From the Latin, collūsiō, from collūdere to collude - or to ‘play together’. IF multiple parties did in fact meet and play together, the question is whether they were conspiring to manufacture an outcome that could be considered illegal - such as an obstruction of justice - which is a crime under the Crimes Act. It’s a moot point because whatever secret dealings ‘may have been going on’ early in the piece were abandoned. The ‘let’s do a deal’ was replaced with the new approach of ‘Essendon is going down. Whatever it takes’. Oh the irony. Literally use our slogan to make us a scapegoat for rampant supplements use in the comp at the time (12 clubs?). Yep - right royally rogered.
Getting in bed with the devil is no biggie. Disbelieve and ignore your own employees when they claim that no banned substances were being injected. Why? Because poor governance created a seed of doubt and because there was confusion early on as to what had been administered? Not being able to categorically state what had been administered doesn’t automatically mean or prove that banned substances had been taken. And with a complete lack of evidence it is impossible for one to make that leap. But, that didn’t matter to Dave, did it? Truth was never the object. Finding a way to cover up the mess was far more important. And what better way to do that than to jump into bed with the devil. Of course, doing so is always going to be on the devil’s terms. That’s the price you pay for the belly bumping dance. Self report. Cop a whack. Scapegoat a few, but save the majority. Minimise damage. How did all that work out? Doc Reid wasn’t gunna cop to that. He instigated court proceedings and the AFL backed down. Jimmy wanted to fight the good fight, but his mate tried to persuade him otherwise. Davey - the man who never fought for anything - not for truth, not for the players, not for his best mate and certainly not for the club he purported to love. Minimise damage. Optics. The corporate - not human way.
The infamous phonecall. Did Vlad tip off Evans that the EFC were about to be investigated? Evans says no. Vlad says no. Now, Jimmy - you may have been privy to the “non-tip”, so speak up son and answer any questions that ASADA put to you, but I am personally gunna omit any mention of a ‘potential’ tip-off. Now, that doesn’t read right, does it? I mean, if there were no tip off, then no such discussion would have taken place between the great mates, Dave and Jimmy. But, a discussion did take place. Someone lied here - but whom? Jimmy vs the Dave and Vlad cabal - I know who I believe. Sharing the truth here could have had serious legal implications for multiple parties. ‘They’ chose to hide the truth and save their own skins. Others ultimately suffered. Liars and cowards.
"I want to apologise to our players and their families, to our members and supporters, to the AFL community, about what has happened at Essendon. I am deeply sorry this has happened on my watch. I will fight to ensure there is zero tolerance to risky procedures at our club”. - David Evans.
And then…
David Evans resigns days before ASADA’s findings were handed down. Left the club & its personnel in a complete mess. Allowed others to clean it all up. Returns a couple of years later once Hird was out of the picture. Did he slowly ingratiate himself back into the fold or did we invite him back or a bit of both?
Since his 2013 departure, has Evans apologised to the Club, the players, their families and members/supporters? Has he opened up and provided an honest and truthful account of what really happened? Why didn’t he ever ask to see any evidence? Why did he come across as convinced of our guilt and sought to broker a deal? Why does he remain silent (still now) and allow others to continue suffering, while he enjoys a lavish lifestyle flying around in his 10 million dollar chopper to his 14 million dollar home and getting himself entangled in all sorts of ‘interesting’ business dealings? He has no regrets. And his lack of remorse and honesty is infuriating.
Evans presided over the darkest time in the club’s history and has been rewarded with life membership? If one felt a degree of personal responsibility for what happened and were truly remorseful for one’s central role - wouldn’t you politely decline such a personal and honorary gesture? Jobe returned his Charlie. And he did nothing wrong. It was a mightily symbolic gesture from a truly decent man. A man of integrity and character. Why has Evans been inducted now? Why ever? He should be grateful that he is allowed to walk back into ‘our’ club ever again. To induct and basically immortalise him is a horrible decision, IMO. But, you wanna give him a medal? And you reckon he receives a massively unfair wrap on Blitz? Poor old Davey from the Collins Street of town.
