Essendon

From a moral and ethical point of view I agree.
From a legal point of view, well......?

A quality little opinion piece on the current Essendon saga:

http://www.footyalmanac.com.au/shut-up/

Am I the only person that thinks Essendon are in serious serious trouble here? I mean, serious chance the club could fold kind of trouble?

According to the World Doping body rules (WADA), of which ASADA is the local branch, too many drug convictions (I think it's 6) in a club over a defined period leads to the club being expelled from the competition. Given that Essendon may have 30+, if they are found guilty then the AFL has to either disaffiliate from WADA or kick Essendon out for 2 years.
I can't see the AFL disaffiliating, if for no other reason then the image it gives of choosing to protect drug cheats over clean competition. Would could be back to having a bye.

Could be the end of James Hird at Windy Hill today.

Thompson for 2 years as senior coach with Bassett given two as senior assistant and two as the head coach.

Or today.

The words used by Bomber are interesting at last night's B&F if you analyse them.

In saying that his role will be sorted in the next few days has some implications in terms of their Board meeting.

And Hird saying he "hopes" he will be there in 2015 also has implications.

And Little saying it is time to put the Court action to bed also has implications.

I would say, Booney you are about on the mark with this one.

If Hird has lodged his appeal or given the club confirmation of his intent to do so, then I can't see him lasting out the week.

Hird is appealing the decision of the High Court, further distancing himself from the Essendon FC and signing his own "Dont come Monday"

_________________________________________________________

Essendon have dramatically distanced themselves from beleaguered coach James Hird, who could be sacked as early as Thursday.

Hird lodged papers with the Federal Court on Thursday against the decision by Justice Middleton last month that the joint investigation by AFL and the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority was legal.

Essendon have decided not to appeal the decision, with Hird further distancing himself from the club by taking the opposite approach.

"I have been advised and believe that there are strong reasons why that decision is incorrect and that this is the proper and appropriate course to vindicate the legal rights of the EFC and its players," Hird said on Thursday in a statement.

"The challenge to the lawfulness of the joint investigation was and is an important step in showing that the Essendon Football Club, its players and staff were submitted to a compromised investigation and were treated unfairly.

"If we don't appeal our players may be stained forever by the innuendo, misconceptions and falsities that resulted from an investigation that we believe was conducted unlawfully.

"It is important that an investigation based on unlawfully gathered information never occurs again to any person, sporting club or organisation."

Hird did not attend Wednesday night's club best-and-fairest function, where chairman Paul Little and caretaker coach Mark Thompson made lengthy and emotional speeches.

Significantly, neither Little or Thompson mentioned Hird by name in their speeches - or even referred to him.

The Essendon board was to hold an emergency meeting on Thursday and decide Hird's fate.

If Essendon sack Hird, it could pave the way for Thompson to reject a potential offer from Gold Coast and stay with the Bombers.

While Thompson is favourite to take over from sacked Suns coach Guy McKenna, he made it clear in his speech that he loves Essendon and wants to stay.

But Thompson also said he did not want to take a step back in his next role - a comment that strongly suggests he wants to continue as a senior coach.

Thompson left Melbourne on Thursday for a holiday in the United States.

Hird said it would have been simpler for him to accept Justice Middleton's ruling, but he was compelled to appeal because he did not believe that any Essendon players had been exposed to any banned supplements or drugs.

"I am extremely sorry for the pain this saga has caused the players of the Essendon Football Club, their families, the Essendon Football Club staff, the Essendon Football Club supporters and the football industry as a whole," said Hird.

"I am requesting expedition of this appeal and will not ask for a stay of the notices.

"The players and ASADA will be able to continue with the show-cause process whilst a full court deals with the legality of the investigation.

"I have not taken this decision lightly.

"I believe this is the right course or action and is in the best interests of the Essendon Football Club, its players, the supporters and the game.

"The short term simple approach would be to acquiesce and plead guilty to ASADA even though the players, the club and myself do not believe we have breached the rules.

"It would be a lie as would pleading out of the proceedings when I, my lawyers and the Essendon Football Club lawyers firmly believe that the investigation was conducted unlawfully and an appeal will be successful."

Last week, ASADA announced they were ready to proceed with revised show cause notices against 34 current and former Essendon players.

ASADA said they would only go ahead if Essendon and Hird decided not to appeal.

AFL Players Association chief executive Paul Marsh has urged ASADA to issue the show-cause notices, regardless of what Hird decides.

"The players welcome the club's decision (not to appeal) and urge ASADA if it indeed intends to issue amended show-cause notices to do so as a matter of urgency," Marsh said.

"This matter has dragged on for far too long.

"It is essential for all parties involved to take steps to expedite the process and bring it to a conclusion.

Caroline Wilson:

Hird Sacked


EXCLUSIVE

James Hird has been removed as coach of Essendon. The first stage of his removal took place on Wednesday when the outgoing club legend was given the opportunity
to resign with a nominal payout or be sacked.

Bombers chairman Paul Little is believed to have met Hird in one of his South Yarra offices shortly before Wednesday night's Crichton Medal count and given him a document outlining the first stage of his departure.

Mark Thompson, who filled in as senior coach after Hird's 12-month suspension, looks certain to be appointed to the top job within days.
Advertisement

In a separate but related development, the club is expected to settle its long-running legal dispute with former high performance boss Dean Robinson in a deal expected to cost the Bombers $800,000.

The removal of Hird and the closure of the Robinson case come after AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick told Little last week to bring an end to the costly and messy fall-out from the Essendon drugs program of 2011 and 2012 which still sees 34 players involved at the time facing anti-doping bans.

Wealthy and influential Essendon supporters have been urging Little to act on Hird with the view that even a costly payout of up to $1.25 million would be preferable to the ongoing damage to Essendon's image and the erosion of its culture.

Should a legal battle go ahead with Hird, the club has engaged its queens' counsel Neil Young to represent it. The Bombers remain determined to avoid a wrongful dismissal action from the Hirds.

The final straw for the club came when Hird refused to back down from his determination to lodge an appeal against the Federal Court decision handed down last month.

Even the urging of senior players, led by Brendon Goddard and Dyson Heppell, would not sway the coach whom the club signed last year to a two-year deal ending in 2016.

Hird, who lodged his appeal early on Thursday, said he was acting on a matter of principle. Previously he had insisted his only motivation was to clear the names of his players.

Support for Hird had already been irreparably eroded well before his decision to act alone and against the wishes of his club.

The grand final week players' function saw former Essendon footballers virtually united that Hird must go.

Thompson was given a hero's welcome at the best and fairest count and has told the club he would only stay if appointed senior coach.

Hird, a five-time best and fairest winner, was ordered to stay away from the function and his name was not mentioned in any public forum on the night.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/james-hird-removed-as-essendon-coach-20141002-10p3bn.html#ixzz3EwuygRPu

You may want to put this on hold.
Conflicting report saying he hasn't been sacked (at least as at 12.12pm)

Yes, Essendon now say nothing's happening this week.

I think they're just checking their position re contractual obligations.

Yep, James as obviously thrown his legal team at his contract with the Bombers.

I think someone needs to remind James of the old "Don't burn your bridges" saying.

Can this egotistical maniac put anymore people off side? Has AOD 9604 got to him?

I have an inkling that the AFL are quietly behind Essendon to give Hird the push, the last thing the AFL need is for this to linger on through the courts costing Essendon and themselves more coin and flowing into 2015.

Booney wrote:Yep, James as obviously thrown his legal team at his contract with the Bombers.

I think someone needs to remind James of the old "Don't burn your bridges" saying.

Can this egotistical maniac put anymore people off side? Has AOD 9604 got to him?

Bit harsh Booney, "maniac", I don't think he is at the stage of being a madman.

He is certainly going down the path which the club no longer wants to pursue and this may well be his downfall sooner rather than later.

The Bombers must be hurting on the fiscal front.

With the AFL fine, a likely hefty legal bill and maybe some sponsor backlash, you would think having to pay out Hird and then find some cash for a new coach would be stretching the wallet a bit too far.

I can't think of any other reason why he remains as coach at present.

Perhaps the initial saga could be forgiven (many would not), but alongside the outburst from Tanya some months back (she was probably just the spokesperson) and his continued court proceedings, he just won't put the matter to bed.

In light of the 3 recent coach departures for relatively minor things like losing faith of players (sic), I wouldn't be surprised to see Hird canonised soon.

His indulgences seem to have been tolerated way way past where other clubs would have stopped.

I just get the feeling that this ain't over yet.

Maybe the Bombers are being a bit cautious in waiting until the game that ASADA is playing now pans out.

I can't believe the whole thing has gone on this long. I think ASADA has to cop criticism for that. They should have dealt with it first and then the AFL consider the position. Demetriou jumped in first and I still think that whole process was a legal farce that has probably compromised a proper disciplinary proceeding.

To say justice will be served, well at this stage I don't think it can on any front. The investigation has been cocked up so badly that nobody wins now.

Ironically, the only person who might is Hird if his action succeeds and he is ultimately vindicated.

But it is a bit like Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it brought an end to the war with USA winning, but at what cost and what devastation lay in the wake of it?

Do you think some of. This is the reason Demetrio (speling) got out early so that he did not have to deal with it anymore.

Is anyone else finding the whole discussion about whether Essendon should participate in the NAB cup rather unpalatable?

I hear on the radio this morning that the AFL have granted them salary cap exemptions so that they can pay some amateurs to run around in the Bombers Guernsey, all so that it won't compromise the 2012 listed players potential suspensions.

So in effect they're basically assisting Essendon to avoid/minimise the penalties they rightly deserve. Not the actions of an organisation who should be taking a no tolerance stance against this sort of stuff.

This continues to be poorly handled by all involved.

I presume you can bet on the NAB cup.
All of this tinkering on who can and can't play seems totally arbitrary and is their stance any different to not playing players in the regular season. IE like the tanking fiasco.

So does this affect betting margins?

I just shake my head how convoluted the afl and its silly rules has become.

NOT GUILTY

Yeah, well....

If they are NOT GULTY can Essendon now sue whoever for being stripped of Premiership points ?

I bet the afl decided that didn't they?
We just await if ASADA are p!ssed off enough to send it to appeal.

What they perhaps don't understand is the damage that is being done to the sport in the meantime whilst all this hoo-ha continues.

i can't see today being the end of it, this sad saga has gone almost as long as Blue Hills which ran for 5,795 episodes over 27 years

I think there should be sackings at ASADA over this. Their total inability to collect hard evidence in this case has been laughable and the obvious leaks to the media inexcusable. The fact that they never compelled Dank to appear, despite apparently having the power is puzzling. IMHO they won't appeal because they still won't have the evidence they need to be successful. However, you're right, this won't go away- I suspect there will be civil action by some/all of the players against Essendon down the track. I cannot believe that James Hird still protests his innocence about this- he is not the one who has been wronged, all those young men who have been injected with a range of unknown substances, with no proper records are the ones that will spend the rest of their lives with a nagging "what if" thought hanging over their health etc.

Will this be the end of it, this sad saga has gone almost as long as Coronation Street which has run for 8607 episodes over 55 years

Just to be clear - the AFL has ruled the players are not guilty, but Essendon as a club and Hird are still guilty and the penalties that both have copped will still stand.

It was a program that was loose and unchecked, with poor record keeping and little monitoring.

I have lost all respect for both that Club and James Hird personally, regardless of this verdict.

ASADA were always pushing the proverbial up hill once Andy D tipped the Bombers off thus providing them with enough time to destroy evidence. Really glad for the players, but it looks as though Essendon are going to get off lightly for an appalling setup that did nothing to uphold their obligation toward player welfare.

I have always held the view that the players never did any thing wrong.
The club has a lot to answer for though and how that pans out is any ones guess. The whole act of injecting players was way over the line and we still don't know what they have been injected with.

I must say though, and I am not in there shoes, but if I was, there is no way I would be letting any one come close to me with a needle. I don't see this as being the clubs right to be able to just inject them as being a part of there training regime. They could have said NO.