shot in the arm took weight off Earl's shoulders Helping hand: Anthony Mundine has been working with Blake Ferguson. When I first broke the story about the link between Sandor Earl, peptides and the Cabramatta clinic months ago, the only substance I heard about was his use of CJC-1295. There is no doubt the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority nailed the Raiders winger with evidence of information about his inquiries to controversial sports scientist Stephen Dank about the supplement. Earl was in a bad spot at that time in 2011 during his stint at Penrith. His shoulders were gone and he was short of money. The Panthers did the right thing by him. They gave him a safety net - a contract for another year so he could go and repair his shoulders. When I made my initial inquiries about that time, one insider said: "We are amazed by his comeback from the injuries - not just the time he made it back in, but also at his physique. He was in truly remarkable shape and his strength was up. They later backed away from that statement when Earl came out with his denials and claims that my initial story was not right because the bills they had discovered from the clinic where he was treated did not amount to the cost of peptides. What they did not know was Earl was being charged only for the injections, not the supplements he had already bought. The clinician is in We told you last week about growing interest in Walter Reynolds - a man who ran a clinic and was later charged by the police. His association with NRL players and teams continues to be mentioned to this columnist. We are talking about teams that have won competitions and gone close over the last decade. If ASADA has evidence of that behaviour, it will give backbone to some of the statements that were made at the start of this investigation. Behind closed doors So what is the fallout from the Cronulla players' interviews with ASADA? The club's former trainer Trent Elkin, now at Parramatta, was certainly the subject of many questions. Although he gave an early interview to ASADA, he was still a focus of investigators. Publicly the Sharks players have backed Elkin - it remains to be seen what they say about him in private. Ferguson needs professional help It's not the popular thing to say or write a kind word about wayward Canberra centre Blake Ferguson at the moment. He makes it hard to support him at times but consider this - the Raiders gave him time off for personal reasons last week because his dad was getting out of jail. Consider that as you celebrate your Father's Day. Every player outside of the Raiders that I speak to has good things to say about Ferguson. "He is a good kid," said Blues skipper Paul Gallen. I've know him for a long time and yes he does have some real issues but is he alone on that? I know at his core he is a good person. Todd Carney has been there and done that. "Blake needs to be in a football environment where he can just be Blake," Carney said. I think he would thrive in that situation. I think right now it's important that he gets back in an environment where football is his priority. Carney was dragged into a controversy when he went out with Ferguson on Saturday night. "I was driving that night - I was home by 10," he said. I had my mum ringing me asking me if I was out on the town. I had a game on Monday night - as if I was going to be out on the town. Ferguson was out and about. He had friends who were worried about his behaviour at the Trademark Hotel in Kings Cross. He was put in a cab by none other than former NRL bad boy John Hopoate, who these days works as a bouncer, but still ended up at another Cross nightspot, The Club, until the early hours. He needs to learn there is a time and a place to let loose and now is not that time. What it does say is that Ferguson's issues are far more complex and far deeper than anyone knows. A cleanskin in boxer Anthony Mundine has been trying to help him, but he needs the help of a professional, not of a well-meaning sportsman. Gallen of vitriol Former Roosters coach Brian Smith's Twitter attack on Paul Gallen was odd, to say the least. The pair have a history because Smith didn't rate Gallen as a junior and let him go when he was head coach at Parramatta. What is not as well known is that at the end of 2004, Smith was offered the chance to sign Gallen for $120,000. Instead of opting for him - by then an established first-grader on the verge of representative honours - he signed veteran North Queensland forward Glenn Morrison for $300,000. Gallen was not thrilled that his father Garry got on his Twitter account to respond to Smith. But Garry put it in perspective for his son when he asked him how he would have reacted if he had been attacked by someone. That appeased his son. Shiny new Sheens The Wests Tigers should be grateful for the ASADA investigation - if that wasn't dominating the spotlight, their coaching situation would be playing out on the back pages of the papers and in the evening news bulletins. But there is about to be a major development on that front. Tim Sheens, their former coach who is still being paid by the joint-venture club, has engaged the services of one of the NRL's best negotiators, leading player agent Wayne Beavis. And expect Beavis to crunch out a deal for the Test coach, which will revive his career and potentially put more pressure on the career of Mick Potter because the Tigers may be in the position to pay him out of his deal for next year. With Parramatta and Ricky Stuart looking shaky, and St George Illawarra coach Steve Price under extreme pressure, there are avenues for Sheens. Don't be surprised if Sheens is linked to a return to the national capital, even though Stuart is the Raiders" first preference. The facts on Potter don't make for great reading. He is in his post because the Wests side of the board believe it is the correct thing to do from a financial perspective. That responsible approach may be harder to uphold once Sheens is off the payroll. The Balmain side of the board is not sold on Potter. The players have serious reservations that he is the man to do the job. Their main complaint is his communication skills. The club has told him he needs to lift in that area. He lost the players from almost the first day he had the gig. A week after arriving in town, without getting to know the players, he began smashing them in pre-season. He needs to win the senior players over or hope they all go the way of Benji Marshall. Then there is the issue of his assistants - they didn't want the chance to work with him beyond this year. One who wants the chance is under-20s coach Todd Payten. The former Tigers prop is considered a very fine coach in the making and he was all but promised an assistant's job for next year. That was put in doubt during the week and he held a meeting with chief executive Grant Mayer. There is a view that Potter considers him a threat. The fact the Storm's outgoing assistant coach David Kidwell has been linked to the club shouldbe more of an issue. Demetriou panned Stephen Dank has hit out at AFL boss Andrew Demetriou in his first response since the Bombers were fined and kicked out of the finals. Demetriou told a news conference Dank would be required to speak to the AFL Commission because he was an employee of the club. Dank responded: "I will gladly speak regarding my knowledge of the supplement program but not under the constraints and conditions that the AFL dictates. The appropriate forum will be open and public, not in some closed-door secret setting. One asks why the AFL, Essendon and other parties have been given access to the interim report but neither myself nor my representatives. I will not be exposed to an ambush. The sports scientist at the centre of the ASADA investigation said he has ""never directly or indirectly received formal notice to attend any AFL Commission meeting or investigation"." ""When the AFL integrity commission contacted my legal counsel, they were invited to put a request for my attendance in writing. That was ignored. Dank thinks any appearance he may make would be pointless. Is it seriously suggested that any information I might provide to them would cause them to alter, vary or revoke any action they have arrived at? More interestingly, will they uplift the sanctions and penalties already imposed? For reasons only known to the AFL, they have chosen to devise and implement an artificial resolution of this matter in the absence of all available evidence and in circumstances depriving the public of an opportunity to hear and see the evidence taken and adjudicated in an open and impartial forum. Poll: Who will win the NRL minor premiership? Rabbitohs Roosters Total votes: 2178.