Bombers scandal: charged, <redacted> and <infracted>

[dees189227 10,783]

Apparently essendon rang all the mothers and now there not sure who it is because no one owned up. How stupid are essendon. The mother isnt going to admit to it. Because you know what will happen.

The club will go straight to that player and target him or have a go at him. I think essendon needs to look up what anonymous means in the dictionary. Maybe get wallis to do it. If he can read that is

[Cards13 9,117]

Apparently essendon rang all the mothers and now there not sure who it is because no one owned up. How stupid are essendon. The mother isnt going to admit to it. Because you know what will happen.

The club will go straight to that player and target him or have a go at him. I think essendon needs to look up what anonymous means in the dictionary. Maybe get wallis to do it. If he can read that is

They rang the mothers?? So all 4 of the players all in that age bracket? Wtf?! How about Essendon you worry about the Fing players you potentially put in harms way rather than a concerned parent voicing there right to be heard.

[PJ_12345 1,098]

Apparently essendon rang all the mothers and now there not sure who it is because no one owned up. How stupid are essendon. The mother isnt going to admit to it. Because you know what will happen.

The club will go straight to that player and target him or have a go at him. I think essendon needs to look up what anonymous means in the dictionary. Maybe get wallis to do it. If he can read that is

They are out of control if that is true.

What a toxic, self centred, narrow-minded, work place.

They have categorically failed at their most important responsibility - employee welfare... and Hird is worried crying that he isn't getting a fair go. Disgusting.

[DemonFrog 1,347]

They are out of control if that is true.

What a toxic, self centred, narrow-minded, work place.

They have categorically failed at their most important responsibility - employee welfare... and Hird is worried crying that he isn't getting a fair go. Disgusting.

Well Hird is a Messendon GOD and GODs should be better respected by us mere mortals.

So if you were a GOD like the Hird Reich you would be upset too.

I can understand why he feels like hes been AMBUSHED by the AFL.

Taking DRUGS does make one paranoid, deluginal and generally a complete DH.

[Return to Glory 7,728]

Just peeked at BomberBlitz for my daily dose of I'd rather be us than them. And so they begin to splinter:

Posted Today, 08:27 PM

Peachy1976, on 22 Aug 2013 - 7:58 PM, said:

People's Front, on 22 Aug 2013 - 6:50 PM, said:

Peachy1976, on 22 Aug 2013 - 6:36 PM, said:

Seemingly I am going to go against the majority of people on this forum with my take on this. Whatever.

The Essendon Football Club means a lot more to me than James Hird. James Hird was a great player. A champion of the club. But even champions suffer from errors of judgment. Like the rest of us they are human. However the club remains bigger than he is. Right at the moment however, you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise.

Frankly, at this point I don’t really care that much about James Hird’s reputation. It’s his right to defend himself against a whole complex array of charges in a court of law. And good luck to him. I really hope he succeeds. What I don’t want him to do however is to drag the entire club along with him through every step of the process. It simply isn’t his right for him to do so for the club belongs to a whole lot more people than just James Hird.

I'm sorry but you can't have one and not the other

The indisputable fact is that James Hird assumed a senior and public role at the club 3 years ago. With that role came responsibility. That responsibility didn’t just involve playing a key role in ensuring players did not get injected with banned substances. It also extended towards playing a key role in ensuring that players did not get put in a position where their status on this matter was called into question. By admission of their own internal reporting, he – as well as a number of others some of whom have already resigned - failed to discharge this secondary responsibility. Whether he intended to do so is beside the point.

In my opinion james hird was the coach and not the high performance manager or the supplement manager (whatever danks role was). It is NOT hirds responsibility to ensure they did not get banned substances it was THEIRS. He said time and time again that it must be within the rules and safe.

Noting this, it is simply untenable that a senior coach of one of the biggest clubs in the league should be able to coach in the league whilst simultaneously taking the governing body of that league through the courts. Not only does such a scenario make it impossible for the coach to adequately discharge his core duties, more importantly it seriously calls into question the league’s role as a governing body, further jeopardises the reputation of the club and also acts as a massive demotivator for a playing group that has already had to put up with more than their fair share of burden in 2013. On this basis, I believe that the only logical course of action is for the people who pull the strings at the club to exercise some backbone, stand up for the club itself and temporarily stand their senior coach down from duty pending the outcome of this action.

Hirds lawyers do most of the work here not him. He was at training and i'm sure he was at team meetings too.

It's really interesting to read some of the hate that gets heaped on you here for expressing any view that remotely differs from that good old fashioned cliche about "United We Stand, United We Fall". All good. Personally, I think it's sad that people who supposedly support the club are more than prepared to sit back and watch it's collective reputation get dragged through the dirt for the sake of one individual's reputation. On one hand they say they want this all to be over, while on the other they say we will fight till the end. What a double standard.

The whole issue of whether Essendon players took banned substances or not is totally and utterly irrelevant to me. Who knows whether they did. it will probably never be proven either way. The real issue is that they put themselves in a situation where they could be questioned on that point at all. And I'm sorry, that's just not good enough. If you accept that as the standard you aspire to in running any sort of organisation then God help the sort of culture you foster. Ziggy Switkowski pointed that out. Ian Robson agreed and quit because of it. David Evans was embarrassed. Mark Thompson has admitted processes weren't good enough. Paul Little acknowedges it. So who's missing from that list of people?

Reply:

Since when has Hird claimed he was infallible? Since when has he claimed the program couldn't have been better? Jesus man, you're playing the victim card but your whole opinion seems to be made up of [censored]. He has stated there were problems. He has never denied that he could have done better. Just because cancers like Wilson like to throw out the "golden boy" line doesn't mean he is. FFS.

[Geddy Lee 582]

I have the best source on this issue that I'll ever have on anything.

Here's my latest facts from inside essendon:

• David Evans spat the dummy, left NO instructions, handover notes, gave nothing to PL. 'See ya later, your problem now!'
• According to PL, the board is full of ex footballers who don't say anything at meetings, just there for a lurk. Completely ineffective board. You can see the ones who played football here.
• PL to JH: "I will back you 100% just as long as you don't lie to me".

Unfortunately for PL, JH doesn't lie because he believes his own [censored]. So this will go on.

Make of this what you will.

[Return to Glory 7,728]

Ta Geddy. PL may be in for a shock.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Apparently essendon rang all the mothers and now there not sure who it is because no one owned up. How stupid are essendon. The mother isnt going to admit to it. Because you know what will happen.

The club will go straight to that player and target him or have a go at him. I think essendon needs to look up what anonymous means in the dictionary. Maybe get wallis to do it. If he can read that is

they just get themselves deeper in their own Poo... don't they.

[Sir Why You Little 34,511]

Great reading Geddy!!

[dee-luded 2,958]

I have the best source on this issue that I'll ever have on anything.

Here's my latest facts from inside essendon:

• David Evans spat the dummy, left NO instructions, handover notes, gave nothing to PL. 'See ya later, your problem now!'
• According to PL, the board is full of ex footballers who don't say anything at meetings, just there for a lurk. Completely ineffective board. You can see the ones who played football here.
• PL to JH: "I will back you 100% just as long as you don't lie to me".

Unfortunately for PL, JH doesn't lie because he believes his own [censored]. So this will go on.

Make of this what you will.

the best get out clause going...

[John Crow Batty 8,255]

As I have said before, What will most likely destroy Hird is how the players are going to react to him. Legal machinations may become irrelevant. Four substantial losses in a row and could get uglier. If they have turned on him he's dead meat just like Neeld was. At the moment we are hearing things like "stress is taking its toll" to excuse the recent bad performances. But I believe it is no co-incidence the drop off had started around the time Evans resigned. He was looking for the least harm option and protecting the players. Before that they were playing like super heroes. I question the support he has amongst the players. If they get thrashed this week his demise may be quick. I doubt the players have the will or stamina to fight it out to the bitter end just to save his skin.

[biggestred 4,311]

Cant believe they rang the mothers to find out who it was. Disgusting.

[Sir Why You Little 34,511]

Cant believe they rang the mothers to find out who it was. Disgusting.

is there a source to this.

HUGE if true..!!!

[DemonFrog 1,347]

Well my view is that the guilt or otherwise of persons and the Club will be determined by others.

But I hope if anyone (non players) in the AFL who does support, allow or encourged players to taked banned or otherwise dangerous drugs should be banned for life and they should never be allowed to get away with it.

A Club who supports or encourages it players to take Banned or otherwise potentially dangerous drug should be suspended from the AFL, have their points and Premierships taken off them as well as very large fines.

Players who take drugs should receive the apporiate penalty as set out by the AFL.

Drugs should never be allowed to get a foot hold in the AFL.

[dee-luded 2,958]

As I have said before, What will most likely destroy Hird is how the players are going to react to him. Legal machinations may become irrelevant. Four substantial losses in a row and could get uglier. If they have turned on him he's dead meat just like Neeld was. At the moment we are hearing things like "stress is taking its toll" to excuse the recent bad performances. But I believe it is no co-incidence the drop off had started around the time Evans resigned. He was looking for the least harm option and protecting the players. Before that they were playing like super heroes. I question the support he has amongst the players. If they get thrashed this week his demise may be quick. I doubt the players have the will or stamina to fight it out to the bitter end just to save his skin.

I had & have a gut feel, that that was the time where hird had the opportunity to stand down, & just possibly the mess may have been allowed to sort itself out without too much fallout, other than 3 amigo's walking away from their red & black sash.

now its 4 & growing by the weak.

I wonder if Evans suggested hird walk.

we've heard they fell out, patched it up, & then Evans walked away sick, of it.

[rjay 23,922]

James Hird may well have been injudicious, but he's no dill. But even James Hird does not engage Counsel directly. Sorry guys, i hate to disappoint you, but it is not a case of some disgruntled party saying to a Barrister, I want to take this to Court and the Barrister saying, fine, show me the colour of your money. It just does not happen that way.

Lost me at that one.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

They rang the mothers?? So all 4 of the players all in that age bracket? Wtf?! How about Essendon you worry about the Fing players you potentially put in harms way rather than a concerned parent voicing there right to be heard.

Maybe it was not an actual mother after all............

I have the best source on this issue that I'll ever have on anything.

Make of this what you will.

Not sure that adds much atm but keep digging

Cant believe they rang the mothers to find out who it was. Disgusting.

Should they have just done nothing then?

Or may be establish if it was a bona fide mother that was on MMM?

[biggestred 4,311]

Perhaps they should assume that the rest of the parents feel the same and try and allay those fears in some way/tell them the truth/actually defend them instead of just hird rather than wheeling out tim watson to push some more Hird Reich propoganda.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

Well it was dumb to wheel out the conflicted Tim Watson.

It would be really dumber to assume that comment on radio was indicative of the rest of the parents.

Essendon have done some dumb things over this saga but they are in siege/damage control mode they could not be that dumb just to assume that.

[old55 21,347]

Essendon/Hird will not win. They had a chance to negotiate an outcome on lesser charges (as we did successfully) but they chose to fight, the AFL withdrew their revised charges and will now nail them to the wall. They will be lucky if they're not deregistered/playing for 0 points for the next 2 seasons.

The original negotiated penalties the AFL offered may have seemed harsh ($2.5M fine, loss of 2 years 1st & 2nd round draft picks, loss of 2013 points, 12 month suspension for Hird and lesser suspensions for the rest and with lesser charges) but they will seem minor compared to what the final penalties will end up being.

Agree. That was the best offer going, they should have jumped at it. Robson got out clean "I didn't know anything and should have". Hird couldn't have exited that way because of the txts and the Reid letter - he knew plenty. I think when the ASADA investigation is concluded players will be be suspended. Essendon and Hird could have taken their punishment before it got to this.

[biggestred 4,311]

I think its fair to assume the other parents have concerns!

[ThreeOneSix 953]

Sam Newman just represents Hird, Dank and blokes with agendas in this case.

It's fair to say that most people are now siding with the AFL on this one.

[Rhino Richards 1,467]

I think its fair to assume the other parents have concerns!

So its hardly "disgusting" the club called each parent to find out exactly what those concerns are rather than making naive uniformed generalisations about serious concerns

I am surprised they had not tapped into this earlier and had to react to the MMM phone call.

I would have thought they would have had open lines of communication with each players parents/guardian throughout this rather than giving them six monthly updates and having Watson Senior be misused as the voice of their concerns.

[biggestred 4,311]

So its hardly "disgusting" the club called each parent to find out exactly what those concerns are rather than making naive uniformed generalisations about serious concerns

I am surprised they had not tapped into this earlier and had to react to the MMM phone call.

I would have thought they would have had open lines of communication with each players parents/guardian throughout this rather than giving them six monthly updates and having Watson Senior be misused as the voice of their concerns.

exactly, which is why it is disgusting they rang all the parents to find out which one it was, and why it is also disgusting a players parent had to ring a radio station to get her concerns heard (hird?)!

Edited August 22, 2013 by biggestred

[Cards13 9,117]

Maybe it was not an actual mother after all............

Not sure that adds much atm but keep digging

Should they have just done nothing then?

Or may be establish if it was a bona fide mother that was on MMM?

Perhaps not, perhaps it was.