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The message from James Hird couldn’t be clearer – he will fight City Hall.
The Essendon coach says he’s shattered the AFL has charged him with bringing the game into disrepute over the Bombers’ suspect 2011-12 supplements program.
Hird, Essendon and senior club officials Mark Thompson and Danny Corcoran and club doctor Bruce Reid were charged on Tuesday night and will front the AFL Commission on August 26.
The commission has sweeping powers and can suspend Hird if it finds him guilty, as well as stripping Essendon of premiership points, fining them and taking away draft picks.
But with lawyers lining up behind all the key players and Essendon showing no indication they will back away, court action looms as a distinct possibility.
Hird, the joint 1996 Brownlow Medallist and a two-time Bombers premiership player, said it was “terribly disappointing” to be charged with bringing the game into disrepute.
“We’re obviously going to defend ourselves vigorously,” Hird said on Wednesday.
“We’ve got to contend the charges, we’ve got to make sure we’re proven not guilty and we’ll go from there.
“We’ll support each other. It’s interesting that the four of us have been identified as the blackest day in Australia’s sporting history now, so we take that very seriously.”
For now, there have been no anti-doping charges against players, though the report handed down is an interim one.
ASADA continues to investigate Essendon, with no timeframe on when it will confirm whether it will issue anti-doping infraction notices to players.
Former ASADA chairman Richard Ings has criticised the anti-doping agency for lack of public communication and called on it to clarify the progress of its investigation into Essendon.
Ings also warned the saga was far from over for Essendon’s players, with the possibility of doping charges to linger beyond this season.
Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy believed Hird would be undaunted as he fought to save his reputation – pointing to his on-field courage as a player to show what he was capable of.
“A young man like James Hird runs out there, has his skull fractured in five or six places, then has the courage to come back,” the Greater Western Sydney coach said in Canberra on Wednesday.
“He’s always shown an enormous amount of courage.
“You’ve got to be very courageous to take on the AFL in this matter, and that’s what he’s going to do.”
Sheedy also gave his strong backing to the character of Essendon doctor Reid – a man he’s known for 40 years.
Meanwhile, Carlton coach Mick Malthouse predicts a shambolic build-up to the finals series should the prospect of court action and stripping of premiership points come into play.
If the Bombers lose points, it would open the door for the ninth-placed side to qualify for the finals series starting on September 6.
Malthouse’s Blues are currently ninth, while West Coast, North Melbourne, Adelaide and Brisbane could also grab the spot.
“It’s going to be a shambles at the end of the year,” Malthouse told Melbourne radio station 3AW.
“Anything can be pressed into the court system and it will be delayed and delayed and delayed.
“It’s a shocking thing to be hanging over a code.”
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