When the Essendon drugs scandal story broke two months ago and the club, the AFL and ASADA announced a comprehensive investigation into allegations that Essendon players had been injected with banned substances.
There was much interest as to how the Bombers would cope on the on field as the investigation progressed.
Would it affect their performance at the start of the season or have an adverse effect the longer the season went on, depending on when the findings were handed down?
We all now know that their start on the field has been nothing short of perfect.
They sit on top of the ladder undefeated and with a massive percentage after their 25-goal drubbing of Melbourne.
But with revelations during the week made by former club employee Stephen Dank that James Hird actually injected himself with banned substances and knew exactly what the players were getting, the club will get an early test of how the players will be affected when they take on the undefeated Fremantle in Dockers this weekend.
Hird denied any knowledge that his players were injected with supplements and substances at the initial press conference called by the club back in February, when this story first took off.
Again and again he has denied any knowledge regarding the players, and has also stated that he never injected any substances himself and looked forward to clearing his name.
This story is fast becoming a case of ‘he says, she says’ referring to Dank and Hird.
Dank claims that Hird texted him saying that Dank was part of the club’s coaching inner sanctum when he was employed at Windy Hill.
Eventually everyone in the footy world and media will be asked to make their mind up who they believe, although some in the media are conducting a witch hunt on the Essendon coach and believe Hird should stand down until the investigation is complete.
I am not one of those. Let the investigation run its course and then deal with the consequences.
There had been talk today that Hird may stand down ahead of their big match against the Dockers in the west, but as expected chairman David Evans stood by him in a statement read-only press conference.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou also spoke to the media on the issue but didn’t add anything new.
Demetriou kept reiterating that he was comfortable with the way the league and Essendon had handled the issue so far and was confident the investigation would produce the right outcome.
He felt that Hird shouldn’t stand down and as most of us have praised his contribution to the game and the Bombers.
But when asked about Stephen Dank, Demetriou simply said, “I have nothing to say about Mr Dank.”
That probably says much about Stephen Dank’s credibility at the moment compared to James Hird, but as has been mentioned many times, James Hird and everyone else at Essendon shrouded in this controversy are only being investigated.
They are innocent until proven guilty and that has to be the case.
The status quo should remain as is with Hird continuing as coach and again as outlined in a previous column, members of the AFL Media, many of whom have the job of finding the big exclusive shouldn’t get too delirious too early as the findings are only weeks away.
Daryl Adair
Guest
I should also have pointed out that the vast majority of US sport associations are in fact signatories to the WADA code, especially Olympic sports because they are unable to participated without having done so. The US has some of the most sophisticated drug testing facilities and protocols in the world. The NFL and MLB are, of course, important exceptions - as you rightly note.
Daryl Adair
Guest
Col, t's easy to misunderstand drug testing policy and practice. The AFL players are in fact tested while in the US. Dane Swan, for example, was target tested by ASADA in Arizona and immediately upon return to Australia. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/afl/more-news/collingwoods-dane-swan-too-clever-to-be-caught-by-afl-drug-testers/story-e6frf9jf-1226079665770 The NFL and MLB have their own drug testing protocols, but it is misleading to think that anyone goes to the US to avoid WADA-accredited testing. Athletes who are part of sports that have signed up to the WADA code are liable to be tested 365 days per year anywhere on the globe. This is done by collaboration among testing authorities (NDAs) and WADA laboratories in different parts of the world. It is not a perfect system by any means, but going to the US is certainly no 'escape' from drug testing.
Wilson Flatley
Roar Rookie
If you came from another country and picked up the SMH you would be sure the current ALP were the most popular elected government in the world.
Kris
Guest
Hine Dog, I think that you've nailed it with the comment on IV injections. It blows my mind that the papers calling for a COACH to be stood down for IV injections of an unknown substance (could be vitamins, could be calf's blood, could be vegemite and vodka for all we know) all ran stories about how brave and determined Ted Richards took the field in last year's Grand Final through a 12 pain-killing injections of DRUGS! Nothing against Ted Richards, but the utter hypocrisy of people with regards to this stuff astounds me. The drugs Richards took allowed him to play with a severely injured ankle and is guaranteed to cause far greater lifelong harm to his future well-being than even the most obscure of the stuff Dank is rumoured to be meddling in. Oh, and just to correct a minor point, Hird completed a degree as a civil engineer in 1998. So he has been to Uni, just not biochemistry! ;D)
Martyn50
Roar Rookie
Danks is making the alligations so it's he that should prove that Hird is in the wrong. James Hird should stay coaching
KNACKERS
Guest
Well anyone who has observed Hird over the years would realise that he is a guy who is very concerned about his appearance and looking good -he's a very vain guy - and very obviously focussed on wealth and being seen as being rich ( always on the look out for money making schemes ) Of course he's not alone in being this way but I do find him very difficult to warm to and hope he comes a cropper
Floreat Pica
Guest
Im calling bulldust on the word 'poop'- good call/bad call?
Col
Guest
I understand the effects of altitude training. However I have never understood why AFL clubs go to the US in the middle of pre season to train at altitude, given that the benefits from this training only last for 4 weeks. I recently discovered that the NFL and MLB, as well as other sporting organisations in the US, are not covered by the doping rules of WADA and that the whole ASADA investigation came into being at the behest of Australian Customs, who have seen a spike in the attempted import of PED's from the US. Im now beginning to understand why AFL clubs go to the US in the middle of pre season. As for Hird, a lot will hang on the on field performance of the Bombers. If it drops off, he might need to think about having a spell.....
Richard
Guest
Its absolutely disgraceful that Hird is not stepping down. The club is up to its neck in shit and yet no one at the top is doing the honorable thing. This club has no honor left.
TomC
Roar Guru
Honestly, you must realise that that's not worth a response? You want me to trawl back through her articles and find an analysis of the game of footy that both of us agree with? I would honestly struggle to do that with 95% of footy journos, none of whom get the same kind of treatment that Cassandra Wilson gets.
Moorey
Guest
How about the kangaroos moving to the Gold Coast? She went on an on about that but was entirely wrong and then followed up by attacking the club at any oppurtunity she got
Fay McPherson
Guest
I agree with MarkM - he has the most sensible comment - newspaper reporters like nothing more than to cut down the "big poppies". James Hird has always been an ornament to the game, and as the old saying goes "Leopards don't change their spots", he has always been a man of integrity and why would that have changed. Hine Dog, love your comments - you should write a book - it would be a bestseller!
james
Guest
A better political example of a media bubble would be Fairfax continuing to act as though the ALP is popular but your point stands. Patrick Smith in particular IS in a freaking fantasy land.
Brett Graham
Guest
Dan Personally I think it would be in the best interests of his club and the game if he stood aside at least until his club have completed their internal review which hopefully should be completed soon. I make no comment on the allegations around Hird having injections, in fact this is not why I feel he should stand side for the time being. What the text messages revealed, and will no doubt continue to reveal as the days grind on, is that Hird had a far higher level of knowledge and involvement in the allegedly fraught supplements program than one would have gleaned from Essendon's first press conference. THIS is now the REAL issue. Essendon stated they went to ASADA because they discovered matters of concern to them arising from the program. It should be noted that they had already parted company with Stephen Danks for reasons that may or may not be at all related to this. It raises very serious questions about who knew what and when and whether any concerns were raised in a timely way to the correct people and what they may also have done. These texts are evidence (they can be challenged in the same way as a player or coach denial can be) that Hird may have known far more than we have ever been led to believe. Good corporate governance demands Essendon find the answers to these questions quickly and until they do James should step aside. If their internal review has satisfactorily resolved such matters then Essendon should say so and not hide behind ASADA - Cronulla in the NRL certainly didn't. Brett -- Comment left via The Roar's iPhone app. Download it now [http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/the-roar/id327174726?mt=8].
Pope Paul VII
Guest
Sound's good. Demetriou will have to don his Ulysses togs to sort this out.
Nostradamus
Guest
You answered your own question - "from reports"....
Nostradamus
Guest
Iangou I am surprised you claim to talk AFL - you are allowed to post your anti-AFL diatribes on this blog and no-one who tries to defend the innocence of a man "hung" by a vengeful press until all the evidence is in is not allowed to comment. Hird may be guilty but lets wait to hang him until he is found guilty Fox You sound like the commentator who said this again was the blackest day in Australian sport and the world will end. Its not over yet so hold fire in making the call that its the greatest stench in AFL history etc . I feel you have used that term many times before. You still havent answered the points I raised before you gave up and resorted to abuse... You seem to have a thing about Essendon and want to presume the worst....
Macca
Guest
TomC - Michelle Grattan could sniff out a scandal, so could Laurie Oakes but that doesn't mean they know football. Point to an analysis of the game where she is even close? And I didn't mean to misrepresent you, just saying I could concede the point about her investigative journalism but that doesn't mean she knows football.
Stavros
Guest
He hasn't lied about anything. In February he said he was shocked to be sitting there as he believed that everything the player were taking was legal. He has never said that he has no knowledge of the practices taking place.
Me Too
Guest
As I said - covered up. Does he have to go? Maybe. Not an essendon supporter so don't care. My point was the precedence was there to skirt the laws. It comes down to the AFL simply not being proactive enough.