Essendon

http://www.essendonfc.com.au/main.asp

I know there's many varying opinions on this - but I found it completely ludicrous how West Coast supporter fans carried on last night every time Watson went near the ball. Do they have short memories or what?

You could see that Watson played his heart out last night - totally spent by the end of it. The way the crowd were carrying on I was glad to see Essendon win that one. And I think we can all tell that Jobe is of 'good character' a testament to this is how each and every one of the West Coast players themselves went up to him after the game - and you could tell it wasn't the regular 'handshake after a game' it was genuine support shown there.

I can see both sides of the arguement to be honest.

He seems to be a genuine person who has done the wrong thing by accident by putting his trust in officials that were doing the dodge.

The WC crowd was a little unsavoury last night, but I think still well within their rights.

In the end though whether it's done knowingly or otherwise, it's still cheating. He gained an unfair advantage last year, a Brownlow winning year for him. That has to be brought into question now and you would think it would have to be stripped from him, surely. I feel sorry for him but he gained an unfair advantage, simple as that.

The brunt of the financial penalties should be leveled at the Club though IMO. The ultimate duty of care lies with them.

Perth supporters make Adelaide supporters seem balanced, unbiased and reasonable.

I can remember them booing Andrew Gaze when Melbourne beat the Wildcats in a basketball final a number of years ago.

Given the WCE's history with drugs and a selective blindness where their players are concerned, I found the constant abuse of Watson pretty poor behaviour. When Judd left for Carlton there was speculation that the drugs / bikies / lifestyle culture at the Eagles was one of the reasons he was prepared to look elsewhere. I was glad Essondon won last night.

COUSINS, MAINWARING & CO V WATSON

NO COMPARISON REALLY

Amazing how some just focus on facts, others focus on reality.
Two very different things.

UncleHuey wrote: Given the WCE's history with drugs and a selective blindness where their players are concerned, I found the constant abuse of Watson pretty poor behaviour. When Judd left for Carlton there was speculation that the drugs / bikies / lifestyle culture at the Eagles was one of the reasons he was prepared to look elsewhere.  I was glad Essondon won last night.

This is what I am referring - I suppose I found it ironic that they would carry on in this way given their own clubs history. I know different circumstances blah, blah, blah - but yeah just thought the depth of the booing was just plain annoying.

Good interview with Tim Watson half time of the footy last night.

Cant believe that the AFL have had no comment on the "pin cushions".

Allegedly.

I think you'll find that if what most people are angry/frustrated about too Booney.

Really is ridiculous that this is being strung on for so long. Meanwhile the club at fault sits in the top 4. Sends a great message about the competition.

Speaking of penalties, it will be very interesting to see how this finally plays out once the official investigation is over and it's time to act.

Surely the AFL will throw the book at them - fines, premiership points, the works.

I know being an Adelaide fan some could say people in glass houses and all that - but one dodgy contract is nothing compared to a sanctioned program of systematic drug injections.

I wonder if the AFL is sitting on their hands to avoid being seen as the bad guys if multiple Essendon players are hit with 2 year bans by ASADA.

Foxtel/C7 paid $1.125bn for the TV rights. 9 games per week for 5 years, plus finals etc.

Lets say that equates to $20,000 per game.

If ASADA effectively stop Essendon from fielding a team for two years (which is possible - the AFL cant over rule any ASADA bans - two years is the penalty for having a "banned" {Herein lies the crux of the matter} substance in your system ) then the AFL may have a legal loophole that as they were not the body that impacted upon the 9 games per week agreement they may not be liable to any compensation from Fox/C7? ( I hope you got that? - LOL )

If there isn't 9 games per week and the AFL are the body that caused that, Fox/C7 might say sure, we paid $20k per game but we want $80k per game we lose.

I think the AFL are staying quiet for good reason.

Mark Thompson is the new coach person for a year.
Neil Craig to be assistant.

Craigy is starting to become a hired gun mercenary.
I wonder if Goodwin is happy with this appointment.

Maybe with Bomber running the show Essendon can go a full season without crashing and burning.

James Hird banned from attending the Essendon Christmas function - is that going just a little bit far??   

Maybe it's not dusted with "icing" on the christmas cake!   

But yes, I think the conclusion to the Essendon saga again shows the afl and its "even handed" justice system to be the biggest thing bringing the game into disrepute. Nobody does that better than the afl administration.

I would love to hear an argument against them being a joke.

Hird and Corcoran should send King Andy a Christmas Card saying how much they have enjoyed negotiations with him in 2013 and wishing him a lovely Christmas.....

Then again he probably would say that they can't do that as it is official communication with afl staff.

AFL = Monty Python

 

Looks like there could be a dozen players banned for the year? is that possible or will they just get a warning. If they are banned, what will happen, I suppose Essendon will only have a list of about 25 to 30 so they'll need extra players, but will that be allowed or just on a temporary basis?

Big issues.

what about the players playing elsewhere ?

the buck stops with the top man & he's still getting paid, not right that

I feel very sorry for the players that have been named and not for one moment do I think that they were drug cheats.

I blame the hierarchy of the club for going down this path and think that the players were just going along with what was being told to them-maybe they should have been more curious as to what they were being given.

Fairly scathing interview on ABS by Tania Hird last night. Very critical of Demetriou and his part in the Drugs investigation saga.

But on radio this morning it was reported that Hird has put a notice on the club website prior to leaving for France.

And further reports that the Essendon board are meeting today (unusual from its urgency alone) to discuss Hird.

I wouldn't be surprised listening to the President's langauge in an interview with Eddie Maguire, that Hird may not need to rush back from France after this.

With other reports discussed, such as Bailey and Melbourne, Hawthorn and Jeff Kennett, what it confirms for me is that the AFL and particularly Demetriou do not operate a system of natural justice and goodwill in their dealings with clubs.

The word 'Bully' has been raised a number of times in relation to each of these clubs' investigations and negotiations.

If I was a club Chairman, I would eagerly farewell King Andy asap.

Here is the media report from the AFL web site.

JAMES Hird's career as Essendon coach is under a new cloud, with Bombers chairman Paul Little saying the club needed to make a decision on the suspended coach's future.

Little was speaking on Triple M radio station the morning after Hird's wife, Tania, revived claims AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou tipped-off the Bombers about the supplements scandal.

Asked if Hird's position was becoming untenable, Little said: "Up until the events of the last 24 hours we believed James was acting and responding to our request in a positive way.

"The club will need to meet now to determine how we go forward in relation to the James Hird issue and probably the broader group that surround James."

On Thursday night, Tania Hird, who is a lawyer, told ABC's 7:30 she was listening on a speaker phone when her husband spoke to former Essendon chairman David Evans on July 25.

"I was taking notes - I take a lot of notes," she said.

"David admitted that he said to James 'go into ASADA and tell the whole truth, but don't say what Andrew Demetriou told us'.

"It has been referred to as the tip-off.

"James did say in return 'if I'm not asked about it, I won't offer it up, but if I'm asked about it, like anything I'm asked about, I will answer it honestly and truthfully and to the best of my knowledge'."

Little described the decision to revive the allegations - which the AFL boss has strenuously denied - as "disappointing".

"It will not go away," Little said.

"It's well-documented now we've been working incredibly hard right across all facets of the club now for the last 6-9 months to turn the club around, focus on the future and move away from the dispute of last year."

"It is disappointing."

Collingwood president Eddie McGuire, who conducted the interview on his morning radio show, tipped Hird would not coach Essendon again.

"I'm going to make a bold prediction: I don't think we'll see James Hird coach Essendon again," McGuire said.

"I think it's more to do with the camp around James Hird and the advice he's getting and clearly that advice is contrary to the advice the chairman of the Essendon Football Club, who appointed James for two years, has been giving.

"They'll (the Hird camp) argue it was Tania having her say or whatever the case may be.

"But it was a pretty direct question and I think a pretty direct answer."

The news story that just keeps on giving......

Did the Essendon board really have much choice in this one?

Sack Prince James and the unholy wrath of Tania be unleashed on the club and afl.

Let's face it, under Australian law, you can't sack someone for what your wife might say.

In all of the froth and bubble that is spouted about by the media, Essendon and the AFL about 'best interests of footy and the club', 'he must accept the umpires decision' and 'penalty fitting the crime' etc, I just don't think Essendon had a realistic choice other than keep him to his contract.

They have a 2 Mill fine, 1 Mill they have paid him for this season and 2 Mill more for 2015 and 2016, they probably just aren't that flush to pay all this out and get another coach.

I guess Tania has made her point and sat all the boys on their @rse. She can go away and have a lovely European Vacation ala the Griswalds and come back like it all never happened.

It bemuses me that footy pundits in the media think Aussie laws are different for the AFL than for the rest of the country.

King Andy certainly does.

Good point Chambo, Essendon could well have been snookered here.

Surely Hird's contract has a clause to sack him for "bringing the game / club into disrepute". I cant believe that Essendon doesn't have a way of avoiding a $2,000,000 payout if they sack him. What if ASADA charge him with either conspiring to give banned drugs or at the least negligence in that he never asked what was being injected? Under WDA rules the Bombers must be banned as a club given the number of players involved, do Essendon have to pay Hird a million bucks even if the club cannot play?

This becomes more farcical every week.

I think the majority of the media and certainly afl have been quite lax (even negligent) in discussing the due process required to deal with all of this.

You can't just go from you've been a bad boy to guilty to penalty without natural justice coming into it. You can't bring anything into disrepute if your wife or someone you know gets stroppy.

In any court or aribtration process in the land, you cannot be accuser, investigator, judiciary, penaliser and appeals panel all at the same time. That is simply not natural justice. There needs to be separation of these powers.

However, none of that phases the afl one bit - they are happy to do the lot.

I don't care if Hird is an axe murderer, tax evader or whatever, there is due process to follow and nobody amongst the aforementioned seems to be too fussed with that.

I thought hird was lucky to keep his job