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Ennis trusts staff despite Essendon ruling

Cronulla NRL player Mick Ennis says he will continue to trust support staff, no questions asked, despite the fallout over the Essendon supplements saga.

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Source: AAP


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Mick Ennis admits it might sound naive but the supplements saga that embroiled his NRL club Cronulla and devastated Essendon in the AFL won't stop him following support staff orders without question.

Ennis said the Sharks had finally put the issue behind them despite old wounds threatening to be re-opened by the bombshell dropped on Tuesday on the Bombers.

However, Ennis baulked when asked whether players were responsible for what they put in their bodies.

Ennis said he would continue to trust support staff, no questions asked, despite WADA admitting the Bombers' lack of curiosity about their supplements regime contributed to their lengthy bans.

"Regardless of everything that has gone on ... throughout my whole career and still to this day when I go to training, the people that the club employ, as a player, I put my trust in those guys," Ennis told Sky Sports Radio.

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"Some people may call it naive but it is what we do as professional athletes.

"You come to your workplace and those people ... try and get each player to perform at their best throughout that coming season.

"Throughout my career, I have put trust in those people and have not had any problems.

"I can't really fault that process, to be honest."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld WADA's appeal against 34 current and former Bombers after the AFL anti-doping tribunal had cleared them last year of charges.

CAS handed down two-year bans, backdated only by 12 months.

It meant 12 current Essendon players and five at other clubs were suspended for the entire 2016 AFL season.

In contrast, in August 2014, 12 past and current Sharks players served a three-game NRL ban when they were hit by a 12-month backdated suspension for 2011 breaches of the game's anti-doping rules.

Ennis - who arrived at the Sharks in 2015 - said his club had moved on from the saga.

"By the time I had arrived at Cronulla, everything was in place to move on - we have certainly done that," he said.

"Obviously, it was very disappointing what happened down at Essendon yesterday.

"In terms of the Sharks, I won't be going there to bring up anything that happened in the past when it is unnecessary.

"It was a private matter for a lot of those guys."


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