A scapegoat?
Hart-Strawbridge’s case came at a time when Australian sport was rocked by peptide scandals. The AFL’s Essendon Club and NFL’s Cronulla team were at the centre of accusations and the Australian Crime Commission released a report about peptides and their presence in Australian sport.
Was Finn used as a scapegoat?
DFSNZ Programme Director Jude Ellis insists he wasn’t and says his ban is in accordance with the 2014 rules.
However, Hart-Strawbridge says if DFSNZ want to put a stop to peptides in amateur sport then “they should really go and test some club rugby players around NZ”.
DFSNZ tests athletes regularly at elite level, but the only testing at the amateur level are random drug tests at the Under-19 Jock Hobbs National Tournament.
Ellis says most of their recent cases against amateur players have come from intelligence and communication with Customs, instead of positive tests.
“We’re catching young uneducated kids, doing stupid things and if that becomes such a problem then A, we have to look at education and B, should we be prosecuting those cases or should we just refer them to the national [organisation]?”
The problem
Peptides have the potential to be everywhere because they’re easy to import. While it’s illegal to sell and manufacture, importing is legal and non-athletes face no penalty.
If Hart-Strawbridge had put his flat mate’s name on the peptides package, he wouldn’t have been caught.
Ellis says the legality of importing peptides makes young athletes vulnerable and “exposed to gym junkies who don’t have any rules”.
“That’s what concerns us,” she says.
Instead, DFSNZ use their resources to educate elite athletes, who they regularly test and Ellis says it’s unfortunate amateur athletes are getting caught out.
“You’d have to be an ice-heart not to sympathise with the situation… You’ve got these young guys who have got big aspirations but they don’t seem to know the rules, they don’t think the rules apply to them, they don’t think they’re trying to enhance their performance, and if they are they think they’re doing it in the off season so they don’t think it matters.”