Central figures in the Cronulla saga entered the witness box — head coach and head of the football department Shane Flanagan, head trainer and close friend of Flanagan Mark Noakes, former club doctor David Givney, physiotherapist Konrad Schultz, high-performance manager Trent Elkin and football manager Darren Mooney The Cronulla players were introduced to Stephen Dank by Shane Flanagan, Mark Noakes and Trent Elkin and told to work with him and trust him.
Senior staff no longer at the club due to the controversy include Damian Irvine (former chairman) who stood down on learning of the malpractice and process failings of Flanagan and his off-field team, Bruno Cullen (former CEO), Darren Mooney (former football manager), Mark Noakes (head trainer) and Trent Elkin (former club trainer), among others.
[2] Shane Flanagan's suspension expired on 31 October 2014, whilst Trent Elkin is not allowed to work at another NRL club as part of his punishment.
[8] Shane Flanagan and Darren Mooney made statements to the board of the club that Stephen Dank had no involvement or contact with players during a short period of time in 2011.
In March, it was revealed that up to 14 unnamed Sharks players were interviewed by ASADA in relation to the distribution of banned substances during the aforementioned 2011 season.
[9][10] Afterwards, just two days before the club's season-opening match against the Gold Coast Titans, head coach Shane Flanagan was suspended indefinitely pending the investigation by ASADA.
[12] On 17 December 2013, following more than nine months of investigations into the Sharks' supplements program, NRL CEO David Smith announced the following provisional[28] penalties:[21] Flanagan and Elkin both lodged their appeals to the findings in early 2014,[28] but both were dismissed and their suspensions stood.
[22] Without hesitation, most of these players accepted the bans, including captain Paul Gallen; for the former, it ruled him out of the upcoming 2014 Rugby League Four Nations tournament at the end of the season.