James Hird — January 2017 onwards

The thing that ■■■■■ me right off is the fact that the average AFL punter thinks the supplements program was 100% Hird’s creation, he literally injected every player personally, he ordered the supplements, he forced players to participate in the program. No one else had anything to do with it. Weapon and Dank were just casual observers.

Hird’s involvement pretty much ended when he gave his directives to Weapon/Dank

  • 100% safe;
  • WADA approved
  • Everything to go by Dr Reid

How much clearer can you ■■■■■■■ be? Yet he’s ostracised from the game whilst Robinson rides off into the sunset unscathed.

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Luckily most people hate that ■■■■■■■ little prick!

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Not wanting to put a dampener on last night’s performance (my adrenaline is still on high), just posting re other’s thoughts.

Me, I think his argument is simplistic (and maybe his was wearing the jumper we presented him with at time of writing :sunglasses:)

What James Hird needs to do to minimise fan backlash on grand final day

GILLON McLachlan says he has great faith in the AFL’s supporters not to boo James Hird on Grand Final day.

Where did he get that naive notion from?

If the lessons of the past five years are anything, Hirdy is an absolute certainty to get a mixed review from fans as he hands over the Norm Smith Medal.

If McLachlan had any faith it was surely eroded by the shameful Adam Goodes episode which lasted years.

Booing was once a bit of harmless fun over pantomime villains — you booed the opposition star each week, you booed the bloke who just whacked your matchwinner.

But for many Essendon figures it turned into a systematic response to years of fury from fans that the game was being hijacked by ASADA-related strife.

Many fans who booed Goodes did so adamant it as not racially motivated but were still happy to subject him to derision even when he made it clear how much their response stripped his enjoyment from playing.

Which is why if Hird is to avoid much of that circus, a return to an Essendon game before Grand Final day would be a welcome move.

AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan revealed yesterday the AFL Commission thought long and hard about Hird’s invite.

They decided it was a crucial part of the healing process, especially given Hird was next man up on the AFL’s list of Norm Smith Medallists.

Imagine the headlines if they had overlooked him — “AFL SNUBS HIRD” — so they couldn’t really win either way.

Hird has served his time over the ASADA dramas — albeit on a well-paid overseas educational jaunt — and should eventually be welcomed back in a game as forgiving as any.

It is understood Essendon has a standing invitation for Hird to return for a function or AFL match.

Kevin Sheedy told the Herald Sun at the start of the month after he and Hird attended an official Dons coterie function in Tasmania he was just glad to see Hirdy smiling again.

If Hird was to appear at any of the next six games in an informal capacity, we would get all those emotions out.

Catharsis or anger or fury, it would all pour out but it would be mostly over with.

Then a key talking point of Grand Final week would not be wondering whether the booing of Hird would be subtle or Force 10.

Hird’s mistakes as a coach in a hurry destroyed his reputation, his livelihood, his standing in the community and nearly had more catastrophic effect earlier this year.

Time to move on from painting Hird as Public Enemy No.1 but if that happens at an Essendon game first, it would surely expedite the process.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/teams/essendon/what-james-hird-needs-to-do-to-minimise-fan-backlash-on-grand-final-day/news-story/43645f8440829d5e2f4eeb1db0324bc8.

Nice post Jodi.

Hirdy presenting the Norm Smith to Jobe. I can’t farking wait!

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Another situation the AFL will stage manage. They knew this would eventuate because they set the criteria for the person who presents the medal. They don’t want booing on GF day and this is stage 1 of the plan to soften the public.

i assume this is a slobbo article?

the complete lack of self awareness in writing a line such as the above is staggering. who made it to be such a big issue, you goon?

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No it’s by Ralph

hence the (and maybe his was wearing the jumper we presented him with at time of writing :sunglasses:)

ohhhh ok. i glossed over that bit!

my point still applies.

Yes, it does

Imagine this, Grand Final Day Hirdy and overs the Norm Smith Medal to one of our own.

The EFC crowd is screaming that loud no one else can be even heard anywhere inside or outside the stadium.

Just imagine that!!! Is that something to play for or what?

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That sounds absolutely brilliant @mdso :slightly_smiling_face:

Ralphy: Hird should attend a game just so we can boo him and get it out of our system before the GF.

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farkn peasant

Hirdy should tell them where to shove it.

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Liz is scraping the bottom of the barrel to get the numbers of so-called public figures against Hird presenting the Norm Smith medal. Failing to get any players/ past players/coaches to oppose, she has found Scott McGlory, former cyclist - who compares him to Lance Armstrong - and who maintains that cycling is now clean. Pull the other one.

Fixed.

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I think everyone is missing a really, really obvious point. James wants to come back to AFL land. With a bit of luck he’ll be back at EFC soon also.

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The obvious point is that it was just a piece of AFL spin, timed to deflect from what was about to be breaking news the next day.

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Agree, but to me the more obvious points are that Hird:
a) already “returned” once after being suspended for 12 months; and
b) did nothing of the kind to warrant any of this rubbish in the first place.

Seriously, the way Hird is still being treated just beggars belief. I heard Mark Howard’s comments on Friday night - some pretty ironic garbage from a bloke who co-hosts radio shows with Wayne Carey and Brendan Fevola.

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