Absolutely. He wants his cake and to eat it as well. He was the one who cared so much that he set up this protocol, but then completely 'forgot' that he was supposed to have okayed the substances he was later texting about.
He's full of it.
-
Rd 13 Reviews + Club boards »
ADE v RIC · WB v BL · HAW v GWS · WCE v NM · StK v GCS · SYD v GEE · ESS v CAR · COL v MEL ·
And post your "Liked, Learned, Hated" right here.
-
Weekly Prize - Join Any Time - Tip Round 14
The Golden Ticket - MCG and Marvel Medallion Club tickets and Corporate Box tickets at the Gabba, MCG and Marvel.
Round 13 Winner: Boyd oh Boyd
Hird to have his say
- Thread starter jenny61_99
- Start date
- Tagged users None
- Status
He's full of it.
I agree. But my view goes one step further in that he may well have been aware that they were probably going over the edge - but feigned ignorance.
So not the evil mastermind that some think - but also not just a poor innocent dude whose only crime is naivety.
In my opinion.
blackshadow
Hall of Famer
The cover up is far worse than the crime and the cover up has killed them. If they'd fessed up and taken their medicine it would have been all over now but Hird refused to do that.
There were rumours around the time of the Freo game in 2013 that he was prepared to take Essendon to court if he was stood down by the club and after that Essendon really dug their heels in and decided to tough it out.
Last edited:
possibly. However, given Dank's admission to McKenzie, I dont think he even knew he'd crossed the line, let alone Hird
Unhindered by contractual obligations or court proceedings, James Hird speaks exclusively to "Big Footy" about what really happened during Essendon’s disastrous 2012 season.
“Of all of the questions asked by fans in response to Tuesday’s shocking and unfair decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, one stands out: Were you actually coach of Essendon during the 2012 and 2013 seasons?
Today is my first chance to publicly answer this question, unconstrained by the contractual obligations a coach must observe and free of pressure applied by the AFL. I can finally offer a more detailed explanation to 34 young men and their families. Players who absolutely do not deserve this fate.
To put it simply, when I was offered the job of Head Coach at Essendon in September 2010, I didn’t take the job. At least not in any real sense. Sure, I was around the club a bit. I headed press conferences after most/all games. And I took full credit for wins, when we had them. But it’s a leap to say I was in any way in charge of the playing group.
Yes, I taught them about sacrifice, about love for the club, about hard work and trust. I told them about the importance of dying for the club and for the coach. Really, actually dying if necessary. I taught them about winning at all costs. And some hair colouring techniques.
I also demanded loyalty – total unquestioning loyalty. And in return I promised to get to know each and every one of the players personally, to find out what made them tick, what they wanted to achieve, what motivated them to be great players.
So as you can see, I was pretty hands-off.
In 2012 I hired Dean Robinson, and in turn Stephen Dank. I don’t intend to go through every detail of every interaction I had with them, lest I inadvertently give away useful information that sheds light on what actually took place that year.
We got Mark Thompson back in and he told me that the playing group were too small and would be thrown around like rag dolls by the top teams.
I said then, "I'll be buggered if we're going to sit around for five years waiting for these blokes to bulk up a bit" " I didn't say anything more other than "Mark and Macca conduct some drills"
But what I can say is that it was the club’s Sliding Doors moment. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the movie Sliding Doors? Basically it’s about how Gwyneth Paltrow misses a train, setting off two parallel realities, one where she catches her husband having an affair, the other where she doesn’t. In our case we set up a program to inject 34 players with human growth hormone. The similarities are undeniable.
(How different Essendon’s 2013-15 seasons would have been had that selfish arseh*le on the train held the door open for a few more seconds when I was trying to get back to Toorak one night after work. We can only dream).
So as it’s pretty plain to see, I wasn’t really coaching at Essendon in 2012. I ran the odd handball drill, offered a tip here and there about tanning. But that was it. Dean Robinson was in charge of our football club. And as a guy with an impeccable background as a rodeo performer, that made sense.
I circulated the Essendon organisational structure today just to clear up any misunderstandings about reporting lines. But really, there shouldn’t be any surprises. As Head Coach I reported directly to Thomas Bellchambers.
So, in summary, who was really responsible for the injection program that led to 34 players getting suspended for a season? Quite simply, everyone else. The staff, the media, the AFL, and to some extent – let’s be totally honest here – you the members!
But was I in any way responsible, even in some small way? To believe that, you’d also have to believe that I had some kind of senior role, or at least some level of influence at the Essendon Football Club. And that is the stuff of conspiracy theories. You might have to speak to someone in the Windy Hill Car Park to know the answer to that, except they didn't have one at the time. Do you know how difficult it was to actually park near the ground? I spent most of my time at the Moonee Ponds Town Hall clearing up parking tickets. I had no time to do anything else!
Someone has to see the humourous side.
Last edited:
L_W_P
@peteplatinum on Instagram
The ones in bold are true. Well, pre-empted almost everything. They tried to avoid it going to CAS as that was the one point they could not control.
blackshadow
Hall of Famer
Not only that the AFL should be sanctioning Essendon for doping the players - sanctions for poor governance only send the message that the AFL is happy to turn a blind eye to systemic doping by a "big club".
Dank knew that he was playing with S0 drugs but thought he had a method to either get around the code somehow, or avoid detection. I reckon Hird may have been in on this element of it.
But I think Dank only found out about TB4 being S2 when McKenzie told him.
All in my opinion.
blueboy1960
Debutant
Well said it it was Xmas all over again the gift that keeps on giving. The whole world this week now knows that the Essendon Football Club are simply cheats the lowest from of cheats that administered their players with performance enhancing drugs on the direction of their coach James Hird plain and simple. Not just to win a premiership oh no, Hird wanted to win at all costs not only for the club but to elevate his own reputation as the games greatest ever player and coach. Well James all you did was to be remembered in history for ever as being coach of a drug cheats. You are the one that pulled all the strings. AFL should permanently ban Hird from all offical functions. I want to know who will attend this Sunday forum oh I know one that will be front and centre ,Mark Robinson. Now he is a joke as well Fox get him off 360 totally discredited journalist
can you show me where CAS stated this?
To be fair, if a person is telling their version of anything the words "I", "me", "myself" will get used a lot.
blackshadow
Hall of Famer
I'm totally convinced that the "protocol" was nothing more than a poor attempt at arse covering.
One other thing that puzzles me is this:
Hird said he had taken people at their word.
"If I were to do things differently, it would be to trust less, to ask more questions, and demand more answers," he said.
Isn't that precisely what he was suspended for? And precisely why the media were gunning for him??
Hird said he had taken people at their word.
"If I were to do things differently, it would be to trust less, to ask more questions, and demand more answers," he said.
Isn't that precisely what he was suspended for? And precisely why the media were gunning for him??
I suspect it was C. It is only a suspicion.
At some point during 2012 somebody realised the line had probably been crossed. Everyone involved would then have been informed their only chance of escaping sanction was to shut up shop.
The Falcon Strike
Hall of Famer
I dislike hird as much as the next Bloke
I don't think he or the players (or Robinson) set out to cheat
Certainly not on the Marion jones, lance Armstrong scale
But a culture of injecting unknown substances is only a small drop down in the offence scale
What makes hird a villain is his complete and utter narcism and desire to throw everyone and anyone under the bus except take blame himself
If he'd come out early and said I was rookie coach who was gullible and hoodwinked and stood down - his reputation would be in tact and most would think - "hell we all are naive and make mistakes at times"
That isn't what he did - he leaked and litigated like a drunk sailor for 3 years blaming anyone and everyone but himself
He drove the culture - his text messages reveal this
For him to lay the blame solely at other people's feet just highlights his narcism and lack of integrity
PieBeast
Brownlow Medallist
Strapping Young Lad
Moderator
- Apr 19, 2006
- 98,477
- 240,643
- AFL Club
- Hawthorn
- Other Teams
- Storm, Spurs, Socceroos
- Moderator
- #743
Our membership certainly has exploded.Pro-reality Coalition
no wonder the victory was so unequivocal
- Sep 3, 2002
- 17,812
- 9,615
- AFL Club
- Collingwood
- Other Teams
- NBA Winning Machines/Dallas Cowboys
I'm actually looking forward to watching Tracy embarrass herself tommorow on national TV. Now the rest of the nation can see what a hirdite looks like in all its glory. Shares in koolaid to triple overnight
We forget. A guy who was doing the lance Armstrong while playing is hardly going to say "it was me" when he applies the same to other people under his charge.
James Hird really should just flap off and let everyone get on with the coming seasons without his slack jawed "I'm shocked" rubbish tainting everything.
James Hird really should just flap off and let everyone get on with the coming seasons without his slack jawed "I'm shocked" rubbish tainting everything.
Love.
Unhindered by contractual obligations or court proceedings, James Hird speaks exclusively to "Big Footy" about what really happened during Essendon’s disastrous 2012 season.
“Of all of the questions asked by fans in response to Tuesday’s shocking and unfair decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, one stands out: Were you actually coach of Essendon during the 2012 and 2013 seasons?
Today is my first chance to publicly answer this question, unconstrained by the contractual obligations a coach must observe and free of pressure applied by the AFL. I can finally offer a more detailed explanation to 34 young men and their families. Players who absolutely do not deserve this fate.
To put it simply, when I was offered the job of Head Coach at Essendon in September 2010, I didn’t take the job. At least not in any real sense. Sure, I was around the club a bit. I headed press conferences after most/all games. And I took full credit for wins, when we had them. But it’s a leap to say I was in any way in charge of the playing group.
Yes, I taught them about sacrifice, about love for the club, about hard work and trust. I told them about the importance of dying for the club and for the coach. Really, actually dying if necessary. I taught them about winning at all costs. And some hair colouring techniques.
I also demanded loyalty – total unquestioning loyalty. And in return I promised to get to know each and every one of the players personally, to find out what made them tick, what they wanted to achieve, what motivated them to be great players.
So as you can see, I was pretty hands-off.
In 2012 I hired Dean Robinson, and in turn Stephen Dank. I don’t intend to go through every detail of every interaction I had with them, lest I inadvertently give away useful information that sheds light on what actually took place that year.
We got Mark Thompson back in and he told me that the playing group were too small and would be thrown around like rag dolls by the top teams.
I said then, "I'll be buggered if we're going to sit around for five years waiting for these blokes to bulk up a bit" " I didn't say anything more other than "Mark and Macca conduct some drills"
But what I can say is that it was the club’s Sliding Doors moment. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the movie Sliding Doors? Basically it’s about how Gwyneth Paltrow misses a train, setting off two parallel realities, one where she catches her husband having an affair, the other where she doesn’t. In our case we set up a program to inject 34 players with human growth hormone. The similarities are undeniable.
(How different Essendon’s 2013-15 seasons would have been had that selfish arseh*le on the train held the door open for a few more seconds when I was trying to get back to Toorak one night after work. We can only dream).
So as it’s pretty plain to see, I wasn’t really coaching at Essendon in 2012. I ran the odd handball drill, offered a tip here and there about tanning. But that was it. Dean Robinson was in charge of our football club. And as a guy with an impeccable background as a rodeo performer, that made sense.
I circulated the Essendon organisational structure today just to clear up any misunderstandings about reporting lines. But really, there shouldn’t be any surprises. As Head Coach I reported directly to Thomas Bellchambers.
So, in summary, who was really responsible for the injection program that led to 34 players getting suspended for a season? Quite simply, everyone else. The staff, the media, the AFL, and to some extent – let’s be totally honest here – you the members!
But was I in any way responsible, even in some small way? To believe that, you’d also have to believe that I had some kind of senior role, or at least some level of influence at the Essendon Football Club. And that is the stuff of conspiracy theories. You might have to speak to someone in the Windy Hill Car Park to know the answer to that, except they didn't have one at the time. Do you know how difficult it was to actually park near the ground? I spent most of my time at the Moonee Ponds Town Hall clearing up parking tickets. I had no time to do anything else!
Someone has to see the humourous side.
I wonder if Hird will be asked by Tracey to explain what was meant by the "AOD financials" text.
gavaniacono
Cancelled
I wish I knew this years ago
mattrobbo26
Debutant
- Sep 7, 2015
- 65
- 54
- AFL Club
- St Kilda
What's the point of having cake if you can't eat it too?
- Sep 15, 2011
- 5,619
- 9,349
- AFL Club
- Carlton
- Other Teams
- Liverpool FC, Lakers, Longhorns
My uncertainty lies somewhere between your hypothesis and that he thought he could get around S2 by using a compounding chemist.
Contrast the timing of the interview with the mystery thymomodulin photo appearance, taken around Grand Final week (apparently) someone at that stage is attempting a cover up.
Fundamentally he thinks WADA is wrong and he is right TB4 should not be banned.
He is in the Wilcourt camp of clubs should be allowed to engage in biochemical competition as well as sporting competition.
- Status
