James Hird's Essendon story has yet to be told - The Age

[Walter Sobchak]

Fairly insane piece. I guess illustrative of the danger of having heroes as an adult. Especially when the heroes you choose are guys good at sport.

 

[TedDougChris]

To be completely honest.

I was shocked to be reading that....... complete pile of drivel and bullshit.....

 

[Albert Ross]

You wonder if that ex cheers squad member Rohan Connolly had any involvement helping Scooter putting that steaming pile together.

Scooters twitter feed is a laugh. Tracy Holmes is a big fan though.

Scooter @ScooterMcNeice · 7h7 hours ago
Big thankyou to @rohan_connolly for his support http://m.smh.com.au/comment/james-hirds-essendon-story-has-yet-to-be-told-20150303-13sa71.html…

 

[Admiral Byng]

Not interested in sides of the story, I just want the plain truth to come out.

 

[Rhayader]

Not interested in sides of the story, I just want the plain truth to come out.

He's welcome to his opinion, and he clearly declares his bias (unlike some others writing on the subject), and Fairfax is welcome to run it. But I'm with you. Gimme a decision, and show me ALL the evidence, then I'll be interested in comment and analysis.

 

[gavaniacono]

Essendon to date have been adroit at not letting the truth out. Stupid article. And poorly written too. A bit like those consent forms.

 

[Percel]

#standbyscooterandhismadhooter

#melwouldbeproud

 

[fabulousphil]

Nah just fairfax preparing its readers for the fact that their smear campaign failed to remove Hird

It sure is a possibility.

 

[fabulousphil]

If you could put the act of fellatio into a machine that would spit it out as an essay......this article would be the result.

You mean the opposite of Caro's articles.

 

[Suma Magic]

I'm surprised he didn't include the UN Skills text in the article.

 

[Ron The Bear]

It still puzzles many Essendon fans as to why Hird was aggressively targeted and nominated as the architect.

Why has Hird not flatly denied being injected "30-odd" times with hexarelin? Instead he hid behind "These claims are horrifying to me, and are being made by a person or people who appear determined to destroy my reputation".

For a bloke who's supposedly breaking his neck to get the truth out, he's spent most of his time trying to avoid or suppress it. That is why nobody believes James Hird.

"James Hird drove everything."
- Dean Robinson

 

[compact72]

Why has Hird not flatly denied being injected "30-odd" times with hexarelin? Instead he hid behind "These claims are horrifying to me, and are being made by a person or people who appear determined to destroy my reputation".

For a bloke who's supposedly breaking his neck to get the truth out, he's spent most of his time trying to avoid or suppress it. That is why nobody believes James Hird.

"James Hird drove everything."
- Dean Robinson

Don't forget he also tried to get evidence hidden in his first court appearance, because it was "embarrassing"

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Half truths, probably lies.

 

[The Dodger]

Half truths, probably lies.

Come on Echols..."heres the thing guys...you aren't going to believe this but it was all one big coincidence"

How is the book coming along?

 

[Ron The Bear]

Don't forget he also tried to get evidence hidden in his first court appearance, because it was "embarrassing"

That I can understand, he's obviously quite vain.

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Come on Echols..."heres the thing guys...you aren't going to believe this but it was all one big coincidence"

How is the book coming along?

Everytime I think I've got all the coincidences in and covered, out pops another one.

It's going to be sold as a library, "world book" style.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

James Hird can't tell his story because they won't let him.

 

[Tiger2709]

Wonder how Rohan got that article past his vitriolic campaigner of a boss

I wonder why he would want to?

Only Essendon supporters would read that and not question its purpose, how long until the bill for this puff peice appears on the EFC's books?

I wonder if it is a last chance to remind us of what a champ good ol' Hirdy is and how he had nothing to do with anything at the club at all, after all as head coach he was obviously never even there and certainly there was no involvement in the football department

Is this the final pr exercise to #standbyhird before the charges against his players are proven?

 

[compact72]

James Hird can't tell his story because they won't let him.

Don't know why he won't tell his story now

His not going to court anymore, he has any right now

He finally has the privileges of an ordinary Australian after all. Why not take Essendon to court if they don't like the result like he did with ASADA

 

[parano1a]

Great satirical piece. Journo should be writing for The Onion.

 

[RegHickeyStand]

Don't know why he won't tell his story now

His not going to court anymore, he has any right now

He finally has the privileges of an ordinary Australian after all. Why not take Essendon to court if they don't like the result like he did with ASADA

Wrong.

You have to ask me who "they" are.

 

[mysainters]

I have mixed feelings.

I love a bit of a fan passion, none of us would be on a forum called Bigfooty if we didn't love the game.

Yet as I continue to read, I'll admit it gets creepy.

Actually, it paints an extremely rose coloured environment that cocooned Hird all these years, and probably makes me better understand how it got to #standbyhird

By understand, I mean that I get now that a fan base for the most admits to esteeming an individual over it's footy club, not that I understand why they would.

They will struggle until they realise it should be #standbyessendon IMHO

 

[imperial_oz]

So which one of you pecker heads is freelance writer Scott McNeice?

Phil?

 

[Strapping Young Lad]

Maybe one day James will drop the charade and tell us all exactly why he's gone to great lengths to keep certain aspects of what ASADA turned up out of the, let's just say, "traffic"?

Nah, I don't think so either.

 

[Keys]

But it quickly became clear that much of the barbs, anger and vitriol wasn't directed so much at Essendon, or sports scientist Stephen Dank, but to just one man: the coach.

Hird was senior coach when this happened and declared in that first press conference that he would take full responsibility. Since then he has done nothing to shoulder that responsibility whilst others have fallen - to the contrary he has attempted at every turn to shift responsibility away from himself.

It still puzzles many Essendon fans as to why Hird was aggressively targeted and nominated as the architect. In today's complex management structures, Hird was on the periphery of the supplements program.

He was balls deep - "Not as good as ours", "united nations skills" .......

Hird's 12-month suspension in August 2013 saw his entire life dragged through the mud, let alone his football legacy. And yet people still refuse to acknowledge simple facts such as his contrition about the supplements saga. Many claim Hird remains unrepentant, but he has apologised on three separate occasions –to the AFL Commission, to Essendon fans through the club website, and to the general public

Apologised for what, pray tell? His court submission said he was bullied into accepting the AFL penalty and accepted it against his will so its fair to suggest his "apology" was similarly forced as he believes nothing wrong was done. He is unrepentant and far from wanting the truth to come out he has actively litigated to prevent that truth from seeing the light of day

I have said previously that I admired Hird greatly as a player. He was all you want a footballer to be - talented, courageous, fair, competitive and didn't carry on like a knob on the playing field. The way he has conducted himself since this scandal first became public knowledge has done James Hird no credit whatsoever as he has come across as a spoilt entitled brat, a golden child mentality that has been reinforced by the attitude of Essendon supporters like the one who wrote this article unable to countenance that he ****ed up.

That is why he has been lambasted and rightly so.