It’s arguable that no AFL club has been in a darker off-field place in recent times than the Essendon Football Club.
In many ways, they’ve been one of the faces of the Australia-wide ASADA dragnet.
As one of the biggest clubs in the largest, most visible sport in the country, and a centrepiece of the investigation, it was always going to be the case.
But in football, indeed all sports, hope springs eternal, and there is always the comfort of familiarity that the field of battle brings.
The problem for Essendon players was, if found guilty of accepting known performance-enhancing or banned-list drugs, regardless of their complicity, they wouldn’t have the sanctity of the field, or the warm embrace of its comfort.
It’s impossible for us to know what toll being in the public eye for all the wrong reasons takes on a playing group, especially under circumstances such as these, unique on this grand scale within the landscape of Australian sport.
It would be easy for a culture of selfishness and blame to take over, and for factions to form within the club.
Would the playing group be split? Degrees of enmity between coaches and senior players? A loss of trust between coaches and senior officials?
Regardless of the press conferences, public statements and proclamations, the answers were always going to be suppled on the green grass of AAMI Stadium against the Adelaide Crows.
And, after a slow start which must have had every Bomber fan fearing the worse, the response was emphatic.
Fifteen minutes in and the Dons were 22 points in arrears, yet to trouble their forward 50m line, let alone the scorers.
Adelaide were sure of hand, disposing of the ball with clean precision, and directing everything into the hot spot in front of goal. By contrast, Essendon were devoid of presence, unable to lay a hand on the ball when in dispute, or their opposition when chasing.
As the quarter progressed, the one thing they did display was resilience. Beaten early, but unbowed, they stuck to their task and worked themselves back into the match, in play if not on the scoreboard.
From quarter time onwards, the Bombers completely dominated every aspect of the game against last year’s preliminary finalist.
And while it would be easy to dwell on the character of the performance under adverse circumstances and a tumultuous lead-up, this was a well-coached side playing with equal parts skill, toughness and commitment to the cause.
Jobe Watson once more led from the front with match-high possessions, inside 50s and clearances. In any conversation about top ten players in the competition, the unassuming skipper must hold a lofty position.
His vision once in possession is unequalled, be it by hand or foot, and he is one of the finest leaders in the game.
As good as Watson was, Ben Howlett’s last three quarters were about as perfect as football can be played.
A consistent and respected workhorse in Essendon’s midfield for the last three seasons, he was damaging all over the ground, hard at the contest and man, finishing his work with four goals.
Anyone can be a tagger in the AFL if they have the fitness and mental discipline, but there are few who can so completely sacrifice their own game for the team.
Heath Hocking was the epitome of Essendon’s desire on the night, rendering Patrick Dangerfield ineffective, while still winning clearances and hitting the scoreboard himself. When it came to applying pressure, his was the lead that all teammates followed.
In fact, Essendon’s full-ground pressure was the key element in winning them the game, all 22 players committing fully to James Hird’s coaching plan, to the point where it was difficult to think of a position a Dons player didn’t win.
Dangerfield, as Adelaide’s most explosive match-winner, was obviously highlighted for systematic targeting by the Bomber coaching staff.
Every time he went near the ball, with Hocking in close attendance of course, he was smashed into by two or three Essendon players.
It’s a winning strategy that should be implemented more, the harassment brutal, but legal enough to only gift Dangerfield one free kick for the night.
Dyson Heppell was full of talent and poise, David Myers had perhaps his best game at AFL level, and Nick Kommer’s debut showed him to be flint-hard when in the contest but also a neat disposer, a livewire who worried the Adelaide rebounders out of possession with his constant presence.
The Dons also dominated the stoppages as the match wore on, and had far more avenues to goal with over half the side contributing a major.
In the sort of form the Bombers displayed, it was easy to remember them sitting second on the ladder after nine rounds last year, owners of an 8-1 win-loss record.
There’ll be more to come from the likes of Brendan Goddard, Michael Hurley, Tom Bellchambers and Paddy Ryder too, who were all relatively subdued.
The challenge for Essendon from this point on is threefold.
Firstly, and immediately, they need to back up from the emotional release victory in round one will have delivered, albeit they have an extra week to do so due to the split round. They must maintain the rage and continue to pressure, pressure, pressure as they did on Friday night.
Secondly, the high level set by the second and third tier players must form their base rather than become a season-high. Even champion players admit to never being quite comfortable at the elite level, their fear of failure a driver that leads them to continually better themselves and set ever higher standards.
Thirdly, the second half of the year will bring with it its own set of challenges specific to an Essendon side well renowned for falling off the cliff under James Hird, and unable to back up their impressive early season performances.
All of these things and more are for the future, but from a pure football perspective in the present, all we can do is admire the Essendon side and the leaders within. And for those of us less than enamoured with some of their more supercilious tendencies, we must afford them a begrudging respect.
Macca
Guest
Yep Redb - And If a CFO had employed someone who had committed fraud at their previous employer and/or had not implemented any systems and oversights to limit the employee's ability to commit fraud they would be out the door as well. The CFO has obligations to ensure that fraud isn't being committed and that it get's detected at the earliest possible point, if it is found that Dank was administering illegal drugs the "higher ups" at the club failed these same obligations.
Redb
Roar Guru
Macca, Employee fraud is a key reason for whole business failure.
Macca
Guest
You don't have to have known something was going on to be guilty, not knowing when you should shows dereliction of you your duty. To me Hird and particularly Evans have the same responsibilities as directors of a company. If say BHP were found to be polluting the water ways of PNG then the Directors can't simply say, oh that was just one rogue manager, it won't happen again, the directors are held to have should of known, to have had systems in place to prevent it. I don't want Hird or Evans sacked but IF they are found to have employed someone with a questionable past and let him inject players with whatever he wanted with no oversight they do have a case to answer. And Redb this is more than an employee stealing, it as employee putting the entire organisation at risk and jeopardising the well being and careers of other employee's. Cameron - If the fitness staff were injecting the Carlton players with illegal substances then yes those higher up should be sacked - and if you hadn't noticed there were a couple of sacking of coaching staff at Carlton after last year.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Macca, Philip and Redb have got this one right. Show me one person who hasn't made a mistake in their job at one time or another. Should every person get sacked all the time? Clearly there were issues with the fitness staff at Carlton last year, you were bemoaning the injuries all year. Why didn't you demand that everyone get sacked then?
Brendan
Guest
The manner in which these allegations have been dealt with is disgraceful.Guilty or otherwise for a club , its staff and its players to be brought into a drugs in sport saga a couple of months ago and as yet not been formally charged with an offence when the new season has begun is terrible.We are all entitled to speculate on the legitimacy of these claims but in the final analysis our opinions mean nothing it is only when proof has been provided that these allegations should be discussed openly.
Philip Maguire
Guest
Macca, I don't see how James Hird or David Evans could be held to account if a sport scientist secretly tampered with legal supplements and added illegal substances, or even secretly substituted legal supplements with illegal substances, then provided it to players unbeknowns to them as well. If Hird and Evan are guilty obviously they take the blame, but to be guilty they would have had to have known of any wrongdoing and to my mind that is more than highly unlikely.
Redb
Roar Guru
Macca, Don't put a spin on my words. Again you apply the sack someone approach to find a scapegoat rather than focusing on correcting any issues. if someone is found to have misled or been grossly negligent in a reasonably controllable situation then they will either be disciplined or sacked. No-one is bigger than the club. If the sports scientist acted on his own and gave the players substances which unbeknown were illegal then that is what should be dealt with (innocent players can still be banned). If an employee steals at work, should their Boss be sacked without question? The injections are no doubt the subject of an internal review and no doubt the AFL will come down on Essendon if they beleive inappropriate methods were used. If the substances or methods were not banned then despite the uneasiness of the practice there is an issue to be corrected. We don't know all the facts, we don't what is meant by irregular practices and who knew about those practices. All we want are the facts to come out and corrective measures put in place. So enough of the sack everyone approach, its not your club and frankly a large part of the angst is becuase it is Essendon and they won :) I tell you one thing Essendon will come out the other side and be even stronger. Count on it. Go Bombers!
Macca
Guest
Phillip - I am not commenting on the guilt or innocence but on the comments from Cameron and Redb that even if there was an offence "if they are good people (as Hird, Thompson, Evans seem to be) then they should be given the chance to clean up the mess." when this isn't how things work. In any other business/industry people in positions of authority would be held to account for failing to meet their obligations, to think that because Hird is the Golden Boy and a good bloke should be let off is absurd. Even if Hird, Thompson or Evans didnt know what was going on (assuming there was something again) at least one of them should have and ignorance is no defence.
Philip Maguire
Guest
The question is Macca how are they going to be shown to be guilty? Dank says he is innocent of the allegations and no Essendon player has ever tested positive. They can't be convicted on gossip. Evidence is required and so far there is none.
Macca
Guest
It is a massive wake up call for coaches and administrators to ensure they are meeting their obligations, clearly if the bombers are found guilty someone in either (or more probably both) the coaching staff or administration has failed to meet their obligations,
Redb
Roar Guru
Good call.
Redb
Roar Guru
Fox Molder, Like many you confuse the situation between Essendon and Cronulla as exactly the same, they are not. Not necessarily worse than the other either. For example, the 4 blokes at Cronulla were sacked becuase it was beleived they were aware that WADA banned substances had been given to the players but turned a blind eye. That is not the case at Essendon.
Redb
Roar Guru
Until all the facts are known it's impossible to say where the flaws in processes existed. One thing is for certain, every coach in the country is right now checking on their sports science dept. Malthouse himself came out recently and said he should know more, as have other coaches. It's a massive wake up call.
Macca
Guest
Then who does take the blame if they are shown to be guilty? Shouldn't the coach have some knowledge of how his players are being treated? And shouldn't the CEO have a duty of care for who the get to treat their players? Whether they are good people or not does not absolve the of responsibility and it is unrealistic to expect that should the club be found guilty that everyone just says "Oh it was just a mistake and if you promise not to do it again we'll let you continue like nothing happenned"
Redb
Roar Guru
Exactly right Cam. I dont think anyone is more annoyed at the situation than Essendon fans at the mistakes the club has clearly made, however none of us doubt the integrity of Evans or Hird and those calling for their heads have no clue. It would actually be detrimental to Essendon to have these fine people out of the club.
The Bomb
Guest
W can all point fingers about what has happened at Essendon regarding their pre season, but that will get us no where until the investigation is finished. But Essendons performance against the Crows was something else, They were tough, hard and committed to every contest, they finally played a defensive style of game. Since Bomber and Hird arived this game against the Crows is the 1st time they have had 50 minutes of footy and only conceded 10 points in that time, they could not even contain GWS or GC for such a long period of time in a game, let alone doing it against last years prelim finalists on their home turf. players like Howlett, Kommer, Hocking and Hibberd just showing how far ones heart can take them, the class of Heppell and swiftness of Dempsey was quiet awesome to watch. The heights Carlisle can reach and his master Fletcher has reached is something to behold, led by the best captain in the AFL Jobe Watson and our previous champion captains now coaches Bomber and HIrd
Nathan of Perth
Guest
Yessssss, if Carlton lose it will go a long way to recovering my round. Maybe if North Melbourne get up over Collingwood as well, but those North supporters got insufferable last year.
Cameron Rose
Expert
A good point Simon, and the main reason was why I wrote that it was 'arguable' Essendon's has been in the darkest place. There is certainly a case to be made for Melbourne being in a darker place, but being faced with the prospect of two years out of the game and being labelled a drug cheat must certainly be a weight to bear.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Ian, I don't follow rugby to any degree at all, and have no idea what is happening at Cronulla. If any organization has a rogue 'cowboy' element who is going to do whatever he likes (we don't know if Dank fits this category or not – innocent until proven guilty), then it is very difficult to catch them out before it goes too far. Essendon’s hiring and administratio practises will come under fire, rightfully so, but that doesn’t just mean you sack everyone involved. Mistakes were made, and the people in place, if they are good people (as Hird, Thompson, Evans seem to be) then they should be given the chance to clean up the mess.
Cameron Rose
Expert
Pretty well summed up Jack/Jax. What may or may not have happened at Essendon last year should bear no reflection on how well they played on Friday night. If mistakes were made, I’m sure the appropriate people will be punished under the ASADA/WADA code. Hopefully the doesn’t include players who put their faith and trust in the medical and sports science team. It’s all well and good to peak at the right end of the year, but hopefully West Coasts injuries don’t derail their campaign, causing them to play catch-up all year. All things being equal, both WA teams will be powerful units this year.