Over the past few years he has laid blame with the Club, the Board, Dank, Robinson, Hird, the AFL, the AFL Commission, Fitzpatrick, Demetriou and himself.
He seems to all over the place. As such he is the last person I’d be relying on to get a view of which way is up or down with regard to the saga, least tomorrow he says something different.
That doesn’t mean that some level of blame isn’t warranted to all those parties. The problem is that the club ultimately paid a massive price for something that was never actually quantified (governance) & Hird was the person who was blamed for everything else & the only person who has actually offered apologies.
I can’t recall Bomba ever saying Evans shouldn’t talk but if he did I’d be interested to know what his justifications were at that time. Evans was ultimately the person who was best placed to know all the details so I can’t imagine anyone who needs to talk more. I don’t fear the truth & instead have long believed only the truth will allow the club to fully heal & move on. Those who don’t want Evans to talk obviously have things to hide.
You miss the point; Mark Thompson thinks Evans should come clean. Hasn’t mentioned anything before about Evans spilling the beans so he hasn’t flip flopped at all.
All you’ve done is brought in a red herring about who he has laid the blame on. Not relevant.
Evans was the Chairman and the Chairman has ultimate responsibility. He was involved in the preliminary discussions with Demetriou, McLachlan, Eccles (representing Lundy) and Andruska. He had Essendon ‘self report’. He refused to sack Robinson. He asked Hird to lie to ASADA.
He disappeared in mid 2013 and now he has reappeared.
Bomber’s right, he owes the Essendon community a full explanation. And it doesn’t matter what Bomber may have said or not said in the past. He is on the money now, Evans should come clean.
Isn’t Lucifer like Jesus the same way Satan is God?
Nope.
OH FFS. You’ve missed my point.
I too would like to hear from Evans. The fact that Bomber has come out and said that Evans should say something has neither increased or lessened that desire.
Geez people on here are so friggen blinkered that others can’t even mention anything else.
FFS
well I didn’t get that from your first post about Bomber so thanks for clarifying
Hey Scorpio, do you have any additional info on Evans that you have used to form your pretty strong opinion on Evans that has not appeared in the general media or in say Chips book that I may not be aware of?
exactly what I wanted to say. Good on Bomber for his latest statement. Evans can get us closer to the truth if he comes clean.
No. I know nothing other than what is in the public domain. But I have read absolutely everything available, as have many here.
However I get really angry when people in positions of authority refuse to accept responsibility. They are supposed to accept responsibility, that’s why they get the “big bucks”
Now I understand Evans did not get paid for his role, however there are other non tangible benefits to being chairman.
I don’t restrict my anger to Evans, Robson too has never taken any responsibility. Nor Hamilton.
Yet people in Australia don’t seem to get held responsible for not doing what they are supposed to be doing. And it annoys me.
Plus the fact as many on here know I thought the clubs response all along the way was lacking in any cogent theme. Everything from the manner in which the players were told to tell all, rather than get independent legal advice, to the lack of media releases. And ultimately Evans and Robson were responsible for the fiasco both the investigation and the media coverage became.
To see Evans back at the club without a word to the long suffereing fans, no explanation, no I stuffed up, nothing, is a disgrace in my opinion.
FFS you’re kidding yourself. You said nothing about hearing from Evans and your desires. You were too concerned about what Thompson has said in the past. Keep to the point man.
Maybe you simply worded it poorly but your previous post came across as an attack on Bomba & an indication that him calling for Evans to talk gave the matter less credibility in your eyes. Given that a certain apologist here likes to imply the people closest to the saga don’t want Evans to talk, its pretty relevant when Bomba, who was as close as anyone, indicates not only that he wants Evans to talk but states he believes the players do as well. For mine, Bomba comments hold a lot of weight.
I’m not sure what you meant with reference to Bomba laying blame at numerous people in the saga. I’m sure most would agree with him that there is no 1 person to blame so again I’m not understanding the attempt to discredit Bombas’ opinions. Maybe he’s said things I’ve missed but I haven’t gotten the impression his attitudes have been fluid on Evans.
It was never going to make it a ‘sexy’ or sensational enough story to lay the blame at some faceless administrators at the club.
But Hirdy however…
Just made it easier for the simpletons and nuffies of the other clubs to get their miniscule minds around in the eyes of the msm, AFL and Lukin to manipulate their version of events and get the results that they were after.
Essendon’s miscarriage of justice goes from tragedy to farce
ALLAN HIRDThe Australian12:00AM April 1, 2017
Essendon’s miscarriage of justice at the hands of ASADA, the AFL and two ministers for sport, Kate Lundy and Sussan Ley, just went from tragedy to farce this week with the AFL clearing itself of any wrongdoing.
As a friend suggested, an anonymous AFL review cleared the AFL of its role in the ASADA Essendon investigation. That is about as credible as a schoolkid forging his mum’s writing to explain why he didn’t do his homework properly.
The Australian ’s Patrick Smith’s column on the issue (“Tough Luck if you thought the AFL got it wrong with Essendon”) was meant to be an ironic response to the AFL clearing itself but provided no insight or balance. But I guess irony is the best one can expect from one of the leaders of the media pack that pursued Essendon based on selective leaking from the AFL.
The AFL’s exoneration of itself does not include basic information such as who the authors were, what the terms of reference were and who was interviewed.
There is of course much, much more to be told than the AFL wants exposed. There is plenty of information in the public domain to contest the AFL’s view it treated Essendon appropriately. Chip Le Grand’s excellent book, The Straight Dope, the transcripts of the Federal Court case Hird v ASADA and numerous pieces by Le Grand in The Australian and Michael Warner in the Herald Sun have revealed the AFL as a manipulative, bullying and untrustworthy organisation.
In January 2013, the AFL did a deal with ASADA and the Gillard government to enable ASADA to use the coercive powers in the AFL player contracts to compel Essendon players to answer questions.
The ASADA act is intended to protect the rights of athletes so that they get a fair hearing. The parliament included a provision so that athletes were not forced to incriminate themselves. Yet here we have the AFL deliberately and consciously taking away a right provided to its employees, the players, by the parliament.
Why is this such a big deal? Well, first it subverts the will of the parliament and undermines our democracy. Second, the player contracts included a clause that they would be subject to WADA/ASADA requirements, which included protection from self-incrimination in the ASADA act. Or so the players and the parliament thought. Little did the players know that their employer, the AFL, was a ruthless organisation with little respect for process or individual rights.
Former AFL chairman Mike Fitzpatrick wrongly claims the Federal Court cleared the AFL’s joint investigation with ASADA. It did no such thing and indeed it could not. The Federal Court has no jurisdiction over the AFL.
Justice John Middleton’s decision depended, in fact, on a narrow reading of the way the AFL and ASADA conducted the investigation. The ruling found the investigation belonged to the AFL, and ASADA merely sat in the same room as a witness while the AFL interviewed the Essendon players and officials. The effect of Justice Middleton’s judgment stripped the players of two basic rights enshrined in the ASADA act by the federal parliament: the right to not self-incriminate; and the right to confidentiality while being investigated.
Anyone who saw, listened to or read the media in 2013 would be aware the players and staff were denied confidentiality. The Australian Federal Police investigated whether ASADA was the source of the leaks and cleared it. The players and staff would hardly leak information damaging to themselves. That leaves the AFL as the likely source. It beggars belief that in 21st-century Australia an employer would get away with treating its employees so badly.
But the impact of Justice Middleton’s decision is far wider than Essendon. Every Australian athlete is now not protected from self-incrimination and does not have the right to confidentiality. That remains so unless the government tightens the ASADA act to ensure that it reflects the wishes of parliament. The AFL has weakened the rights of athletes and undermined the principle of a fair go.
Federal Sports Minister Greg Hunt could restore these rights by amending the act. The Greens would no doubt support the amendment bill.
What the AFL self-exoneration is silent on is procedural fairness.
The AFL’s actions in relation to Essendon are a classic example of how not to run an investigation if the facts are important, conflict of interests are to be avoided and individual rights protected.
We can only take the AFL’s word that the investigation, charging, prosecution and judgment of Essendon were conducted separately and independently of each other. But from what has been revealed, Andrew Demetriou, Gillon McLachlan, Fitzpatrick and Andrew Dillon have their fingerprints all over those four crucial steps that led to Essendon being fined $2 million and kicked out of the finals and the coach being stood down for a year.
The Australian legal system has the police investigate and charge, the deputy public prosecutor prosecute and the court adjudicate and determine the penalty where guilt is proven. In most criminal cases the penalties are far less severe than those imposed on Essendon and its staff.
The AFL did not run a fair process and for it to claim it did shows how arrogant it is and how out of touch with community expectations it has become. The Australian sporting public believes in a fair go and the AFL is a ruthless beast that devours its own when threatened.
It beggars belief that the 18 AFL clubs allowed the AFL to be investigator, prosecutor and judge and jury of Essendon.
Will the clubs let the AFL get away with investigating itself and clearing itself? For the good of the game, I would hope not.
Allan Hird is the father of former Essendon coach James Hird.
Great article by Alan Hird. Thanks for posting.
I have never seen the level of coverup by the afl or government that this whole farce has produced before… & while so many just want to sweep it under the carpet & make it go away because they are tired of hearing about it & want to move on …things will never get better .
I have found an unsubstantiated note that Dean Robinson was paid $300 000 for his ‘say that again’ interview on television.
that sounds about right …pay a flog like that an amount that would take me nearly 7 years to earn to get on tv & have a grizzle