Sorry Saga - What Hirdy Said

mdso · February 26, 2017, 10:24pm

Wtf is stongarming? Ohhhh, strongarming. Sozzles.
Yeah, Rita’s a ■■■■ and I’d walk outside to check if she said it was raining.

101; Workplace Management. Always getting the right result. If negotiation doesn't work, intimidation usually does.

StabbytheRabbit · February 26, 2017, 10:26pm

Walt D.‏@MiRandB13 11m11 minutes ago

.@MiRandB13 Today, Panahi finally realises what her colleague Warner and others wrote about 3+ years earlier.

StabbytheRabbit · February 26, 2017, 10:29pm

#standybywarner

StabbytheRabbit · February 26, 2017, 10:42pm

Are these people stupid? ok don't answer that.
Everyone knows the two day ‘hearing’ was the AFL just trying to bully us into taking the ban.

Are these guys serious?

IIR, the AFL couldn’t even get a quorum of board members to even attend these ‘hearings’.

The_Ant · February 26, 2017, 10:35pm

Are these people stupid? ok don’t answer that.

Everyone knows the two day ‘hearing’ was the AFL just trying to bully us into taking the ban.

Are these guys serious?

Bomber1408 · February 26, 2017, 11:40pm

German philosopher, Arthur Schopenhauer once said, “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”

miss_ellie · February 26, 2017, 11:45pm

Walt D.‏@MiRandB13 11m11 minutes ago
.@MiRandB13 Today, Panahi finally realises what her colleague Warner and others wrote about 3+ years earlier.

Will the discussion of ‘penalties prior to charges’ be in favour of/for Mr Jackson Taylor’s writ ?

bigallan · February 27, 2017, 12:24am

What's happening?

Drip, drip, there’s a leaking tap that needs fixing

littlebomber26 · February 27, 2017, 1:14am

Bruce wrote this to Warner, Blunden and co at the Herald Sun last Friday. No coincidence that Panahi wrote what she wrote.

Subject: It’s time to call for a Royal Commission

Dear Michael, Peter and Chris

In many ways, the AFL has sought to use the tradition of sport as an exemplar to benefit the Australian community. It has led the way on embracing Aboriginal people in our society, on making the game more accessible to women, on eradicating senseless violence, on drinking sensibly. It has taken to a high moral ground with a relish that has set the standards for other sports in this country. Yet, you only have to scratch the surface, as you have bravely done today, to discover that many of these apparent virtues are nothing more than condiments to hide a darker truth.

It’s time that you demanded that Minister Greg Hunt establish a Royal Commission. If you don’t, your newspaper will be seen to be condoning unprecedented corruption by an Australian sporting body and a government statutory body.

Congratulations on today’s articles. You have broken a huge story. In my opinion, you have exposed the AFL for bullying, most would argue, blackmailing, Essendon into capitulating under threat of being expelled from the League.

You have also exposed Gillon McLachlan for not telling the truth. But, without wishing to take the wind out of your sails, we already knew that the AFL were the biggest bullies in town, and we already knew from listening to McLachlan’s interviews with Alan Jones and Tim Lane, that he doesn’t tell the truth. We were also aware that the AFL, ASADA, WADA and the CAS, were guilty of misconduct and corruption.

Hopefully, you will follow up the main issue that has emerged from today’s exposure, an issue which I am sure has gone over the head of 99.99 per cent of your readers. And that issue is far more important than the AFL being bullies and McLachlan lying. You haven’t even scratched the surface today. If you don’t follow up, you are no better than Caroline Wilson and Paddy Smith.

The issue is the AFL’s corrupt behaviour and denial of procedural fairness. The AFL’s behaviour was little different from match fixing and resulted in a denial of procedural fairness to Essendon Football Cub, James Hird, Danny Corcoran and Mark Thompson.

Although the ASADA Interim Report (page 32) stated that: “The investigation sought to establish whether players and support persons from the Essendon FC used substances or engaged in methods prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) and the AFL’s Anti-Doping Code,” it is clear that a second ‘de-facto investigation’ was set up by stealth and came to run parallel with it. The first investigation, whose objective was well publicised, was supposed to ascertain whether the Essendon players had been administered banned substances. As it transpired, the second, unannounced investigation of governance failures – outside the purview of ASADA – was run by the same investigators, and without informing those questioned of the new intention. It is difficult to believe that this covert investigation was established for any reason other than to deliver the government and the AFL a major public face.

The AFL acted corruptly from before the first person was interviewed on 13 February 2013 until the penalties were announced.

This is the way the AFL Constitution states that the matter should have been conducted:

The investigators interview the witnesses and compile the evidence.
The AFL’s general counsel Andrew Dillon should have examined the evidence and ascertained whether charges should have been laid
If charges were laid, the AFL should have established a hearing in which the AFL Commissioners should have heard Dillon prosecute the case and the defendants defended the cases.
The AFL Commissioners, newspaper reports notwithstanding, should have become aware for the first time at the Commission hearing of the evidence collected by the investigators.

This is what transpired:

McLachlan reached agreement with ASADA, the Gillard government and the Essendon board on 9 February 2013 on what the outcome of the ‘drug’ investigation would be.
A second ‘de-facto investigation’ was set up by stealth and came to run parallel with the stated investigation
ASADA corrupted created a case for the AFL to charge Essendon and James Hird. NB, no case was ever made against Mark Thompson and Danny Corcoran.
AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou, who was to sit on the jury in August if charges were laid, was briefed on the evidence on a virtual daily basis.
The AFL intimidated ASADA to create an artificial case against Essendon and Hird
Demetriou implied publicly on many occasions that Essendon and Hird were guilty
The AFL executive briefed the AFL Commissioners on the evidence. That was corrupt behaviour and clearly brought the game into disrepute.
On 13 March 2013, the AFL Web site included the following comments: “The AFL has denied suggestions it will punish Essendon for poor internal governance regardless of the outcome of the ongoing ASADA investigation…” “AFL CEO Andrew Demetriou said the claim that the league would sanction the Bombers regardless of ASADA’s findings was ‘simply untrue’”
The AFL Commissioners decided on 11 April 2013 that Hird had to be stood aside.
AFL Commissioner Bill Kelty told Hird on 13 April 2013 that the AFL Commissioners had decided that he must be stood aside.
In early June 2013, the AFL Commissioners were briefed by McLachlan to the effect that the club officials at Essendon (Hird, Thompson, Corcoran and Dr Reid) were responsible for this ‘disgrace’ and will be held to account. The Commissioners were told that Essendon would be prevented from playing in the finals series. The AFL informed the Gillard government’s top sport public servant Richard Eccles of this decision.
Although the decision had been made in June 2013 to stop Essendon from playing in the finals series, the AFL continued to sell special seating to Essendon for the finals series.
ASADA chief operating officer Trevor Burgess told the Federal Court at the Middleton hearing that he received a briefing on 13 June 2013 from Richard Eccles, a deputy secretary within Senator Lundy’s office about a plan to take action against the club staff and suspend Hird for at least six months. “Ducks all lined up” noted Burgess.
On 19 June 2013, ASADA CEO Aurora Andruska met with McLachlan, Andrew Dillon and Brett Clothier from the AFL; Malcolm Holmes QC (ASADA), and Trevor Burgess (ASADA). Notes taken by Andruska state McLachlan said: “Essendon can’t play in the final series - it would undermine the competition for 10 years (my emphasis) . According to Andruska, McLachlan spoke of pressure from the AFL Commissioners. In my opinion, clearly, more corrupt behaviour.
During the conversation between Andruska and McLachlan on 26 June 2013, Andruska noted McLachlan’s comments as follows: “Take points off Essendon … Take bits out of the [ASADA report] that might compromise what we need.” (my emphasis)
On 9 July 2013, Brett Clothier asked ASADA’s Trevor Burgess whether the summary report would have sufficient detail about the environment at Essendon.
On 24 July 2013, Andruska met with Demetriou and Clothier. Demetriou stated that: “Two or three things cannot afford to be made public.” (my emphasis)
The Herald Sun report of 8 August 2013, the same day as the tape recording of the Little, Hird, Thompson, Corcoran meeting, throws light on what scum Demetriou and McLachlan are:

i. “Andrew Demetriou said it’s ‘unfortunate’ players believed Essendon would be stripped of premiership points in the doping saga.”

ii. “AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said this week it would be Dillon alone who would decide if Essendon face charges, or would be called to account, for the supplements program.”

iii. “AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan said this week he was unsure if there would be action… ‘Obviously Andrew Dillon the general counsel of the AFL and head of the integrity unit, is considering of the report, and the first things first, build the site if there is any action to be taken.’”

iv. “Speculation continues that Essendon could be fined $2 million, stripped of all its premiership points and forced to stand down key staff under one penalty scenario being canvassed.”

Publication today of the 8 August 2013 tape, indicates that McLachlan and Demetriou were lying. According to both of them, Dillon hadn’t decided whether charges should be laid. Yet, we learn that McLachlan and Demetriou had already decided on the guilt and penalties, obviously with the Commissioners’ blessings, and that they had been negotiating, most would say blackmailing, Essendon, Hird, Corcoran and Thompson to accept the penalties.

It should be noted that Demetriou was still in America on 5 August 2013, and claimed on his return to Australia that he hadn’t read the report. Some of the ‘guilty’ people hadn’t received a copy of the interim report, let alone seen the charges. Essendon had only seen a redacted version of the report. It is incomprehensible, and unconscionable that the current Governor of Victoria Ms Linda Dessau and the AFL Chairman elect Richard Goyder participated in this chicanery, whether directly or indirectly. The bottom line is the buck stops with the commissioners.

The emphasis on the lack of procedural fairness (natural justice in the old terms) as a major part of James Hird. Danny Corcoran, Mark Thompson and Essendon members who lost $2 million, complaints are supported in comments by the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, Robert S French on 7 October 2010, when he delivered the Sir Anthony Mason Lecture at the University of Melbourne Law School, Law Students’ Society. The subject was: Procedural Fairness – Indispensable to Justice? Inter alia, French said:

‘Procedural fairness is part of our cultural heritage. It is deeply rooted in our law. It lies at the heart of the judicial function and conditions the exercise of a large array of administrative powers affecting the rights, duties, privileges and immunities of individuals and organisations. As a normative marker for decision-making it predates by millennia the common law of England and its voyage to the Australian colonies.’ In his conclusion, the Chief Justice said: “The concept of procedural fairness has its origins in the natural law which informed the development of the rules of natural justice as part of the common law of England. Its scope has broadened, then narrowed, then broadened again, through its history. Despite incidents of legislative exclusion, procedural fairness is alive and well today in Australia. There is little doubt that the norms of procedural fairness reach well beyond the confines of the courtroom in judicial proceedings or judicial review of administrative decisions. They are important societal values applicable to any form of official decision-making which can affect individual interests. I do not think it too bold to say that if the notion of a ‘fair go’ means anything in this context, it must mean procedural fairness would be widely regarded within the Australian community as indispensable to justice that before a decision is made affecting a person’s interests, they should have a right to be heard by an impartial decision-maker.”

Michael, Peter and Chris, today is a refreshing step. Don’t preen yourselves in front of the mirror. Remember why you joined what was once a noble profession. Rip into McLachlan, Fitzpatrick, Goyder, Dessau, Dillon, Andruska, Elen Perdikogiannis, Burgess, Eccles, David Evans, Ben McDevitt and the former chief justice of the NSW Supreme Court, Justice James Spigelman.

Today, you gave James Hird his first medicine. You must also demand Greg Hunt and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull establish a Royal Commission. They can provide the medicine to save James Hird’s life, and they are the only ones with the keys to the dispensary.

Regards

Bruce Francis

littlebomber26 · February 27, 2017, 1:20am

This is Bruce Francis’ response to Caroline Wilson’s article. Obviously everyone else must move on but Caroline, who continues to write about it ad nauseam, with the emphasis on the nauseam.

Dear Ms Wilson

Once again I have set aside some of my precious time to help you find your lost way.

I have copied the Minister for Sport Mr Hunt because he needs to know what length the disgraced journalists have gone to protect the AFL, ASADA, the Gillard government, WADA and the CAS.

Regards

Bruce

25 February 2017
Dear Ms Wilson
Many issues have surprised me during the Essendon saga, but none more so than your continued desire to prove that you are not only a disgrace to the journalism profession, but your desire to prove that you’re a horrible person. Most of us know you are a grub but you don’t have to remind us in every column.

Today’s article in the Age, ‘To move ahead, it’s time for Essendon to stop looking back’, is gutter journalism.
Item (Wilson) 1: “If there has been a recurring theme in the fallout from Australian football’s blackest scandal it has been the failure by the key players behind its inception to read the play.

My Comment

This a typical Wilson ploy. Make a disparaging allegation without attempting to substantiate it.
Item (Wilson) 2: And so it is again this week with the release of a recorded meeting held at Essendon in August 2013 shortly before the AFL handed out its harshest punishment to a club and its officials and yet a punishment that with hindsight could well have been harsher.”

My Comment:

Despite, numerous comments by Mike Fitzpatrick, Andrew Demetriou and Gill McLachlan that the AFL is responsible for the health and safety of the players, you have never once mentioned the AFL’s governance responsibilities, nor have you mentioned its failures. Presumably, it is because you live in such a dark space. I understand the AFL had a colonoscopy last week and they found your head.
You are entitled to express an opinion on the facts of a case. However, you don’t get to set the rules. With respect to the governance failures at Essendon, the rules are set by the Victorian OH&S Act (2004); the AFL/Essendon/Player employment contract; the AFL Anti-Doping Code; the AFL organisation structure and job descriptions; the Essendon organisation structure; and the job descriptions of general manager football operations (Paul Hamilton), the human resource manager, the OH&S manager, and the coach James Hird. According to the law and the various contracts, at least 30 people had more responsibility for governance at Essendon than James Hird, Mark Thompson and Danny Corcoran viz, the nine AFL Commissioners, plus Demetriou, McLachlan, Dr Harcourt, Brett Clothier, Adrian Anderson, the human resource director, the OH&S manager, the nine Essendon board members, plus Ian Robson, Paul Hamilton, the doctors, the human resource manager and the OH&S manager.
You are so stupid you have no idea of the reason for releasing the tape. As I understand it, the tape was released to prove to the public and the biased media that Pinocchio McLachlan had not only decided that Essendon, Hird, Thompson and Corcoran were guilty, but that he was negotiating with Paul Little about the acceptance of the penalties before the AFL’s general counsel Andrew Dillon had decided whether to lay charges.
Item (Wilson) 3: “The varying degrees of delusion in that bunker occupied by Paul Little, James Hird, Mark Thompson and Danny Corcoran can be summed up by concluding that all were in desperate positions but none – at least in the recording – showed contrition for the damage they had caused and were continuing to create.”

My Comment:

You comment “at least in the recording” doesn’t get you off-the-hook for gutter journalism. If you don’t know how long the meeting lasted, and if you don’t know what was said during the entire meeting, you have no right to criticise the guys for the absence of contrition. I contacted Thompson and Hird and found out how long the meeting lasted. Surely, as a journalist, you had an obligation to do the same!
Item (Wilson) 4: “So if motivation in leaking the tape was not to make the four look good then it must lie in the ongoing quest for redemption along with the now hopeless and always irrelevant quest of revenge against the so-called AFL enemy.”

My Comment:

It is incomprehensible that you would be so stupid to raise the issue of leaks. It is my understanding that because you received more leaks than the urinals at the G on a hot Boxing Day Test between Australia and England that you had to revert to wearing gum boots.
As stated in my response to item 2, point 3 above, my understanding of the reason for releasing the tape was to prove that McLachlan was a liar and to prove that he had decided not only that they were guilty, but that he had already decided the penalties.
On the same day as the tape was made, the Herald Sun reported the following:
“AFL deputy chief executive Gillon McLachlan said this week he was unsure if there would be action… ‘Obviously, Andrew Dillon the general counsel of the AFL and head of the integrity unit, is considering of the report, and the first things first, build the site if there is any action to be taken.’”
McLachlan was lying. Clearly, he had decided on guilt and was negotiating Paul Little’s acceptance of the penalties.
For your edification, on SEN Radio on Friday morning, McLachlan said: ““In terms of actually being called someone who lies, the day that I lie to someone is the day I can’t do my job.”
Obviously, McLachlan lied to the Herald Sun and its readers in the above example on 8 August 2013. Given, he said he can’t do the job if he lies, McLachlan should do the honourable thing and resign. And if you had any respect for your profession, you would demand that he resigns or be sacked.
I haven’t discussed with Hird, Thompson and Corcoran whether they are seeking revenge. However, I do know they are passionate about removing corruption from the AFL, ASADA, WADA and CAS. They are passionate about the media fulfilling its obligations to publish the relevant clauses of the Victorian OH&S Act; the AFL/Essendon/Player contract; the Essendon organisation structure; and their respective job descriptions.
Hird, Thompson and Corcoran are clearly opposed to corruption, but your refusal to publish facts about the AFL, ASADA, WADA and CAS’s corruption, indicates that you and your newspaper condone it.
Item (Wilson) 5: “And to coin a term once used by Kevin Sheedy, the individual who made this salacious but in reality tired conversation public is no friend of the Essendon Football Club. No wonder CEO Xavier Campbell and his board were so upset on Friday when the Essendon conversation reverted to the bad old days.”

My Comment:

The contents of the tape were not a tired conversation. Your rag has never made an issue of:

i. McLachlan lying

ii. McLachlan deciding on guilt and punishment prior to the investigation being completed

iii. The AFL commissioners, including the current governor of Victoria Ms Linda Dessau and AFL chairman elect Richard Goyder, bringing the game into disrepute by allowing McLachlan to decide on guilt and penalties before the AFL’s general counsel Andrew Dillon had considered the evidence and considered whether charges would be laid.

iv. Xavier Campbell and the Essendon board having refused to use the irrefutable proof given to them of AFL, ASDA, WADA and CAS corruption. Consequently, I don’t think too many Essendon members will be too upset that Xavier and his board were so upset Friday.

Let’s not forget two crucial points here.

i. To save itself and the AFL commissioners, the 2013 Essendon board agreed to sacrifice James Hird.
ii. The AFL bullied, most say blackmailed, the Essendon board in 2013 to accept a guilt finding and draconian penalties, despite not being given a hearing. And the current board is just as sycophantic as the 2013 board.
Item (Wilson) 6: “And if it is true that Mark Thompson – to be generous – had some knowledge of the meeting being recorded then what a sad picture it paints of a football club divided and in decline.”

My Comment:

You are gutless. If you have irrefutable proof Mark Thompson taped the meeting, say so. If not, shut up.
Given that they had been screwed by their most trusted mate David Evans, it is understandable that one of the three wanted to tape the meeting with the new chairman.
Item (Wilson) 7: “It is true that the AFL did not emerge from the Essendon drugs scandal with a clean slate.”

My Comment:

Hold the presses. Hold the front page. Call in the doctors. Wilson has made a devastating attack on the AFL.
Justice for the 34 relax. This unprecedented attack on the AFL should be enough for the Minister for Sport Greg Hunt to ask former Chief Justice of the High Court Robert French to head up a Royal Commission.

Item (Wilson) 8: “Outgoing chairman Mike Fitzpatrick’s broad-brush “no regrets” last week belied previous admissions of error from Andrew Demetriou and the fact the commission vowed to review its own processes. And it is true the AFL can be brutal when it is fighting to reach a settlement as Matt Rendell, Chris Connolly and Dean Bailey know.”

My Comment:

Why didn’t you attack Fitzpatrick at the time for his stupidity?
Why didn’t you attack Fitzpatrick in today’s article for allowing McLachlan to make a guilty finding and decide the penalties before Dillon had considered the evidence?
On 9 April 2013, the Australian newspaper quoted Demetriou saying the AFL had made sweeping changes to its policies and procedures with respect to governance. To me, “sweeping changes” indicates that the AFL had major flaws in its governance. But not a single word has been written about those flaws.

Item (Wilson) 9: “But the refusal by the quartet headlined in the meeting to accept responsibility for the most damaging drugs program inflicted at a sporting club in Australia’s history overrides all that. And it appears that all four have continued the defence of finger pointing — not only at the AFL but each other.”

My Comment:

A decent journalist would have briefly explained what damage had occurred and then tried to fairly assign responsibility.
Unfortunately, space and time prevents me discussing the people who have suffered. However, if the AFL had fulfilled its responsibilities and prevented Stephen Dank from working with the AFL owned Gold Coast Suns in 2010, the whole saga would not have occurred.
Clauses 2.6.2, 2.7 and 2.8 of the WADA code state that a non-medical person who has administered a WADA banned substance or has sold a WADA banned substance is prohibited from working with a WADA affiliated athlete. The AFL should not have employed Dank at the Suns, and it should not have registered him to work in the system. Essendon should not have been in a position to employ Dank.

Item (Wilson) 10: “Thompson, who is clearly closely connected to the bizarre fact of the recording, seemed better suited to the bunker mentality than any of his fellow war counsellors. And what a mess he made of his time at Essendon. You have to wonder whether Thompson has put his hand up for making himself available to work as a senior assistant and mentor for an untried coach and – even allowing for his stated doubts about the program – failing so badly.”

My Comment:

As stated previously, if you know Thompson recorded the conversation, have the guts to say so. If not, shut up.
Having a second go at Thompson for the same issue is like hitting him, as girls are wont to do, with your hand bag for a second time. Two can play the same game. I assume part of the meeting was taped because one or all of them believed Andrew Demetriou and David Evans changed their stories about their telephone conversation on 4 February 2013. Obviously either Hird, Corcoran and Thompson wanted to ensure the same thing didn’t happen again.
Attacking Thompson about his coaching at Essendon is a typical low act tactic of yours. Invariably, you haven’t any substance to support the reason for your article, which forces you to go off on a tangent to pad the article to reach the required number of words requested by your editor. Generally, the tangent involves snide comments.
Thompson didn’t want to coach in 2014. He agreed to do so because I told him he had to.
As Thompson was approached about coaching at Essendon and the Suns in 2015, he obviously did a better job than you are prepared to acknowledge in your hectoring fishwife way.

Item (Wilson) 11: “Not to mention the fact he earned more than $600,000 on an annual basis to perform that duty. No wonder interim CEO Ray Gunstan refused to take on the job when Thompson was appointed caretaker coach.”
My Comment:

Many of us think that you already write from the gutter so there was no point trying to go any lower. You are implying that Gunston refused to take on the job as CEO because Thompson was appointed caretaker coach.
My newspaper reports indicate that Gunston very early, clearly stated that he was not interested in the CEO job. It is unconscionable of you to link Thompson’s appointment with Gunston’s position.
Item (Wilson) 12: “And Little might now host Gillon McLachlan at drinks parties but nothing will change the fact his poor judgments set the club’s rebuild back by at least 18 months – and that’s being generous.”

My Comment:

This is a catty unsubstantiated claim typical of your spiteful writing. Linking Little hosting McLachlan for drinks in the same sentence as attacking Little’s alleged poor judgement on a rebuild is poor journalism.
It is incomprehensible that you are so narcissistic that you didn’t see the need to explain the mistakes Little allegedly made.

Item (Wilson) 13 :”It is terribly sad that Hird’s life had become so reduced that he was driven to the act of desperation that led him to the care of a mental health institution for close to a month.”

My Comment:

In a rare show of common decency, the AFL refused to make a comment about James’s situation. I’d imagine your sympathy would aggravate anyone’s problems. Your sympathy is something the Hird’s could do without.

Item (Wilson) 14: “And it was poor timing then to kick a man when he was so down.”

My Comment:

If you want to play with the big boys, at least have the guts to name Paddy Smith.

Item (Wilson) 15: “But equally damaging to the sad story of Hird’s fall from grace was the commentary from his so-called supporters blaming the AFL — along with the attempt to dredge up the matter again in any official sense.”

My Comment

Your narcissism knows no bounds. What right have you to use the expression “so-called” supporters? It’s one thing for you to ignore the Victorian OH&S Act, the Essendon organisation structure and Hird’s job description, in blaming him for the governance problems, but surely you don’t get to judge who his supporters are!
Fitzpatrick, Demetriou and McLachlan repeatedly claimed that the AFL was responsible for providing a safe work place for the players, yet it colluded with ASADA, the Gillard government, the Essendon government, and it appears, sections of the media, to make a false case against Hird.
It is disingenuous to state that Hird’s supporters are dredging up the matter again. My understanding is the people who believe the players and Hird, Thompson and Corcoran are the victims of the greatest corruption in Australian sporting history, have never stopped working and screaming for justice. I know I have still managed 12- hour days on Christmas Day 2013, 14, 15 and 16. And my sources have been just as committed. If you removed your head from the darkness, you might learn the true story.

Item (Wilson) 16: “Allan Hird’s relationship with his son has been tenuous at best and his January rantings missed the point.”

My Comment:

James Hird’s relationship with his father had nothing to do with the tape, nor anything to do with his responsibilities, nor anything to do with his father’s comments in January. Only a grub would imply that they did.
I’d hazard a guess that less than half a dozen people in Australia would remember exactly what Allan Hird said in January. As you haven’t explained what those alleged rantings were, your column obviously was aimed at those half a dozen people because the rest of us have no idea what you are talking about.

Item (Wilson) 17: “That Hird’s lawyer Steven Amendola, whose systematically botched counsel cost his client an untold fortune, would comment on the issue at all remains unfathomable. He should still be embarrassed by his poor performance. As does the fact that Ian Hanke, the spin doctor responsible for so much bad advice, continues to work with the Hird family.”

My Comment:

If I bought you at my price and sold you at your price, I’d be a billionaire. So far you have implied that you know that the Victorian OH&S Act is wrong; you know as much as a psychiatrist; you know as much as a psychologist; you know the effect of Hird’s relationship with his father; and now you know more than Hird’s lawyer. It’s shame that you know nothing about being a decent human being.
Hopefully, Amendola will sue you for defaming him.
It’s time you stopped using the tarot cards for your articles. You have no idea what advice Ian Hanke gave the Hirds in 2013. And it is a lie to say he is still working for the family.

Item (Wilson) 18: “Corcoran, who diagnosed his friend some time ago with post-traumatic stress disorder, should have learned the perils of the blame game during his last months at Essendon. Perhaps distress at Hird’s state over the summer clouded his judgment but to suggest the AFL was responsible for Hird’s predicament was foolhardy and demonstrated how little he has learnt as he rebuilds his relationship with football via the VFL and Sandringham. It is correct to say that Hird is a victim of the game that he adorned and the club that revered him but not in the manner his poorly chosen advisers, his father and Corcoran described. From the time he first stepped onto the MCG almost one quarter of a century ago Hird’s athletic brilliance and football talent gave so much to the game that he never had to ask for anything.”
My Comment:

Hird, rightfully, believes that the AFL conspired with ASADA, the Gillard government and the Essendon board to hold him responsible for the governance problems at Essendon. Corcoran was entitled to opine that the AFL contributed to Hird’s problems
.
Hird’s career has nothing to do with his current predicament. Introducing it is just a feeble attempt to create the impression that you are balanced.

Item (Wilson) 19 : “So much was given to him over so many years that when the desperate Bombers under David Evans were looking for a quick fix and a messiah at the same time his emergence and availability seemed enough along with his dream team of assistants. But that was the beginning of the end for the messiah myth at Essendon, a mentality perpetuated long before Hird came along. A mentality so ingrained that no wonder he turned rogue on the club and sought self-preservation ahead of the team.”

My Comment:

The only issue worth commenting upon in this item is your highly defamatory last sentence in which you claim that Hird went rogue on the club and sought self-preservation ahead of the team.
It is outrageous to state that Hird put himself ahead of the team. He made one huge mistake. He capitulated to blackmail from the AFL and withdrew his Supreme court action. If he had pursued his case, the AFL would have been smashed and the players saved.
M/s Wilson, a lot of people don’t want any sought of inquiry into the egregious wrongs done to Essendon players and staff under the watch of the AFL, ASADA, WADA, VWA and CAS
There is another group that will also be horrified by any attempt to bring the light to the incompetent and or illegal actions of that group of acronyms, the members of the MSM, the main stream media, who allowed themselves to become complicit in all the wrong-doing.
An inquiry will prove that Jobe Watson should get his Brownlow back and it will prove that you should hand your Walkley back. That thought sits in the back of your evil mind doing a merry jig every time an honest broker such as Michael Warner does what journalists are meant to do – seek the truth.
You had to write your latest column in a desperate attempt to save yourself. It didn’t work and it won’t work in the future. The game is up, the truth is, as it always should, winning out. You should be joining Gillon in the queue at CentreLink but you will survive because of the special rules for women.

Item (Wilson) 20: “Those who were at Windy Hill at the time recall the chain of command and attitude of those running football was so inappropriate to that of a professional organisation that if the injecting and dangerous drugs regime hadn’t happened some other scandal would have eventually brought them down.”

My Comment:

You talk of “dangerous drugs’ plural. I must have missed something. I was under the impression that the players were only charged with being administered one banned substance. Surely, you aren’t suggesting that WADA permits the players to take dangerous drugs!
You have now moved from the gutter to the bottom of the birdcage, using one of your standard ploys. You don’t even bother to quote unnamed sources. You just make destructive, unsubstantiated allegations.
I suspect that even a 16-year-old student on work experience would know that if you criticise the chain of command, you have an obligation to describe the organisation structure and an obligation to explain the perceived weaknesses.
Although I have made scores of requests to the media to publish the Essendon organisation structure and Hird’s job description, it, including you, have failed to comply.
For your edification, Essendon used a matrix organisation structure. On the football branch of the structure, the physios, nutritionist, conditioners, psychologist, weight trainer and doctors reported to high performance coach Dean Robinson, and Dean Robinson reported to general manager football operations Paul Hamilton and Hamilton reported to CEO Ian Robson.
Hird was on a different branch of the organisation structure from the football department and only had the four assistant coaches reporting to him. Hird reported to CEO Ian Robson. Presumably, Hird was deliberately placed on a different branch of the organisation structure from the football department so that he couldn’t use his messiah status to interfere with the running of the football department. Obviously, David Evans, Ian Robson and the Essendon board didn’t want Hird using his messiah status to interfere with people such as Dank, Robinson, the doctors and Hamilton doing their jobs. According to the organisation structure and his job description, the board put Hird in a legal straight jacket and handcuffs.
It should be noted that not only was Hamilton on the Essendon executive and Hird wasn’t, but on 2 February 2012, Hamilton threw his weight around, and in an email informed the staff that everything to do with the supplement programme had to come across his desk.
You have smeared the staff by implying, without any substantiation, that it was inevitable that a scandal would have brought them down if it hadn’t been for the supplement programme. Some of us understand your insatiable appetite to right such filth. What we can’t understand is how your editors allow you to live in the gutter of journalism.
Item (Wilson) 21: “Even when the AFL suspended Hird because his actions had brought the game into disrepute Essendon extended his contract for two years and paid him close to $1million not to work and few batted an eyelid.”
My Comment:

There is no end to your sliminess. Hird wasn’t suspended. All charges were withdrawn. There was no hearing. There was a blackmail negotiated settlement. Hird agreed to stand aside for 12 months and discontinue his Supreme Court action against the AFL. In return for Hird’s concessions, the Essendon board, with the AFL’s compliance, agreed to extend his contract, to put him through an MBA course and to pay him during his 12-month break. At the time, I said it is the worst deal in coaching history. If Hird hadn’t capitulated for the club’s ‘so-called’ benefit, he would have smashed the AFL in the Supreme Court and his and the players’ lives would have turned out completely differently.
Item (Wilson) 22: “Surely the only path forward is to stop looking back.”

My Comment:

There is irrefutable evidence that the AFL, ASADA, Gillard government, WADA and CAS were guilty of corruption. Those people who are aware of the corruption and are not prepared to do anything about it, are just as guilty as the perpetrators.
The AFL, ASADA, Gillard government, WADA, CAS and the media have all played a part in the greatest injustice in Australian sporting history. American marines risk their lives to bring home dead marines. The least families can do is to maintain the rage indefinitely to correct great injustices to family members.
Item (Wilson) 23: “Those who allowed this to happen should be so ashamed of themselves that any personal grievances remain red herrings to what they put their players through. And the side issue in the form of a push for a parliamentary inquiry smacks of an attempt to rewrite the key facts of the club’s dreadful recent history.”

My Comment:
Stuff a parliamentary inquiry. I want a Royal Commission. James Hird and the players have been convicted through corrupt activities by a few Mickey Mouse organisations and a relentless media campaign over four years by journalists who have trashed their profession’s reputation.

bigallan · February 27, 2017, 2:00am

Seems Gil might be a bit conflicted in regard to pressure for Tim Worner to step down from Swans Board. According to an AFR report of 14 Feb, he owns racehorses with Tim.

bigallan · March 1, 2017, 2:38pm

Possibly the worst point in McD’s statement was his misrepresentation that the request for the inquiry was directed at reversing decisions that had been taken by CAS etc. The request for an inquiry has never been made on those grounds and I hope he gets called out on it.

bigallan · March 1, 2017, 12:49pm

The Hun has a summary up of McD’s statement. Full statement should be up on Senate site soon. What a slime bucket. Bruce and Hird senior mentioned as people confused between civil and criminal law, set against all those great lawyers. Character assassination at its best and totally inappropriate for a public servant to talk in that manner; no mention of the many thousands who have signed the petition.
Heff’s girl earlier mentioned questions on notice as the important issue. They are due by 10 March.
My impression from afar is that it was all stage managed. To remenber that there had been a torrid day in Estimates on some hot political health potatoes and that tine had virtually run out on sport issues.
Farrell ( ALP SA) was more interested in digging up the dirt file on Ley. His smarm towards MCDevious suggests that he is a Crows supporter.

kesslin · March 1, 2017, 12:43pm

We should not be surprised by Farrell’s performance at Senate Estimates tonight. Whether he was authorised to make the statement he did remains to be seen.

This article from the Advertiser reflects some of his history.

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/former-labor-senator-don-farrell-claimed-more-travel-money-than-any-other-south-australian-politician/news-story/576a4418a301e2ff172b1357ceccf59c

"Mr Farrell contended that his status as the South Australian parliamentarian with the highest travel allowance entitlements was due to his Ministerial roles within the Sport and Tourism portfolios during the period in question.

“In tourism and sport, very extensive travel is required to do the job,” he said.

“I would have been surprised if it (his ranking for travel entitlements) was any different,” he said.

Mr Farrell held the Sport and Tourism Ministerial roles for less than half of the reporting period and completed his term as a Senator on June 30.

Nationally, only Tony Abbott, Julie Bishop and Warren Snowdon made greater travel allowance claims in the second half of 2013."

Fairybread · March 1, 2017, 12:27pm

What's happening?

McDickhead read a statement

Thanked senate committee for clearing him from any wrong doing from last time
Basically said Bruce Francis and Alan Hird are idiots and he is clever
ASADA acted properly

A Labor senator said that Labor would not be supporting an enquiry (and Libs most likely wouldn’t either) and then asked a few questions about staffing levels.
Then everybody blew smoke up McDevitts ■■■■.

Diggers · March 1, 2017, 12:18pm

I would have thought $1m would be the starting price for even the fringiest of players.

At least.

barnz · March 1, 2017, 12:11pm

NLM deserves $1m for belting the carr brothers.

Paul_Peos · March 1, 2017, 12:13pm

I would have thought $1m would be the starting price for even the fringiest of players.

theDJR · March 1, 2017, 12:07pm

Nathan Lovett-Murray wants a $1Million+ payout?!?
Wow.

Depends who he wants it from…

Fairybread · March 1, 2017, 12:05pm

Anyone wanting portfolio budget papers, including sections on ASADA, can access them on the Health site health.gov.au My quick scan did not reveal any reference to Essendon.

Stupid government focusing on sick people and hospitals.

And here I was thinking govt can only do one thing at a time.

Oh they can. But just the important ones.

So don’t come into the thread if you don’t think it’s important.

Ha. I love how a small group of people have hi-jacked this thread for their own purposes and then get all uppity when others don’t jump on board their cause or try to put other views across. This thread is about the broader “Saga” not just for those people who are actively involved in or supporting certain pushes for action. Here’s a thought, why don’t you ■■■■ off to another thread and leave this thread to the rest of us.

Oh, and I do think that “it’s important”. But I doubt that 95% of the population would agree with me. I reckon they think it would be more important for the government to concern themselves with the 602,000 people who will go to see their GP today or the 370 people who will be diagnosed with cancer today or how to continue to keep Australia’s 92,000 hospital beds open…

Di Natale seems to think it important. He is very active today in Estimates on health issues. I would not be surprised to see him taking a role when Estimates gets to sport, including ASADA.

Hardly. He buggered off and left the room as soon as ASADA was called.