reeling in pain following the incident, however Watts has always strongly denied any biting had taken place.
“I was wearing a mouthguard and there’s no way I bit him on the dick,’’ Watts said in 2013.
“The claim is laughable, but I’ve still had to live with it.
“I know I didn’t do it and the people close to me know I didn’t do it either.
“It’s pretty shithouse to be at the centre of something like this, even though I’ve been through a lot in my career.
“It’s something I’m probably going to be known for, even though they’ve got no evidence to back any of it up.’’
Watts claimed at the time it was a plot to run him out of the game.
The alleged victim pulled down his shorts to reveal a mark on his penis to match officials on the day of the incident, but then declined to make a formal complaint.
Nevertheless, the GCRL decided to charge Watts with contrary conduct and he was handed an eight-match ban.
A photograph of the alleged victim’s penis was produced at the closed hearing. It showed a mark on the skin but officials could not conclude the graze was the result of a bite.
Watts lodged a formal appeal but never showed up to the hearing, resulting in the eight-game ban being upheld.
LEAGUE FINAL DESCENDS INTO MADNESS (2017)
GOLD Coast Rugby League officials closed ranks around two players handed long suspensions for an ugly grand final day brawl described as “madness” in 2017.
The league was forced to investigate a violent sideline confrontation involving players and spectators during the A-grade decider between Burleigh and Runaway Bay at Pizzey Park on September 17 of that year.
The Bulletin revealed at the time the Runaway Bay player involved in the game had been banned for 12 months, five of which was to be suspended.
A spectator, who played for the Mudgeeraba Redbacks and was previously affiliated with the Burleigh Bears club, copped the heaviest sanction from the league for his involvement – two years, with the second year being a suspended sentence.
BAD BLOOD AHEAD OF QAFL GRAND FINAL (2017)
JESSE Derrick said in 2017 if he could take back his now infamous sling tackle on Broadbeach player Robert Blood he would, revealing he has reached out to his injured opponent.
Derrick was due to lead the Lions against defending champions Labrador in the season finale at Wally Fankhauser Reserve that year.
A remorseful Derrick said atthe time he wished that he could turn back the clock to events at Salk Oval on September 2, 2017, when he sling-tackled Blood.
Blood was knocked out in the tackle which led Derrick to a series of tribunal hearings, suspensions, appeals and finally the green light to play.
“I am very happy because it has been a crazy couple of weeks,” Derrick said.
Derrick was given a three-match suspension, reduced to two if he pleaded guilty.
PBC appealed that on the grounds of Derrick’s immaculate record and the penalty was reduced to one match.
Broadbeach then appealed that ruling, claiming it was “manifestly inadequate” because of the seriousness of Blood’s injuries and an independent panel reinstated the three-match suspension.
PBC then threatened Supreme Court action which led to AFL Queensland reverting the penalty back to one week.
Official word from AFLQ was: “On Friday, September 15, 2017, AFL Queensland received an originating application from Mullins Lawyers who indicated that they intended to file an application before the Supreme Court of Queensland on behalf of Jesse Derrick.
“Upon receiving the originating application, AFLQ sought advice from the AFL Legal Department and engaged an independent legal practitioner. The advice received by the independent legal practitioner stated that AFLQ would have minimal prospects of successfully defending the application.”
Derrick admitted at the time the whole saga had been difficult.
“One week I was playing, the next week I wasn’t playing,” Derrick said in 2017.
“By last weekend I had it in my head I wasn’t playing. I spoke to the group after the appeal verdict (three-matches) and said it wasn’t about me now it’s more about the club and that we didn’t want it to become a distraction.”
Derrick said he messaged Blood on Facebook but did not receive a reply.
“You don’t like seeing players getting hurt and this has been ongoing and it makes me feel awful,” Derrick said.
“I’m glad he’s getting well, that’s first and foremost. At the end of the day if I could take it back I would, but I can’t. It was an unfortunate accident and I’m sorry he got hurt.”
BEST BUDDIES AFTER BLOW UP ON BEACH (2000):
IN February of 2000 they were rolling around the beach in a huge spat after tensions boiled
over during the Quiksilver Roxy Pro surfing contest at Snapper Rocks.
Later that year they were throwing punches at each other in a boxing ring, but this time
it was in jest.
The Gold Coast’s Trudy Todd and fellow pro Sam Cornish made up after a very public
slanging match.
The rivalry began when they were younger and came to a head in February of 2000
when they got into a brawl after a particularly hard-fought heat of the professional contest.
Claiming she had been hassled outrageously in the water, Todd was livid in 2000 when she was eliminated in the quarter-final by eventual winner Cornish.
Todd had heated words on the beach with Cornish, who allegedly shoved Todd. Then Todd
shoved Cornish’s head into in the sand.
Upset by the incident, Cornish was in tears and Todd subsequently copped a $10,000
fine from the Association of Surfing Professionals for verbal abuse.
All was soon forgotton and the two have become firm friends. “It is great to be
friends again and now we can help each other out when we are competing,” said teenager
Cornish in 2000 after she and Todd had a playful hit-out in the ring with gloves, headgear
and mouthguards.
PART 1
AN ICY RECEPTION (1996)
MUDGEERABA Nerang Cricket Club’s 1995-96 grand final between Surfers Paradise and Palm Beach Currumbin was played in the days when the games were over four days.
Surfers batted for more than two days and made 481 (Ian Redpath 223) and at the end of the third day PBC were at the crease and going well.
Overnight someone slipped the ice under the covers clearly with the idea of having the game abandoned and for Surfers to win their first premiership because of their higher ladder position. But the attempt failed when PBC decided to bat on regardless.
They were all out for 421 (Grant Thompson, 157) so Surfers won anyway.
FLYING FLAG FOR SPORTSMANSHIP (2006)
TAKE a bow Mudgeeraba-Nerang players, who shot to clear favouritism to take out the spirit of cricket award in 2006.
What the Bushmen did by agreeing to complete a GSP Cup quarter-final at Nielsens Road that year promoted the club to be crowned the winners of the fair-play and good sportsmanship award.
When players turned up for day two of the final against Southport-Labrador they found one end of the pitch had been damaged by vandals, who used a flagstick from a nearby golf course to dig a series of holes in the surface at the northern end.
After consultation with match umpire Barry Overall, Cricket Gold Coast and other association clubs, a majority of Mudgeeraba players agreed to go ahead, bowling to only one end for the duration of Mudgeeraba’s innings.
Mugeeraba did not have to play and, because they finished higher on the ladder than Southport, would have advanced to the semi-finals under that scenario.
Instead, the Bushmen accepted the challenge - and lost.
At the moment it may seem small potatoes to the Bushmen, but they have won more than a GSP Cup away from the playing arena.
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International umpire Bruce Oxenford has described Overall’s actions at Nielsens Road as `an outstanding piece of umpiring’. The Gold Coast-based Oxenford was commenting on the extraordinary events when bowlers used only one end on the second day of the match when home side Mudgeeraba-Nerang batted against Southport-Labrador.
He confirmed what happened was well within the rules of the game and used law 3 (the umpires) to explain. Part of the laws say that before the toss the umpires shall (a) ascertain the hours of play and agree with captains and give special conditions.
One of the options (4) states any special conditions of play affecting conduct of the match shall be agreed to with the captains before the start.
``I think it was a sensible move,’’ said Oxenford of having bowlers using the same end of the wicket following the incident.
``Why not? You have to play cricket if you can.’’
Oxenford also saw the lighter side of the events.
``Batsmen changing ends?’’ he laughed. ``The umpire doing square leg would feel a bit ripped off. I can remember we used to use only one end when I was at primary school.’
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CAUGHT IN WEBB OF TROUBLE (2014)
THERE are few things that Karrie Webb hasn’t achieved at the Masters.
But she notched up an unwanted first in 2014 when she was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard.
The defending champion and eight-time Ladies Masters winner at the time was battling to make the cut late in her round but seemed to have scraped through with a two-over par round of 75 after making a par at the 18th hole.
But by failing to notice playing partner Chella Choi had marked her for a par at the 12th hole rather than a bogey, Webb signed for a 74 and was disqualified because she left the scorer’s hut before realising her error.
Ladies European Tour tournament director Fraser Munro said at the time that Webb had reported herself as soon as she was aware of the error.
“I think she came in, looked at a monitor of the scoreboard and saw that she was up as +2 (two round total) but had always thought that she was +3, so brought it to our attention in case there had been some mistake,’’ Munro said.
“As soon as we established she had the five on her card (for the par-five 12th rather than a bogey six), she was obviously upset.
“She’s the defending champion, she’s now not going to be able to go on and defend, she’s capable of having low scores at this course and she’ll be very disappointed.’’
Webb took to Twitter to express her disappointment following the incident.
“To all the sponsors and fans of the Volvik Australian Ladies Masters, I (am) sorry 4 letting u all down,’’ Webb wrote.
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Munro said Choi should not shoulder any of the blame, with the onus on players to make sure their cards were correct.
“She’s not checked her scorecard properly,’’ he said.
“She needs to verify all of her 18 hole scores, that’s her duty when she goes out and signs for those 18 hole scores.
“It needs to be clear this is not the marker’s fault, the player, as Karrie knows being a seasoned pro, it’s the player’s responsibility to make sure that they vouch for the correct score before they leave the cordon area.
“She’s fully aware of that and obviously very, very disappointed because it’s resulted in her disqualification.’’
*WEBB’S misfortune brought back memories of another of Australia’s world No.1 Greg Norman, ironically a player who nurtured Webb through the early stages of her career and who Webb spent some time with at his Florida base.
In the 1989 Palm Meadows Cup, just across the Nerang River from Royal Pines, Norman was disqualified after taking an incorrect drop from a water hazard on the first hole.
The incident came in Norman’s first round and the matter was brought to the attention of tournament officials before he signed his card.
Norman hooked a drive into water on the first hole (his 10th) and took an incorrect penalty drop.
When he dropped the ball it rolled towards, but not into, the hazard. Because he was standing on rocks in the hazard, Norman thought he could drop the ball again, which he was not entitled to.
However, it was not until Sunday, after news of the incident circulated among players, that Norman eventually disqualified himself from the event which was won by American Curtis Strange.
While American Cheyenne Woods and South African’s Stacy Lee Bregman jointly lead the tournament on 10 under-par after six-under rounds of 67 yesterday, most interest was in Webb and whether she could record a ninth Ladies Masters win.
CRICKET CHUCKING SCANDAL (2017)
QUEENS Cricket Club found itself looking at ways to fight a 12-month bowling ban handed to its star all-rounder Jimmy Spargo in 2017.
Spargo, 30, who was playing for Queensland in the national Country Championships in Wollongong at the time, was mentioned in an umpire’s report after a local Kookaburra Cup match before that Christmas.
The report was believed to have been based on Spargo’s bowling action.
Queensland Cricket subsequently informed both Cricket Gold Coast and the Queens club that Spargo, a paceman, had been barred from bowling for a year.
Queens officials were preparing to defend their player, who was captain of a South Queensland representative side this season, but ultimately failed in its bid.
“At this point we’re in discussions with Queensland Cricket about what the (appeals) process is,” Queens official Peter Goodchap said at the time.
Cricket Gold Coast chairman Dean Johnson said he was made aware of the bowling ban late in December.
“We received the documentation from Queensland Cricket before Christmas,” he said. “There was definitely an umpire’s report from a two-day Kookaburra Cup match, Palm Beach-Currumbin versus Queens, at Salk Oval, on December 10 and 17.”
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The reporting umpire did not call Spargo during the game.
It was not the first time that Spargo’s right-arm bowling method has been under the microscope.
After moving to the Gold Coast Dolphins from Townsville about a decade ago he was the subject of an umpire’s report and had to be monitored by Queensland Cricket before he could bowl again.
He was cleared and not long after he joined Valley in Brisbane without any further issues.
The irony of the ban is that Spargo has had a bowl at the Country Championships.
Johnson said at the time he believed any ban in Queensland did not carry over to a national representative carnival under the control of Cricket Australia.
The Bulletin attempted to contact Spargo for the story in 2017 without success.
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SUSPENSION BITES FOR TITAN (2020)
GOLD Coast captain Kevin Proctor was found guilty of a biting charge in one of the most controversial NRL judiciary cases of the past decade in 2020.
Proctor was suspended for four games despite being awarded a 25 per cent, seven-year incident discount.
With a 90-minute starting delay due to debate over admissible evidence, the entire hearing took a marathon 4¼ hours. Proctor, playing his 250th NRL game, was sent off for biting Cronulla’s Shaun Johnson.
Proctor appeared via video link from the Gold Coast and was represented by lawyer Tim Fuller before a judiciary panel comprising Sean Garlick, Ben Creagh and Bob Lindner.
A Titans statement released after the hearing said the club was “disappointed” but would “move on”.
The panel’s decision came as NRL judiciary chairman Geoffrey Bellew delivered a stinging mid-hearing spray directed at Proctor, Johnson and Titans culture manager Mal Meninga.
All three, who have official NRL contracts, spoke publicly about the case before the hearing, contravening NRL rules and potentially prejudicing the hearing.
“This case has attracted a considerable deal of publicity; ignore them and pay no attention to them,” Bellew said at the time.
“You must ignore any statements made by the players, any players in his team, Mr Johnson or by any club officials regarding this charge.
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“It is not for players to discuss cases in the media.”
In evidence at the judiciary, Proctor said he couldn’t breathe with Johnson’s arm wrapped across his face.
“Yeah, I’ve got sinus issues, I was really struggling for air,” Proctor said during the hearing. “The only way I could breathe was out of my mouth so I opened it.
“I opened my mouth and he got tighter with his grip.”
Asked did he bite Johnson, Proctor said: “Definitely not.”
Johnson gave evidence on behalf of his New Zealand teammate but was grilled in the process.
Being cross-examined by NRL prosecutor Peter McGrath about the Proctor incident, a clearly frustrated Johnson dropped two f-bombs.
BURLEIGH BOTTLES KOOKA CUP TITLE DEFENCE (2019)
THE Kookaburra Cup was rocked by a ball-tampering scandal in 2019, with a key member of Burleigh’s premiership defence suspended for six weeks by Cricket Gold Coast.
Less than 12 months after Australian cricket was plunged into controversy in Cape Town, ball-tampering reared its ugly head again on the Coast following Burleigh’s defeat of Broadbeach Robina.
The player, who the Bulletin chose not to name, is understood to have inflicted further, “significant” damage to the ball after it was hit into the Aussie rules dugouts at Crowe Howarth Oval on February 2.
It’s understood the player used a bottle cap.
The player, one of the stars of Burleigh’s charge to the competition lead, was then stood down from the Bullsharks’ ongoing fixture against Mudgeeraba Nerang and was handed a further four weeks.
The six-week ban is the maximum for a Level 2 offence, and he was also given a 12-week suspended sentence and ordered by the club to assist with junior coaching and umpiring.
“It’s been dealt with,” CGC president Dean Johnson said at the time.
“We referred (the case) to Queensland Cricket because it’s something we haven’t dealt with. They agreed it was a Level 2 offence and that had a suspension period of anywhere between two and six weeks.
“I dare say we are probably going to have a look at the level (of offence for ball tampering) at the end of the season because it is a very serious offence. He could well have got a lot more if it was a higher offence.
“The two umpires who were officiating, well done on picking it up. I’m sure the club is (ready to move on), the player is and the board is.”
The player missed Burleigh’s last two fixtures against Palm Beach Currumbin and Alberton Ormeau, but was be eligible to play finals.
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Bullsharks president Steve Miller said the at the time the length of suspension was “solid but fair”.
“He made (the ball) a lot worse to the point it wasn’t legal anymore. The umpires were good, they reacted straight away and were on it very quickly,” Miller said.
“We will get (the player) to do some coaching and umpiring and he’s going to have meetings with players to bring him up to speed on the Code of Behaviour.
“We know there’s going to be some flack out there. We know the opposition teams will bring it up out on the paddock and we’re prepared for that.”
Having already qualified for finals, Burleigh will be chasing Mudgeeraba Nerang’s 9-255 at Nerang RSL on Saturday.
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LABRADOR SKIP GOES TO BAT AGAINST ‘CRICKET VANDALS’ (1993)
A 55-year-old cricketer told of his regret in 1993 after being banned for five years for hitting another player with a bat.
Ron Hynd, 55, then captain and club secretary of Gold Coast third-grade side Labrador, was one of five players disciplined by the Gold Coast and District Cricket Association after an all-in brawl between two teams on November 28 that year.
The free-for-all, involving more than half the players, happened on the first day of a two-day match between Labrador and Surfers Paradise.
The second day of the game was cancelled.
A two-day inquiry found Hynd guilty of hitting Surfers Paradise fieldsman Ken Bayley.
Mr Hynd, who had played for 46 years in three states, said t the time that “in hindsight” he would have acted differently.
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He said he hit out when verbal abuse, or “sledging”, erupted into violence.
“I did not lose my temper; if I had lost my temper he would have lost his head. I just wanted to stop the battery I had had in the first instance. I hit him in the rib cage,” he said.
“He was not injured because he came at me again and pounded the hell out of me.
“I think the judiciary has done the right thing.”
He said it was important to show younger players that verbal abuse and violence was wrong. Players who “sledged” were “cricket vandals”.
“I have played for 46 years and there has never been any strife,” Mr Hynd said.
“In my day, it was a gentleman’s game.”
Bayley was suspended for two seasons and his teammates Kevin Corrigan and Glen Mitchell for three seasons. Labrador’s Stuart Crosbie was given a three-day suspension and a suspended 12-week ban. It was decided he had acted in self-defence.
Mr Hynd vowed to play again when the ban was over.
COAST RACER’S $10K ON-TRACK BUST-UP WITH ‘GOOD FRIEND’ (1994)
THE Confederation of Australian Motor Sport slapped a $10,000 fine on Gold Coast-based BMW racer Tony Longhurst in 1994 after he attacked teammate Paul Morris during the Valvoline Australian manufacturers championship at Winton.
Longhurst was also stripped of the 36 points he had won at the meeting and his Benson & Hedges BMW was excluded from the event in actions brought down.
Winton stewards also recommended to CAMS that Longhurst receive a six-month disqualification, suspended for two years.
It meant if Longhurst committed another infringement in the following two years he would automatically be disqualified from race driving for six months.
Longhurst was penalised for using or offering violence by any means towards any official or competitor.
The 1988 Bathurst 1000 winner and Gold Coast young gun Morris touched coming on to the start-finish straight, causing the cars to veer off the circuit in the second 23-lap heat.
The incident brought out the red flag to stop the race.
Longhurst leapt from his car immediately and approached Morris, yelling and waving his hands in frustration through the window of the 26-year-old’s BMW E36.
“I regret the whole incident. Paul is a good friend and teammate,’’ Longhurst said at the time.
“Now I just have to wait for the decision from the tribunal.’’
Morris was leading the championship on 112 points with Longhurst on 70.
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FISH’S GAMES HOPES UNDERWATER AFTER DRUG TEST NO-SHOW (2004)
PLANS former Gold Coast hammer-thrower Aaron Fish had of making a comeback were thrown into turmoil in 2004 when he fronted an Athletics Australia drugs tribunal.
Fish, who was dumped from the Australian Commonwealth Games team 18 months before, faced a maximum two-year suspension after he refused to co-operate with Australian Sports Drug Agency officers in 2003.
Fish said at the time that he refused a drugs test because he had no plans to return to hammer throwing following his expulsion in April 2002 for firing a slingshot near a residential area during a training camp.
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But the decision has come back to haunt him and Fish, who had hoped to break back into the sport in 2004 under new coach Steve Lemki.
He faced a two-year ban for failing to take the test.
“It has come back to haunt me a bit. It’s a pain. But I’ll just have to wait,” Fish said at the time.
“The reason I didn’t take the test was because I didn’t have a car at the time and the ASDA people called me from Miami and wanted me to take the test there. But I told them I couldn’t make it.
“They offered to come to me but I was in the middle of moving house and I had too many other things to do so I told them I wouldn’t do it.
“At the time I had no plans to ever participate in the sport again so I didn’t think it was a big deal.”
Athletics Australia chief executive officer Simon Allatson confirmed at the time Fish faced the tribunal but said a verdict would be two weeks away.
Allatson added he would support Fish’s comeback to the sport if he was cleared by the tribunal.
“I am happy for Aaron to return to athletics provided he falls in line with the requirements set by Athletics Australia,” Allatson in 2004.
“But we will have to wait and see. I can’t comment on the tribunal because we won’t have a result until some time next month.”
Fish, a former Helensvale High student, quit hammer throwing after he was booted from the Commonwealth Games team in 2002 for firing a ball-bearing slingshot near a residential area during a training camp in Darwin.
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Queensland junior sprint champion Jamie Barnes was also dropped from the team by Athletics Australia.
Fish said the incident was behind him at the time and confirmed he was back in training and eyeing off a spot at the next Commonwealth Games.
But the possibility of a two-year ban threw a spanner in the works for the hulking then 22-year-old.
If found guilty, Fish said he would cop the two-year ban and keep training.
“I’ll probably keep going. They can’t stop me training,” he said in 2004.
Fish and Barnes made headlines when they were accused of shooting ball bearings from a slingshot at a tourist bus during a training camp in Darwin.
Ranked No. 2 in the country for the hammer at the time, Fish quit the sport and went to ground but always maintained his innocence.
He admitted he did buy the slingshot and fired it into a deserted area, but insistd others were responsible for using it in a built-up area.
Police investigating the incident released a statement that cleared the boys of any major wrongdoing.
Even the YHA, the hostel where the athletes were staying, withdrew its criminal damage complaint.
“I bought the slingshot. It was stupid and I regret it but I learned a lot from the experience,” said Fish.
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SCHOOLGIRL’S PUNCH TOO ON THE NOSE FOR NETBALL QLD (2004)
GOLD Coast schoolgirl Ashley Dayberg was banned from playing netball for two years after she punched an opponent on the nose.
A tribunal, formed specifically to deal with the incident, convened in Brisbane to hear her case.
Ashley, then 17, was banned by Netball Queensland and said at the time she was devastated.
On Sunday, June 6, 2004, the then Year 12 student put on her netball gear, tied back her hair and prepared for a tough match against a south Brisbane side at the State Netball Centre.
The 170cm goal defence said it was a tough game; six girls “hit the deck”.
At the end of the match, Ashley said she approached her 15-year-old opponent with stretched out arm for the traditional handshake.
Ashley said that as she went to walk away the Brisbane player took a strong hold of her hand and twisted it.
Ashley said she reacted on instinct. She lashed out at the goal attack with a fist to the face and fractured her nose.
“I really regret it. As soon as I did it I just walked away with my head down and went to sit in the corner away from everyone,” said the then Keebra Park High student following the incident.
“I didn’t even get a chance to say sorry.
“But I am sorry for what I’ve done and I know I shouldn’t have done it. I’ve never done that before.
“It was the first punch I’d ever thrown.
“But after that physical game we had . . . I was just so angry about what happened on court and then when she (twisted my arm), I didn’t even think about it, (the punch). It was just a reaction.
“I just did it.”
The Southport Sharks Jaguars President’s Cup team, the Gold Coast’s premier under-19s team, may have been the last netball team Ashley played for.
Her dreams of making the Queensland team and her aspirations to play for Australia, or don the green and gold in the Commonwealth Games, had been shattered.
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She also played touch football, but it would not replace the role netball had played in her life.
Ashley’s mum Claire was shocked by her daughter’s ban.
“What I find very unfair is Ashley has been handed a suspension before she’s even been found guilty of anything,” said Ms Dayberg at the time.
“(The family) is not saying what she did was right. It was not the right response, but her case was never fairly heard.
“She has never tried to deny punching her and this kind of reaction from Netball Queensland is harsh”
“Ashley has been playing netball since she was nine years old and said she could not grasp the fact she would not put on her blue and gold strip again until at least 2006.
“I’ve been really upset. I nearly cried, but I think I’m just too annoyed at the moment to cry.
“I keep thinking about it, thinking ‘what if’. I’ve been thinking about it all day.”
She said she did not condone her actions and she expected to suffer some repercussions.
“I just thought they’d be about four to six weeks.
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“That’s what I’ve heard some other girls have copped for the same thing.”
Netball Queensland, which in 2003 handed down a six-week suspension for a ‘slap’ which occurred at the state titles, denied at the time of banning Ashley as ‘an example’.
Business manager Phil Trenorden said at the time netball was a non-contact sport and the administration and players wanted it to stay that way.
“It is a severe penalty,” he said.
“But we don’t want (our sport) to reach that kind of level, not like other sports.
“Everyone has been talking about it and they just don’t believe it could happen.
“It just doesn’t happen in netball and there is no place for it in the future.
“I would think, if a similar incident occurred next year, the same penalty would occur.’’
Ashley’s coach, Kate Gardiner, was disheartened to see such a ‘young, talented’ player handed such a hard sentence.
“I’ve been coaching for over 30 years and this is the first time I’ve ever known (that sort of violence) to take place on the court,” said Ms Gardiner.
“She is a good player, one of the key players in the team and she will be sorely missed.
“It’s very distressing for Ashley and for the team and, while I can’t condone her actions, I think she’s been very severely dealt with.”
STRIKER’S SPITTING SCANDAL (2004)
GOLD Coast Soccer took the extraordinary step of appealing the one-week suspension of Burleigh striker Clint Hilton for spitting in 2004.
Hilton was sent off after referee Neil O’Connor deemed he had spat on Southport player Corey Young in the President’s Cup final.
The Gold Coast Soccer tribunal handed down its ruling, but the one-week suspension caused an uproar among other local clubs who felt the penalty was too lenient and inconsistent with past tribunal penalties.
Examples included Gold Coast Knights player Goran Misic receiving a life ban the year before for spitting on an official. This was later reduced on appeal to two years with 12 months suspended.
It is understood new information on the Hilton case came to light which caused Gold Coast Soccer to appeal.
It marked the changing of the tribunal system with five people adjudicating cases instead of the usual three.
The two extra members acted as representatives of players and referees respectively.
Two more cases were being investigated by Gold Coast Soccer following the weekend.
The federation was looking into reports an under-16 match at Mudgeeraba on the same weekend was abandoned by the referee due to an all-in brawl and a melee at a division one match at Tugun.
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BRAWL IN NON-CONTACT SPORT (2002)
AN all-in brawl involving more than 20 touch footballers and spectators at Owen Park was ‘a disgrace to the game’, a senior administrator said in 2002.
Touch Football Association South Queensland and Border Districts regional officer Gary Shepherd said the brawl was the worst he had seen in any sport.
The fight stopped play for 10 minutes in the second half of a men’s Division 1 semi-final between the Dodgers and the Freestylerz.
Police were not called.
One Freestylerz player was sent off after the fight - an automatic two-match suspension.
He and two other players, a teammate and an opponent, were to face the Gold Coast Touch Football Association’s judiciary.
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The teams were due to meet again in the grand final the next weekend if Freestylerz won their midweek clash. Mr Shepherd said at the time the player originally targeted, Dodgers’ centre Adam Falzon, ‘copped an absolute hiding’.
“It seemed to be a case of personalities and off-field differences being settled on the field,” he said in 2002.
“It was war.”
Mr Falzon said the brawl was ‘pretty full-on’.
“The first person to hit me in the face was one of my best friends, but we haven’t spoken since the brawl.
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“He used to play for us, then he went to the Freestylerz.”
Mr Falzon said he was not sure what caused the brawl, but many of the Freestylerz team were from New Zealand.
When asked if there was some Kiwi-Aussie rivalry, he said: ‘Yeah, there was some of that’.
Mr Falzon said three stitches were inserted in his chin after the fight and he had several bruises.
Dodgers player Pat Grehan said the Freestylerz had been plan- ning trouble before the game. “They were planning a stink and there was lot of niggledy stuff. They were trying to put us off our game, but it didn’t work,” he said.
He said one Freestylerz player, who was on the sidelines, ran 30 metres to join the brawl.
Under touch football rules, each team had six players on the field and up to eight reserves.
The Dodgers won 7-5 to go through to the grand final.
TRIATHLON AUSTRALIA’S FIRST SERIOUS DOPING VIOLATION (2005)
A LEADING Gold Coast triathlete spoke publicly for the first time in 2005 about the `nine-month nightmare’ she has endured after testing positive to a banned substance.
Australian Ironman Qualifier Series champion and winner of Ironman Western Australia 2005, Rebekah Keat, whose name had not been officially released in connection with the failed test, said at the time she wanted to speak out because she did not want to be labelled a drug cheat.
Triathlon Australia imposed a provisional suspension on the former junior triathlon and duathlon world champion, who was unbeaten over the half ironman distance, after she tested positive to the anabolic steroid nandrolone after an in-competition test the November before.
It was the first time in its history that Triathlon Australia had to deal with a serious doping violation and Keat, then 27, said at the time while she supported drug testing in sport she had no idea how the substance got in her body and doubted the validity of the tests.
Keat’s career had been on hold for nine months as she dealt with rumour, innuendo and the frustration and financial hardship resulting from not being able to compete in any events held or sanctioned by TA.
She was a notable omission on October 2 from the Cannibal Gold Coast Half Ironman in the 2006 Ironman Australia qualifying series, of which Keat was a two-time series champion.
Keat said at the time she had been living a `nightmare’ since she found out about the positive test.
“I got the call on December 23 and I nearly passed out,’’ she said in 2005.
“You hear about these things happening to athletes and they are automatically labelled a drug cheat.
“This has completely affected my family, my friends, my sponsors.
“I didn’t think things could get any worse, and then I found out my father has cancer . . . and then I was run over by a car two weeks ago while I was stopped at red lights at Burleigh.
“I was hit from behind and dragged under the car. Both my legs were run over by the front tyre and then the back tyre ran over my right leg again.’’
Until the accident, Keat had been training harder than ever.
“The only thing I am guilty of is hard training,’’ she said.
“I am innocent and determined to clear my name, and achieve my dream - to win the Hawaii Ironman.’’
Nandrolone was an anabolic substance many suspected of causing false positives in disputed tests.
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It occurs naturally in the body and leading scientists had warned athletes that traces of nandrolone contaminate supplements as manufacturers switch from bottling one substance to bottling another.
She was tested after she defeated a world-class field in Ironman Western Australia. Keat won the race in 9hours:3min:37sec - 21 minutes ahead of former Ironman New Zealand champion Karyn Ballance. It was the fastest time in history for an Ironman debut.
Keats’s A sample contained approximately 7.7 ng per mil of urine, while her B sample tested higher at 12.1 ng/ml.
For women, the IOC-specified limit was 5 ng/ml, while the limit for men was 2 ng/ml.
Aa Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing in Brisbane found Keat guilty of a doping offence, determining that the presence of nandrolone constituted an anti-doping rule violation under TA’s Anti Doping Policy (ADP).
Keat’s appeal was on hold at the time as she awaited results from further tests being conducted overseas.
An outcome of those tests was expected within two weeks.
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