You'd certainly need to be remarkably stupid to start administering any hormone product that wasn't administered under medical prescription and supervision, I'm sure there are plenty of dodgy people in dodgy gyms all over the country who will obtain "HGH" for you and swear on their mothers graves (how did she die then) that its all legit and comes from someone they know at the hospital etc etc etc

And of course you'd believe them implicitly - because you're big big daft lad.

And that, right there, is THE biggest danger with synthetic hormones steroids and any performance enhancing drug.

Not the overhyped and often plain false, side effects, but the fact you never really know what is in it or the procedures that were in place when producing it.

However there are certain very well respected labs that produce these products and you can order them from europe and check to their authenticity.

So, let me get this straight, these idiots are taking illegal substances to get bigger?

idiots.

Pies and Bitter. Pies and Bitter.

Worked for me.

No.

More likely to improve recovery.

Or in newtons case, to reduce water retention in his neck and face.

And they aren't illegal. Just banned for IOC tested athletes.

Thanks. But in case the gist of my post was lost on you, it was a light hearted comment.

Still your post was, nonetheless, very interesting.

Oh, in case that last sentence went over your head, it was heavily sarcastic.

Maybe he was trying to get these out his system - on a serious note, what makes an experienced athlete with a two year contract resort to this? that is what needs to be understood - what pressures did he feel that he thought it necessary to take this stuff

He's getting on and was probably feeling the strain on his body. Always been a very physical player.

Spot on mate. I'm actually with Cullen and believe that there is alot of it going about, because up til last week there certainly was the 'myth' that you couldn't be detected for HGH going round.

I suspect that Newton was only caught because the authorities were tipped off and they targeted him with an out of season test.

I suspect you may have read tonight's YEP online.

It can allow you to train on through injury or compensates for any lack of training.

Cheating Basically.

But he had a two year contract - it wasn't as if he needed a big year to get another contract.

I suspect the author of YEP online read ceefax this morning

Perhaps a more pertinent question to ask him David would be how long he's been using it for?

How many of Newton's GB caps for example were won off the back of club performances fuelled by HGH?