Although Essendon have to deal with their court case as part of the never-ending supplements issue in the next few weeks, one aspect of this tale has been put to bed for the time being.
James Hird has been put in his place for the rest of the season.
While his suspension ends in just over a month, in time for Round 23, he will not have an active role in coaching the team this year, however long that lasts.
There’s a good chance it will extend to finals football, with the Bombers in the top eight on the back of a three-game winning streak, and with a favourable draw.
The supplement scandal derailed them this time last year, so it will be interesting to see how next month’s court case affects their on-field performance, but James Hird has been told by chairman Paul Little to concentrate on next season.
It’s definitely the right move as Mark Thompson has done a great job to get his team in a position to be part of the September action. For Hird to walk straight back in and take over as coach has the potential to be extremely disruptive.
Essendon and Paul Little have been very assertive in making this decision now, so that we don’t continue to get the same headlines. Will Hird been seen and heard? What’s Hirdy’s immediate future or will the Bomber stand down?
You would hope too that journalists wouldn’t make their regular beeline to the Hird mansion in Toorak hoping for a comment or three from the former Bomber champion or even his wife Tania.
Hird coaching Essendon this year isn’t a story anymore. Obviously the Hirds will have the media throng waiting for comments on the outcome of the verdict in court later next month, but that’s another matter.
It was a strange decision to suspend Hird for exactly 12 months, which meant he was eligible to come back for Round 23, but common sense has now prevailed and he can start preparing for 2015 and get a bit of a head start on the other 17 coaches.
Thompson can now continue to do his thing and coach his team well, knowing the gig is his for as long as Essendon’s season goes in 2014.
It might also be an excellent little rehearsal for a prospective new coaching job next year. If Thompson doesn’t stay at Essendon under Hird, and that doesn’t seem likely at this stage, there shouldn’t be a shortage of suitors keen on acquiring his services. Who wouldn’t want a premiership coach helping to guide them?
This Essendon team is now Mark Thompson’s and he has a chance to, excuse the pun, really make a mark on the rest of this season as far as the Dons are concerned. With a handy player in Jobe Watson set to return soon, they might be more than nuisance value if they can get through to September.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
I have no respect for Hird or EFC any more, but Thompson is a different case. It's my understanding he was not in favour of this program from the start and was ultimately the one who said "Enough"!. It wasn't his call to initiate the program (it was Hird's). It wasn't his job to overrule Hird, it was Danny Corcoran's and ultimately Ian Robson's. Reid and Thompson both spoke out against the program internally, yet ultimately were team players who accepted others within the club had higher authority (which is inexcusable in the case of Dr Reid). Thompson was extremely impressive in his support of Hird last year in the media, demonstrating his loyal friendship, but yet at the same time being quite candid about the mistakes the club had made. What I don't understand is why Thompson was singled out for punishment by the AFL, yet other assistant coaches at Essendon weren't.
Pumping Dougie
Guest
Unfortunately, the leadership includes most of the Board, who are reluctant to sever Hird because they probably have a large slice of guilt in their own role (at allowing an inexperienced coach to promote such a shambolic, immoral and unsafe injection program). I agree with your comment about "cutting all ties with the leadership assoicated with the whole sordid affair", but that would require the people who make these decisions cutting ties with themselves!
andyl12
Guest
Bosk- the players all broke down with soft-tissue injuries because of the injections, costing them a finals spot that year (2012). Then in 2013 they had to sit out the finals because of the injections. Now they risk getting infraction notices because of the injections. Yep- the players must just love Hird for putting them all through that, hey?
andyl12
Guest
And the players, Moose. The players this year have relished having a real coach in charge and not someone who staked his entire career on a discredited sports science programme.
Casper
Guest
Bosk, AOD is out of the equation now so why bring that up and there is no proof that the players used TB4. The blood tests sent to Europe came back negative, so when are the players supposed to have used TB4?
Bosk
Roar Rookie
"There is no way the players support what Hird did" ....are you really sure about that andy? They were the ones who stood to gain from the black-ops injecting program every bit as much as the club did, lest we forget Jobe Watson's Brownlow was largely fueled by AOD-9604 and Thymosin Beta 4. Ask any detective how they go about investigating a crime and they'll mention one of the first things they do is look at who stood to benefit.
Moose
Guest
Moose
Guest
Funny thing is if hird comes back, EFC will lose Thompson as senior coach, something I suspect would disappoint both their administrators and fans.
Moose
Guest
Casper
Guest
The AFL punished Hird with a 12 month suspension, so what Essendon decided to do is irrelevant. Hird seems to me like a good coach. Took them to 14 wins last year, and seems like a great motivator. Looks like the players love him as well.
Kev
Guest
Dumb decisions seem to be all that the EFC board are capable of making. Their first was appointing an inexperienced amateur like Hird as senior coach to start with the second was to give him a contact renewal. Buckley, Voss and Hird, all great players in their own right, and all were given senior coaching gigs well before their time and seemingly off the back of their popularity as players. Only Buckley is still there and even then, his hold on the position may be tenuous if Collingwood don't improve. I wonder if this will force clubs to take the decision to appoint a senior coach more seriously than the current adhoc process.
Kev
Guest
Hird served his time? With golden boy Hirdy in charge, Essendon were fined $2 million and excluded from the 2013 finals and his "punishment" was 12 months away from EFC on full pay, plus an all expenses paid "study" tour of Paris plus a contract renewal. For most average Joes, if you are leading an organization and your actions caused it to suffer financial consequences that were totally avoidable, you would lose your job or be demoted at best. I guess sense doesn't apply to a footy club because if it did, an inexperienced hack like Hird wouldn't have been appointed senior coach to start with. From the outside, it was purely a marketing and it reeked of a primary school popularity exercise. Coaching and playing are two different things. Excelling at one doesn't guarantee you success in the other.
Kev
Guest
They haven't been declared innocent either. This could have been wrapped up quite some time ago if weren't for Essendon's incessant desire to obstruct and obfuscate at every opportunity. This Federal Court challenge just makes them look like they are trying to hide something.
Casper
Guest
Not a conspiracy Kev, but the players haven't been found guilty of anything. Hird has served his time, so he should be free to get on with his job. If the players do end up getting suspended, then its a different matter.
Kev
Guest
Hird worshiping at its finest. You are assuming innocence and that it's all a conspiracy?
Cat
Roar Guru
None of which is the same as the claimed "could not detail what they had given their players".
thank Goddard
Guest
The survey, conducted after Essendon’s systematic and unsupervised drugs program was exposed this year, found another 11 clubs ran programs with "medium or high levels of supplement use". It identified an inapropriate definition of supplements and a flawed selection process in the employment of support staff....from the Herald Sun last year...
thank Goddard
Guest
how so guru?
thank Goddard
Guest
how so guru?
andyl12
Guest
Lewis is only 27. Who told you he was retiring?