Stephen Dank says he supplied Nathan Bock with WADA-banned drug CJC-1295
UPDATE: ASADA will reopen its case against Nathan Bock after Stephen Dank’s claims he supplied the Gold Coast defender with the prohibited peptide CJC-1295.
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UPDATE: ASADA plans to reassess its case against Nathan Bock after Stephen Dank’s sensational claims he supplied the Gold Coast Suns defender with the prohibited peptide CJC-1295.
Banned sports scientist Dank on Tuesday night said he had supplied Bock with the prohibited peptide CJC-1295.
“ASADA considers all information relating to potential anti-doping violations, and this new information, particularly its veracity, will be assessed by our investigation unit,” the anti-doping body said in a statement today.
“Mr Dank’s alleged admissions overnight are starkly at odds with his previous position on the matter, as ASADA notes he is currently appealing the AFL Tribunal’s finding that he attempted to traffic CJC-1295 to the Gold Coast Suns.
“ASADA needs reliable evidence and testimony in order to be able to bring forward cases of possible anti-doping violations.”
It’s believed ASADA contacted Dank today in light of the revelations but he refused to talk to them.
Dank told the Herald Sun he bought the drug at a Sydney compounding pharmacy in December 2010 and took it to the Gold Coast on a plane in a cooler bag packed with dry ice.
He said he gave the CJC-1295 to then Suns fitness boss Dean Robinson, who taught Bock how to self-administer it.
“I bought it at the Belgrave pharmacy in Sydney and delivered it to Robinson’s house,” Dank said.
“From there, Robinson demonstrated to Bock how to use it and instructed him accordingly.”
Asked whether there was any doubt the drug he supplied Bock was the WADA banned CJC-1295, Dank replied: “No. There is no doubt in my mind.”
Dank’s confession came as the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority on Tuesday insisted it was unable to establish whether the drug Bock used was actually CJC-1295.
Robinson and Dank worked for the Suns in late 2010 when Bock, the start-up club’s star signing, was being treated for an Achilles injury.
The pair reunited at Essendon in late 2011 and played key roles in establishing the Bombers’ “pharmacologically experimental” drugs program.
An ASADA spokesperson on Tuesday said: “To prove that an athlete has used a prohibited substance, ASADA must be able to prove the substance used by that athlete.
“ASADA will not bring a case forward when there is insufficient evidence of the substance used.”
Dank, who was slapped with a lifetime ban by the AFL last year, said he was bewildered by ASADA’s failure to confirm what drug he had given Bock.
“I don’t know why they couldn’t establish that it was CJC-1295 when they think they’ve established that I gave (Essendon players) Thymosin beta-4, which they can’t,” he said.
Dank said he bought 10ml of CJC-1295 at the Sydney pharmacy to be injected in amounts of 0.20ml.
He claims he was told by ASADA in 2009 that the drug was permitted for use by athletes and was not on the World Anti-Doping Agency prohibited list.
Bock told ASADA in 2013 that he injected himself with a substance given to him by Robinson between December 16, 2010 and January 27, 2011.
Dank repeated his claim that Gold Coast doctor Barry Rigby was well aware Bock was being treated with CJC-1295 by he and Robinson.
“From there, Robinson demonstrated to Bock how to use it and instructed him accordingly.”
- Stephen Dank 
“I spoke to Barry Rigby on two occasions in his office at the Gold Coast Suns Football Club, which was adjacent to Dean Robinson’s room,” Dank said.
“I had two discussions and he was fully aware of what we were doing and approved it. Plain and simple.”
Asked what Rigby approved, Dank said: “The use of the CJC.”
Rigby, who remains at the club, denies the conversations took place.
Leaked transcripts from last year’s AFL tribunal hearings revealed Robinson suggested to Bock that he should tell a hospital pharmacy that he needed to buy syringes for his girlfriend, rather than admit that they were for him to inject substances into himself.
Bock said he paid Robinson $800 for the peptides, which was later repaid to Dank.
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