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Essendon - Supporter Support

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From the outside looking in, it looks like Hird has been scapegoated. He might have been a long term coach, but now is gone after two years.

Can't see how his departure makes any difference to the big issue facing the club, which is the WADA witch hunt and victimization of the players, many of whom will want to leave at the end of the year.
 

I think you are forgetting that Hird was the man in charge when all this sh*t went down.
 
Macquack said:
I think you are forgetting that Hird was the man in charge when all this sh*t went down.
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A coach's job is to evaluate onfield performance and the tactics to best meet the opposing sides. Many others are directly responsible for the health and fitness of the individuals. It appears that Hird had no idea of the medical/enhancement applications and support. As a result he trusted the truth of his own role and it would therefore correct in due course.

Dimitrue did not like him or the success at Essondon in my view and the final full story when it comes will be interesting. And most of the AFL in house legal processes were very shady indeed (again my view) and stacked against Hird all the way.
 
IMO a sad end, to a sad saga.

I wouldn't be happy to find out, my son was caught up in all this crap, when he was joining a reputable football club.
 
A complete and utter disaster for Essendon and the AFL.

Once WADA became involved they were always going to throw their weight around. They would have been looking for test case concerning "team sport" where suspensions were invoked without any whistleblower or positive testing. The AFL makes the perfect bunny.

Now WADA can shout from the rooftop to soccer, basketball etc about getting their house in order.

If I was WADA I would be doing it to.

Very sad outcome for Australian sport.

Duckman
 
Very sad for the players who were basically under the control of the club and relied on the club's assurances that the supplements were legal.

I don't believe the players should be scapegoated, but Hird, the club's doctors and management should get very stiff treatment.
 
Duckman#72 said:
A complete and utter disaster for Essendon and the AFL.

Very sad outcome for Australian sport.

Duckman
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Yep, I'm absolutely shattered.

There's a hollow, empty feeling at the moment. A bit of anger too. It'll stay there for a long while, but I am still a loyal supporter of the club.
 
This is not a sad outcome for Aussie sport but a sad outcome for the players who relied on a good footballer but failed coach. Hird wanted instant success and went about it by any means possible. He knew what was being
injected,he authorised it,he denied it,the players admitted it.
Hird should be banned for life and fined the millions he made out this great game he brought into disrepute.
 

I too feel for the players.
What were they supposed to have done, when the Club Officials make a roll call "Line up for jabs!"
Refuse? Or ask for a second opinion? How advantageous would that have been for their future with the Club?

Maybe there's a chance for a clever Shyster to sue the Club on behalf of those players. "Coercion to self-harm" maybe? Or at least "Failing to provide a safe work environment"?
 

Yeh the players were put in an impossible position, the younger ones especially. Doing what you're told by the coach and medical staff is part of being a pro player. You follow personal orders and team orders so that the team can function as a unit. Then you find out you've been dudded. Very unfair.

The medical staff seem to have come out unscathed, but I see it as their responsibility. The difficulty imo was that revered Hird was so determined for success, that questioning new initiatives would have felt like heresy. He's the boss, after all.
 

Thats just not true. This team sport tow the line is just BS. All the responsibility is on the athlete, always has been. Always needs to be. Under 15 years olds who make state teams in obscure sports can tell you the rules. I know, I know the procedure. To be a profession sports person in Australia's biggest sport and use the excuse that you didn't know what was being injected is just laughable. Thats exactly what they tell you on your first day in, to 12-14 year olds. You don't know whats going in you have probably already broken the doping rules.
 

So the club has no responsibility ?

Sorry I don't believe it.

Were the players supposed to get independent chemical analysis of the supplements or believe what their employers told them that it was all legit ?

The club has a duty of care over it's players. The club is at fault.
 
Disgraceful to take it out on the players like this. An AFL career is brief enough as it is, without having to sit out for a season.

What about the members and supporters, and the sponsors.

I hope the players appeal. Punishment fit the crime? Not in this case.
 

Most pro footballers would struggle to even Google the word "AOD-9604", let alone know what it does and whether it's legal or not. Medical staff should have known exactly what was going on, so imo they have the responsibility.

The word was out that this is what Geelong had been doing with Dank. It looked to work very well for them, and they hadn't been stopped or questioned by anyone. That acts as an unofficial "go ahead".
 

Yeah sure the club is at fault. Thats without question. But the athletes are not victims just because they belong to a professional club. The very basis of your anti-doping education when you start in junior development state based teams/squads is you have to know what is going in you.

There is just no way around that. Certainly if you are old enough to earn $100,000 to $800,000 dollars out of a sport I can guarantee you have been told the above by plenty of parties plenty of times.

Gringotts Bank said:
Most pro footballers would struggle to even Google the word "AOD-9604", let alone know what it does and whether it's legal or not.
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Nonsense. Everyone is given this link and told to use it for everything they eat, wipe on their skin, stick in nose/eyes, stick in their veins and stick up their ar$e.

http://checksubstances.asada.gov.au/index.aspx
 
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