Richmond hopeful handed drug ban
The AFL dreams of Richmond hopeful Travis Casserly are in tatters after he was handed a two-year suspension for drug use.
Casserly, who has been training with the Tigers in the hope of landing the final spot on their rookie list, tested positive to the restricted substance pseudoephedrine after helping guide Swan Districts to the WAFL premiership last year.
The 23-year-old claimed the elevated levels of pseudoephedrine in his system were a combination of him taking a cold and flu tablet and being severely dehydrated when he was drug tested after the game.
But Perth magistrate Paul Heaney believed Casserly used the drug to enhance his performance, upholding a recommendation from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority for the maximum length ban.
Casserly's ban will run from October 18, 2010 - ruling him out of action for the next two seasons.
"I am satisfied to the requisite standard, that player Casserly did have the intent to enhance his sporting performance," Heany said.
"I am satisfied that the high reading of pseudoephedrine found in player Casserly's urine sample, indicated that his use of the substance went beyond the therapeutic to the enhancement of his sporting performance and that it was his intent for it to do so."
Casserly had previously been on Richmond's list between 2006-08, and the Tigers were almost certain to re-select him as a rookie if he either beat the drug ban or was offered a backdated 12-week suspension.
Casserly was the second WAFL player to test positive to a banned substance last season, following on from East Perth's Dean Cadwallader's admission to using the banned steroid nandrolone.
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