Veteran forward and former Ballarat boy Drew Petrie said news last week that Essendon and other teams were being investigated by the AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority for the use of performance enhancing supplements came as a big surprise.

“It was certainly a shock to hear such a thing has been going on,” Petrie said.

“I’ve never seen anything like it in my football career and it’s all very new to me. I’m learning as much about it every day in the media as is everyone else.”

Petrie said while it was common practice to receive injections for pain relief, he hadn’t heard of anyone he knew injecting performance enhancing supplements.

“Apart from the pain relief aspect I would steer well clear of anything else,” he said. 

Sudanese-born teammate Majak Daw agreed the news caught him by surprise.

“It was a big shock and something I haven’t seen,” he said.

A spokesman for the club confirmed there was no issue surrounding North Melbourne.

“We have no issues or concerns with the fitness, conditioning and medical programs in place at North Melbourne,” the spokesman said. 

The response from North Melbourne came as lawyers for the doctor at the centre of the allegations, Stephen Dank, yesterday said they would launch a $10 million defamation claim against media outlets, alleging he has been falsely accused of selling illegal drugs to sportspeople.

patrick.byrne@fairfaxmedia.com.au