Essendon drugs saga: Banned players meet for secret training session

BANNED Essendon captain Jobe Watson has joined a small group of teammates for a training session in Melbourne. FIRST PHOTOS

Jobe Watson training with team mates and former Essendon player Sean Wellman during a training session for the players suspended by WADA at St Bernard's College on Monday, February 29, 2016, in Essendon West, Victoria, Australia. Picture: Hamish Blair

BANNED Essendon captain Jobe Watson has joined a small group of teammates for a training run in a Melbourne suburb.

The players, suspended for 12 months as a result of the Bombers’ notorious 2012 supplement program, cannot train at any official AFL venues or receive guidance from their club.

They are set to train regularly as a group in an effort to be ready to return when their bans expire.

Jobe Watson, Heath Hocking and Cale Hooker train today. Picture: Hamish Blair

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A group including Watson, Dyson Heppell, Brent Stanton, Cale Hooker, Ben Howlett and Bulldog Stewart Crameri took part in light drills this morning on an oval at a Melbourne private school, guided by former Bombers player and assistant coach Sean Wellman, who no longer has any official ties to the club.

Forget banned @EssendonFC players training at secret location - real story is Buttifant advising them after Malthouse was snubbed.

— Sam Edmund (@SammyHeraldSun) February 29, 2016

Watson left the country last year after season-ending shoulder surgery, admitting he lost his love for the game, prompting questions about whether he would return in 2017 at age 32.

His appearance today appears to dispel those fears.

The AFL has delayed ruling on whether Watson should keep his 2012 Brownlow Medal until the banned players’ appeal is heard in the Swiss Federal Court.

Jobe Watson jogs with former Bombers assistant coach Sean Wellman. Picture: Hamish Blair