By Jon Ralph From: The Daily Telegraph November 18, 2009
THE World Anti-Doping Agency has banned the controversial blood injection therapy that helped Daniel Mortimer be fit for this year's NRL Grand Final.
Mortimer had struggled with a hip injury he suffered in Parramatta's week-two finals victory over the Gold Coast, but his recovery was helped by a technique which saw blood drained from his body, "spun'' to increase its oxygen content, then re-injected into the injured area.
The technique was not illegal this year and was seen as critical to helping Mortimer play in the finals, where he led Parramatta to victory over the Bulldogs the following week before the Eels went down to Melbourne in the Grand Final.
But changes to the WADA code, which will apply from January 1, mean medicos can no longer inject blood back directly into a player's muscles.
Geelong AFL star Paul Chapman underwent a similar procedure for a hamstring injury which allowed him to recover and go on to win the Norm Smith Medal in the Cats' Grand Final victory over St Kilda.
Sydney Swans club doctor Nathan Gibbs yesterday said while intra-muscular injections such as the one used with Mortimer and Chapman were illegal, blood will still be re-injected into players.
"The technique was used by a lot of people in sport and correctly so because it wasn't categorically banned,'' he said.
"Now what WADA have done is come out and said blood spinning is not banned unless it's an intramuscular injection, but injecting into joints, tendons, ligaments is OK.
"The problem is that there is no blood test which picks up the fact you have had a blood injection, so it's non-detectable by testing.''
THE World Anti-Doping Agency has banned the controversial blood injection therapy that helped Daniel Mortimer be fit for this year's NRL Grand Final.
Mortimer had struggled with a hip injury he suffered in Parramatta's week-two finals victory over the Gold Coast, but his recovery was helped by a technique which saw blood drained from his body, "spun'' to increase its oxygen content, then re-injected into the injured area.
The technique was not illegal this year and was seen as critical to helping Mortimer play in the finals, where he led Parramatta to victory over the Bulldogs the following week before the Eels went down to Melbourne in the Grand Final.
But changes to the WADA code, which will apply from January 1, mean medicos can no longer inject blood back directly into a player's muscles.
Geelong AFL star Paul Chapman underwent a similar procedure for a hamstring injury which allowed him to recover and go on to win the Norm Smith Medal in the Cats' Grand Final victory over St Kilda.
Sydney Swans club doctor Nathan Gibbs yesterday said while intra-muscular injections such as the one used with Mortimer and Chapman were illegal, blood will still be re-injected into players.
"The technique was used by a lot of people in sport and correctly so because it wasn't categorically banned,'' he said.
"Now what WADA have done is come out and said blood spinning is not banned unless it's an intramuscular injection, but injecting into joints, tendons, ligaments is OK.
"The problem is that there is no blood test which picks up the fact you have had a blood injection, so it's non-detectable by testing.''
