Collingwood players Lachie Keeffe and Josh Thomas accept two-year bans for clenbuterol positive test

Collingwood players Lachie Keeffe and Josh Thomas have accepted two-year bans for testing positive to the drug clenbuterol and have been delisted by the club.

The pair revealed their decision at a press conference on Monday.

Their decision means there will be no need for an AFL tribunal hearing to decide the charge and possible penalty.

"We apologise for the pain we have caused to those closest to us," Thomas said in a statement read to the press conference.

"We want to stress that at no stage did we intentionally take performance enhancing drugs." 
Keeffe also expressed contrition.

"We deeply regret our actions and take full responsibility for our mistakes. We accept the consequences," he said.

"We hope that an error of judgement does not become a life sentence.
"Having worked so hard to build AFL careers, we are now committed to starting again."

The pair tested positive in February shortly after the team’s pre-season training camp to New Zealand and have been provisionally suspended since March.

Keefe and Thomas insist they did not take Clenbuterol knowingly, but believe an illicit drug they took was laced with the substance.

Clenbuterol is banned by WADA but is not a specified substance on the AFL's prohibited list.

The pair were issued with a formal infraction notice in late July.
Their decision means they will be banned from all sport in Australia for two years, backdated to March 2015.

Magpies commit to draft pair, if possible

Collingwood chief executive Gary Pert confirmed the club had opted to delist the players, and has withheld a portion of their 2015 contracts equivalent to $50,000 each, as required by the AFL and ASADA.

Pert said that the figure had been agreed to by the players and their representatives.

Although the club was delisting Keeffe and Thomas, Collingwood committed to taking the pair as rookies in the national draft at the end of the year if they were still available at the time of the Magpies' picks.

"We accept this was a case of two young men who made poor decisions to consume illicit drugs, a decision they will regret forever," Pert told the press conference.

"They have let down their families and their team-mates, and they have damaged their reputation.

"(However) our commitment to redraft them says as much about our regard for them," Pert said, adding that it provided a "light at the end of the tunnel".

Key-position player Keeffe, 25, has played 40 matches for the Magpies, including 18 in 2014.

Thomas, 23, has played 32 games for Collingwood after debuting in 2013.