Essendon

[Lightning McQueen]

Happy to ram my views into the conversation and alpaca pun or two in for good measure.

Will ewe's cut it out.

Don't have a cow, man. I'm tired of being lambasted.

Oh deer.

[Magellan]

Happy to ram my views into the conversation and alpaca pun or two in for good measure.

Will ewe's cut it out.

Don't have a cow, man. I'm tired of being lambasted.

Oh deer.

Don't be a-llama-ed, all will be revealed.

[Booney]

They have been put through hell from the media...

This. Enough already with the door to door coverage of the Hird family movements.

Hird was "punished" with his year in France, getting the arse as coach, going through the ringer for his part in the supplements program etc etc all the while the "media" hound the bloke into the ground. When was enough going to be enough? Clearly when he tried to take his own life it wasn't enough as the next day there's Mrs and Junior Hird getting in the car in the driveway on my TV. ******* scum the media have become.

Perhaps now Mr Dank may wish to bring all his "evidence" forward? Players are living with the unknown, they've missed a year, one missed a premiership because of it, the coach has tried to take his own life all because nobody really knows what went on, we never will. One bloke claims to have all the answers, but he's a gutless, spineless piece of work who hasn't got a clue, let alone an answer.

[Ruben Carter]

They have been put through hell from the media...

This. Enough already with the door to door coverage of the Hird family movements.

Hird was "punished" with his year in France, getting the arse as coach, going through the ringer for his part in the supplements program etc etc all the while the "media" hound the bloke into the ground. When was enough going to be enough? Clearly when he tried to take his own life it wasn't enough as the next day there's Mrs and Junior Hird getting in the car in the driveway on my TV. ******* scum the media have become.

Perhaps now Mr Dank may wish to bring all his "evidence" forward? Players are living with the unknown, they've missed a year, one missed a premiership because of it, the coach has tried to take his own life all because nobody really knows what went on, we never will. One bloke claims to have all the answers, but he's a gutless, spineless piece of work who hasn't got a clue, let alone an answer.

Well said Booney

[UK Fan]

If Hird is hating all the media and alike.

Move to France US Canada etc... . Outside of Australia nobody would know him.

A lot better option than leaving your kids fatherless IMHO!!!!

[Ian]

If Hird is hating all the media and alike.

Move to France US Canada etc... . Outside of Australia nobody would know him.

A lot better option than leaving your kids fatherless IMHO!!!!

Very simplistic UK, no one should have to continue living with the constant media (and public) abuse that he has after "serving their time"

Do you really think taking James away from his family and friends will help, let alone uprooting his whole family from those they hold dearest is best for everyone?

[Ian]

They have been put through hell from the media...

This. Enough already with the door to door coverage of the Hird family movements.

Hird was "punished" with his year in France, getting the arse as coach, going through the ringer for his part in the supplements program etc etc all the while the "media" hound the bloke into the ground. When was enough going to be enough? Clearly when he tried to take his own life it wasn't enough as the next day there's Mrs and Junior Hird getting in the car in the driveway on my TV. ******* scum the media have become.

Perhaps now Mr Dank may wish to bring all his "evidence" forward? Players are living with the unknown, they've missed a year, one missed a premiership because of it, the coach has tried to take his own life all because nobody really knows what went on, we never will. One bloke claims to have all the answers, but he's a gutless, spineless piece of work who hasn't got a clue, let alone an answer.

Well put Booney

[Dutchy]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

[Jim05]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

He was meant to be doing some commentary for SEN this year but apparently the AFL blocked it

[Lightning McQueen]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

He was meant to be doing some commentary for SEN this year but apparently the AFL blocked it

So they should, he brought the AFL name into disrepute and the game suffered by not seeing players like Watson, Heppell and co. running around in 2016.

[Jim05]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

He was meant to be doing some commentary for SEN this year but apparently the AFL blocked it

So they should, he brought the AFL name into disrepute and the game suffered by not seeing players like Watson, Heppell and co. running around in 2016.

Plenty of other guys involved in the saga at higher levels than Hird have all got cushy jobs with the AFL. How Evans, Corcoran, Goodwin all have jobs staggers me

[Bombers4EVA]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

He was meant to be doing some commentary for SEN this year but apparently the AFL blocked it

So they should, he brought the AFL name into disrepute and the game suffered by not seeing players like Watson, Heppell and co. running around in 2016.

Plenty of other guys involved in the saga at higher levels than Hird have all got cushy jobs with the AFL. How Evans, Corcoran, Goodwin all have jobs staggers me

Damn right there Jim bob.

[amber_fluid]

Media could turn this around and someone give him a role of some sort for the 2017 season, get him talking footy again and not the past, it may help cure him.

He was meant to be doing some commentary for SEN this year but apparently the AFL blocked it

So they should, he brought the AFL name into disrepute and the game suffered by not seeing players like Watson, Heppell and co. running around in 2016.

Plenty of other guys involved in the saga at higher levels than Hird have all got cushy jobs with the AFL. How Evans, Corcoran, Goodwin all have jobs staggers me

Yeah but unfortunately when you put your hand up and out to be the main man the buck stops with you.

I think Hird needs to focus on his business he has and his family and forget about the whole AFL world.
The media will move on eventually........ well maybe not but it will subside eventually!

[Bombers4EVA]

Great to see a father coming in to defend his son. Well done Allan.

"James Hird's father Allan says there were no signs his son was on a path to ill-health despite accusing AFL and Essendon administrators of pursuing him as a scapegoat.

Allan Hird said AFL officials were "thugs" and "bullies" without a "moral compass" for their treatment of his son in the aftermath of Essendon's supplement scandal.

Hird would not reveal his son's whereabouts amid reports he is receiving treatment at an undisclosed health facility.

But he said Hird was recovering well after being hospitalised for a suspected overdose last week.

"He's fine. My daughter's been keeping me regularly informed," Hird told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Tuesday.


"I'm in Brisbane and I'm coming down shortly to see him."

The 43-year-old James Hird, a father of four, has kept a low public profile since he left his job as Essendon coach in August 2015.

His reputation was damaged severely amid investigations into the club's 2012 supplements program that left 34 past and present Bombers banned last season.

His wife Tania has requested their family be granted privacy.

Allan Hird said he had no suspicions his son's health was under a cloud but believes he had been let down by people he had trusted.

He said leaks to media from the Essendon board while James was coach worked against him.

"I had no inkling. (It came) just out of the blue," he said.

"Right from the start, I believed Jim trusted people too much.

"He put too much trust in the club doing the right thing. He put too much trust in the AFL. He put too much trust in our system of government.

"If he had his time again, he would have done it differently."

Hird called for a top-level inquiry to look into the supplements scandal where people who handled the matter - including former federal government ministers and AFL and Essendon officials - would give evidence under oath.

He accused administrators of conspiring to make Hird the scapegoat for the ill-fated supplement program, protesting his son's innocence.

"Get them to tell the truth. Get the truth out there and we'll see where it lies," he said.

"A 'conspiracy' is probably the wrong word in a legal sense, but in the general public's eye, I'd say a conspiracy between the Gillard government, the AFL and elements of the Essendon board, plus the Australian Anti-Doping Authority to get a result for something to get everyone out of a hole.

"The Gillard government had got itself into a hole ... overblew that crime commission report enormously and they needed something and they did that for political reasons.

"Both his employers were gunning for him but there was nothing specific he had ever done and there still isn't."

The AFL has refused to comment."


Read more at http://wwos.nine.com.au/2017/01/10/08/5 ... zXmOtJ7.99

[bennymacca]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

[Bombers4EVA]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

I believe there is a lot of information that we will never be privileged to know. A lot of us are only commenting on what we read on the internet without actually knowing what had been spoken.

[bennymacca]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

I believe there is a lot of information that we will never be privileged to know. A lot of us are only commenting on what we read on the internet without actually knowing what had been spoken.

Im sure most of you have read it by now, but this is really the only relevant information

http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_u ... SENDON.pdf

[JK]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

Perhaps not the only ones, but I reckon the AFL have plenty of skeletons in the closet regarding this whole farce.

Like the way the old man has come out and supported his son, Im sure most of us would do the same if he was our boy.

[bennymacca]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

Perhaps not the only ones, but I reckon the AFL have plenty of skeletons in the closet regarding this whole farce.

Like the way the old man has come out and supported his son, Im sure most of us would do the same if he was our boy.

yeah cant argue with that. the afl wanted nothing more than to keep their brand intact, and they were willing to let it slide to do it - the players received bad advice and didnt take the plea deal like the cronulla players

[Jim05]

I agree that Hird should be afforded privacy

But I think its a bit rich for his dad to be claiming the AFL is the one without a moral compass after what his son put the players through

I believe there is a lot of information that we will never be privileged to know. A lot of us are only commenting on what we read on the internet without actually knowing what had been spoken.

Im sure most of you have read it by now, but this is really the only relevant information

http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_u ... SENDON.pdf

A lot more to it than that though.
It's amazing to think that there were over 100 charges laid by WADA yet Hird was exonerated on all counts and never received a ban. ASADA themselves have placed the whole blame on Dank and said that all Hird was guilty of was putting too much trust in the club and support staff.
Evans and Corcoran hired Dank on the back of recommendations from Bomber and Dean Robinson, Hird actually had another candidate he wanted at the club but went along with the clubs choice. If the club had done their due diligence at the start Dank wouldn't have got through the front door