Hird was marked from the outset, not least by Evans, who was working with the AFL to stand him down. When Evans was caught out, he was suddenly ill and resigned.
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And the lure Gill held out to Hird was that the players would not be charged.
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Agree that Hird was the escape goat
edit - at the end of the day the rest of the competition should be great full that the Essendon Footy Club took one for the league if this happened to a St.Kilda,Dogs or Kangas they would have folded 10 times over.
Sal to say “Take it to the Saga thread” in 3, 2 … 
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Most of the media were like rabid dogs throughout the saga, largely a result of their conditioning but also the prevailing environment that people like Demetiriou and Fitzpatrick had fostered during their reign.
There was a moment in that video where Hirdy was talking about how he felt handled the saga and it gave me the impression that he has maybe come to a bit of a realisation that regardless of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, by fighting as hard as he did throughout the saga, the end result for everyone was the worst possible outcome.
He (and we) know he was incredibly hard done by the whole way through.
Both he and his family deserve peace after what they have gone through.
All the muppets who comment on every article and social media post about him deserve some things too…
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Lol,… fkn “Escape Goat” … Near choked on my Four n Twenty. 
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What happened to Hird was criminal on so many levels.
He is a true role model and what happened to him robbed the community and fans of all the good he could have done.
A couple of things.
he never got to play at Windy Hill
His 3rd game he had 25 disposals and 15 marks. Unbelievable.
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May have played there in the seconds and thirds?
yeah fair point. Drafted end of 90 so would have only had 91 to play there?
Unless 2nds played there in 92.
Not at Senior level anyway.
He did and his grandfather got to see his early games there IIRC
Has the AFL celebrated Hird’s career the same it has for others? Or is his name too dirty to mention?
Do you mean Andrew?
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That is literally true.
I remember being very worried for Evans during the game against Freo. They kept flashing to him on the telecast (hmmmm) and he genuinely looked like he was going to have a stroke.
Makes me wonder how much stress he was under.
And, of course, why.
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Yep. He actually had a heart attack in the rooms.
It was the Hawthorn game that he took sick.
Leading up the Freo game (early in the year and certainly earlier than the Hawthorn game), “Sarah” Lukin, who was sent to Essendon by the AFL to manage the crisis, had contacted Hird telling him he must stand down. It was leaked to the papers (the Age? possibly). Hird refused.
We had a win that seemingly secured Hird’s position, and possibly caused Evans significant stress in his efforts to do the AFL’s bidding.
A few weeks later, after the Hawthorn game, he resigned, citing bad health as the reason, and General Little took over. (Sarah Lukin was shown the door shortly thereafter).
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What?
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All the AFL CEO and deputy CEO actions - including the joint investigation and the charges of bringing the game into disrepute were backed by the AFL Commissioners and most Club Presidents.
Oh wow, I didn’t know that. Caught between conflicting obligations and literally broken-hearted by it
Ironic for someone whose actions showed no heart.
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Free was the only one that didn’t.
So the AwFL stitched them up in the finals that year.