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Tanking and peptides just won't go away

Expert
24th March, 2014
23

The Melbourne tanking fiasco and the ‘Bombergate’ peptide saga were always going to come back to haunt Andrew Demetriou.

The AFL’s processes in both cases have now been called into question by James Hird’s lawyer wife, Tania, and Dean Bailey’s legal representative, Chris Pollard, on the ABC’s 7:30.

Demetriou’s attempts to talk-up the start of the footy season, and his refrain that he did not inject anybody, are beginning to wear thin.

So too are his claims about being a tolerant custodian of the game.

The mocking of News Corp journalist, Chip Le Grand, Tania Hird’s allegation of bullying and the refusal to accredit The Herald Sun’s Michael Warner because he was critical of the AFL suggest that those not prepared to toe the line will be subjected to a culture of intimidation.

The muzzling of Hird by the Bombers and the AFL has led to more questions than answers. It was evident earlier this week in discussion over his carefully sanitised interview on The Hangar.

Essendon chairman, Paul Little, emphasised it was “easier to stop James talking than try to control what he says.”

The questions arise of why the need for such conditions and what would Hird actually say if his muzzle was removed?

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But Little can place no such restraints on Tania Hird’s tongue.

In a radio interview with Collingwood President, Eddie McGuire, Little declared, “up until the events of the last 24 hours we believed James was acting and responding to our requests in a positive way.”

Lapsing into managerial-speak, he outlined that the club would “meet now to determine how we go forward in relation to the James Hird issue.” Not surprisingly that worn-out word closure was not mentioned, suggesting even Little thinks Bombergate has a long way to run.

The allegations by Chris Pollard are just as disturbing as Tania Hird’s. Bailey’s ‘just following orders’ press conference when he was shown the door at Melbourne suggests something was not quite right at the Demons.

The farcical AFL penalty for a crime which was supposedly never committed – if Demetriou’s underling Gillon McLachlan is to be believed – suggests that something was not quite right at headquarters as well.

If Melbourne didn’t ‘tank’ then how did it bring the game into disrepute?

Pollard’s allegations about the AFL’s questionable process lend substantial weight to Tania Hird’s claims.

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Her husband and Bailey were not granted hearings in which both sides presented evidence before an independent arbiter or jury.

In their cases the AFL was prosecutor, judge and jury. From a position of unparalleled strength the AFL Commission negotiated an outcome that minimised media scrutiny, protected the brand and sent Bailey and Hird packing.

For Demetriou to claim it is disrespectful of Bailey’s memory to revisit the tanking fiasco is staggering.

Pollard was raising justifiable concerns about a horse-trading process that saw his client and Chris Connolly’s reputations tarnished without the right to mount a proper defence.

The Hird case is even more blatant. Neither Little nor the AFL have allowed Hird the right to state his side of the story. It is akin to smear by managerial decree.

Tania Hird’s airing of the Bombers’ dirty laundry will make it difficult for Hird to return to the club after his suspension. The more she tells her husband’s side of the story, the more tenuous becomes his position at the club.

But as top QC Julian Burnside points out, these views are Tania Hird’s and not her husband’s. It’s a fine but crucial distinction.

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Amid the footy clamour over Hird’s future, and the unfortunate timing of Tania Hird’s story, she again accused Demetriou of warning Essendon chairman, David Evans, about ASADA’s planned investigation of the club.

Demetriou has repeatedly denied the story and has been cleared of any wrong- doing by an Australian Crime Commission investigation last July.

But Tania Hird remains insistent that she heard her husband and the then Essendon President, David Evans, discuss Demetriou’s alleged ‘tip-off.’

Such a disclosure would have placed Demetriou in breach of secrecy provisions under the Australian Crimes Commission Act.

Tania Hird’s claim again raises questions about Demetriou’s role in this whole sorry saga, and whether it should be reinvestigated over the alleged ‘tip-off’. If so, it is not a matter for AFL horse-traders but an independent federal authority.

Bombergate is far from finished. Despite Demetriou’s pleas that we focus on the footy, off field events promise to be far more interesting this season, particularly if Ms Hird has her way.

Despite Demetriou’s numerous accomplishments as CEO, Bombergate will haunt him long after he’s left the AFL.

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Tom Heenan lectures in sport at Monash University’s National Centre for Australian Studies

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