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We’re all sick of it. It simply needs to end.
For the best part of 18 months now, we have been subject to the ridiculous story that has been the seemingly never ending Essendon supplements saga. It has placed a giant question mark over the game that we love for almost two seasons now, and has overshadowed the happenings of match day too many times.
Just when it seems like we are able to enjoy the game, a new story comes to light and we are faced with another media frenzy surrounding the Essendon Football Club.
Take, for example, the game between the Bombers and Demons on Sunday. Instead of focusing on the good news footy story of the year – that is the resurrection of the League’s oldest club – we are left to ponder the implications of this most recent twist instigated by the Bombers players.
With the recent developments regarding the issuance of Show Cause notices to 34 players who spent the 2012 season on the Essendon list, and the legal action that the club will inevitably take against ASADA, this sorry tale could drag on for any number of years.
This doesn’t have to be the case, however. The CEO of ASADA, Ben McDevitt, has offered the affected players a reduced suspension of six months, which would leave them able to start afresh in Round 1, 2015, with this whole circus behind them. All they have to do is confess to their guilt.
Herein lies the problem. It is abundantly clear that there is one thing that we will never hear from Paul Little, or the Essendon hierarchy, a confession of their crimes. The chest puffery and utter contempt for ASADA displayed by Little in his press conference last week indicates that this is indeed war.
In the backs of their minds, the affected players must at least be considering the proposal put to them by McDevitt. Surely it is wiser to just take the shorter penalty and let everyone move on with their lives and careers with a clear head instead of letting this saga continue to loom large over these young men.
It would be a travesty if a large group of players had to be punished for trusting the work of a few individuals. However, it may very well be the lesser of two evils, as a prolonged legal battle will likely affect these players for the rest of their careers and maybe even their lives. That is simply not fair.
Jobe Watson is a smart man. He needs to get his playing group together and tell them that the six month ban is the best of a bad situation. It’s common sense.
The power-brokers at Essendon are merely looking for a fight, and they obviously feel that ASADA is the worthy recipient of their pent up frustration. Instead of worrying about what is best for themselves, they need to shift their attention to the well-being of the club.
There is absolutely no way that the club can continue to support James Hird as coach for 2015 and beyond. The senior coach is responsible for the workings of the footy department of every club, and everyone else associated with what happened in 2012 has paid the price except the man that was technically overseeing the whole operation.
Where is the logic in that? We understand that Hirdy is a favourite son of the club, but if this happened in any other business, the position of the person responsible would have been deemed untenable by now.
It would be very interesting to see if Matthew Knights would have received the same backing from the board if this had occurred during his time as coach of Essendon. For some reason, it is very difficult to believe that would be the case.
If the club handles this the right way by advising its players to take the shortened ban and by removing James Hird from the role of senior coach, it is entirely possible that this farce will be long forgotten by the beginning of the 2015 season.
However, if the club holds true to previous form, we will be hearing about this for years to come, and that would be a loss for everyone in the footy world.
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