New footy drug fear after NRL death

Stephen Dank denies any wrongdoing and insists the substances he provided were above board. Source: The Daily Telegraph

A PERFORMANCE-enhancing drug given to a rugby league player before his death from cancer may have been given to at least one AFL player.

Sports bodies are investigating whether the peptide CJC-1295 was given to the player, whom the Herald Sun has chosen not to name.

He is the mystery athlete originally identified alongside Essendon players as possibly having used banned drugs.

The peptide CJC-1295 is prohibited for use by athletes. It has not been approved for human use by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.

The player is from a club that has had an association with sports scientist Stephen Dank.

NRL player Jon Mannah died in January this year.

Mr Dank is central to investigations by the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority into whether players and coaches have been administered with substances that are dangerous or prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Mr Dank denies any wrongdoing and insists the substances he provided were above board.

CJC-1295 is promoted on bodybuilding websites as a substance that helps reduce fat and repair injured tissue.

The AFL player believed to have been given the substance has suffered a recent on-field injury.

Parramatta’s Tim Mannah makes a statement about reports his brother, Jon's, fatal cancer was accelerated by peptides.

The player's representatives did not return calls and his club declined to comment.

CJC-1295 is prohibited for use by athletes, according to WADA. It is featuring heavily in investigations into sports doping in the NRL.

Cronulla has received advice that the peptide may have accelerated the Hodgkin's lymphoma death of Cronulla Sharks prop Jon Mannah.

CJC-1295 was one of the two main peptides identified by the Australian Crime Commission's Project Aperio as being widely used.

The project was an 18-month investigation into links between organised crime, performance-enhancing drugs and sport.

The hormone GHRP-6 was the other substance said to be in wide use.

A synthetic peptide that stimulates the body's natural growth hormone production, CJC-1295 was developed to treat burns and growth disorders, and can be injected or applied as a cream.

The TGA has confirmed to the Herald Sun that it is not approved for human use.

Only six permits exist for the peptide's importation, according to the Australian Crime Commission. 

carly.crawford@news.com.au

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Not guilty, Jurrah turns to footy

An emotional Liam Jurrah celebrates after a jury found him not guilty of seriously harming his cousin during a wild brawl at a town camp just outside Alice Springs. Picture: Chloe Geraghty Source: Northern Territory News

FORMER Melbourne forward Liam Jurrah says he dreams of returning to the AFL after he was today found not guilty of assaulting his cousin with a machete during a brawl near Alice Springs last year.

Jubilant scenes erupted outside the Northern Territory Supreme Court in Alice Springs as the jury returned a unanimous verdict of not guilty to a charge of unlawfully causing serious harm to his cousin Basil Jurrah at the Little Sisters town camp in March last year.

The jury's verdict - after almost eight hours of deliberation over two days - prompted emotional scenes as family and friends flocked around the former Melbourne star as he walked from court a free man.

A clearly-relieved Jurrah said it remained his "dream" to return to elite football, after he was delisted by Melbourne last year.

"Yes, that is my dream ... it's very important to make my family happy again," Jurrah said.

Liam Jurrah and supporter celebrate his not guilty verdict outside Alice Springs court. Picture: Chloe Geraghty

"I'll probably be heading back to Adelaide now to see where I'm at ... I'm feeling pretty happy right now."

Jurrah, the high-flying footy star who faced down 14 years jail - and won

Jurrah said he was confident the jury would acquit him of the charge in a trial that stretched through almost nine days of evidence, summing up and jury deliberation.

He said he was going to "lay low and enjoy the rest of my day with my family", adding that he hoped the feud that led to the brawl last year would now be finished.

Liam Jurrah celebrates the jury's not-guilty verdict outside Alice Springs court. Picture: Chloe Geraghty

Jurrah's lawyer Jon Tippett QC applauded the not-guilty verdict.

"We said he was not guilty in the beginning and this jury has spent a long time examining the evidence and concluded that's right - he's not guilty," Mr Tippett said.

"They had a fair bit of evidence and material to go through ... so they were a conscientous group of people and as the judge said, they did the community proud, they did themselves proud and we know the system works well."

Mr Tippett said the 24-year-old, who was the first initiated Aboriginal man to play AFL, had gone through an extremely tough year since the charges were laid against him.

Liam Jurrah at Port Adelaide pre-season training. Picture: Sarah Reed.

"I just admire him ... he is as tough as nails but inside, it's a different story," Mr Tippett said.

"It's been extraordinarily tough ... this young man has had a hell of a lot riding on his shoulders and this is just the culmination of a lot of it, it's the sort of stuff that I wouldn't want to happen to me.

"It's cross-cultural, and we have a hell of a lot of expectations of him, his Aboriginal community and family have great expectations of him, and we have put a lot on his plate."

Mr Tippett said he hoped Jurrah could rekindle his AFL career.

"I would love to see him (play again) - I've seen him play and he is pure magic, he is an extraordinary athlete.

"He's an honest man, the one thing in this case is that he told the police what happened. Ultimately the jury had regard for that because he was the only person who described his circumstances as opposed to five witnesses who said he'd done it ...

"His integrity must have played heavily on the jury's mind, he is a person of integrity and when you speak to him you feel that and he is the sort of person who will lead his community, he's just got a lot of weight on his shoulders."

The former Demons forward admitted he was present at the fight between two feuding family groups but claimed he was trying to stop the violence and took no part in the attack upon his 37-year old cousin, who suffered serious head injuries including a fractured skull.

Jurrah was facing a maximum penalty of 14 years' prison if convicted of the assault, however the jury was unanimous in its decision to acquit him of the charge.

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Footy fan wins $2.3m after the siren

LIFE has changed forever for a Logan used-car dealer - and his three adult daughters - after scooping a $2.33 million Keno jackpot on Saturday.

Queensland's newest millionaire plans to pay off his three daughters' homes, spoil his grandkids and retire.

Playing the same numbers for eight years, the 63-year-old had bought his ticket at the Redcliffe Leagues Club, before settling in to watch the Broncos versus Titans trial game.

The match proved to be too interesting for the soon-to-be-millionaire who missed the big moment when his numbers came up.

"Because I was watching the game, I didn't even look at the screens," he said.

"We left about midnight and never even looked up at them."

The newly cashed-up grandpa remained unaware of his good fortune until one of his daughters, who had been at a different hotel on Saturday night, told him the major jackpot had gone off at Redcliffe.

"She told her mum and they said 'let's check dad's ticket', so they took it to the local tavern in Logan," the man said.

"My missus and two daughters went in with the ticket and they half fainted and cried when they were told I'd won."

The lucky winner also plans to spoil his four grandchildren and said a holiday to celebrate his 40th wedding anniversary was also on the cards.

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