Painting Hird a hero a big mistakeBy Ben Hocking
Friday, August 30, 2013
Source: SportsFanOf all the distasteful revelations that have come out about Essendon's supplements program since the club first called for a joint ASADA-AFL investigation, they pale in comparison to the subsequent bile-inducing attempts to fete disgraced coach James Hird as a hero.
James Hird's lawyer, Julian Burnside, used the word "heroic" to describe Hird's decision to accept a 12-month ban for bringing the game into disrepute.
Burnside, a highly respected refugee advocate, also claimed that Hird would have won the case if he had taken the AFL to court over the matter. The response of his lawyer took away any contrition Hird claimed to have for his part in the entire sordid saga.
Hird himself didn't seem too contrite the day after accepting the penalty, being still unable to pinpoint for reporters exactly what he was guilty of when questioned by reporters and repeating the mantra that it was "just time to move on". Like that would make everything okay.
It does seem that the money Hird paid Burnside definitely paid dividends if the terms of the settlement are anything to go by. Sure, Hird got what can only be considered a light sentence in the 12-month suspension, but the wording of what he was deemed guilty of seems to have served him extremely well.
The AFL's statement read: "When he (Hird) became aware of facts that suggested that unsatisfactory practices were occurring, the action he took was not sufficient to stop those practices."
When the AFL released its charges against Hird and Essendon a week earlier, it appeared as though the AFL had evidence that, rather than not taking sufficient action to stop the practices, Hird was sending text messages deliberately trying to circumvent those who were trying to hamper the program. When he received Dr Bruce Reid's now infamous letter, Hird texted football operations manager Danny Corcoran asking him to use his "United Nations skills" to persuade Reid to get with the program.
Another win for Hird and Burnside was the wording of the AFL's statement: "James Hird did not set out to implement a supplements program that would result in players being administered WADA prohibited or harmful substances."
Mark Thompson and his lawyer could only manage to achieve: "To the best of the AFL's knowledge and belief, Thompson and the Essendon FC did not set out to implement a supplements program that would result in players being administered WADA prohibited or harmful substances."
Whether the missing words "to the best of the AFL's knowledge and belief" save Hird from any further charges when ASADA's full report is released is still to be seen, but it seems like a fairly significant concession.
While it may or may not save him from further AFL charges, it certainly protects him if any of the current players choose to seek damages through the courts. But this is the biggest reason why painting Hird as a hero is so shocking.
The simple fact is that his actions have resulted in the club's players being injected with substances that have not been approved for human use, with scant regard for the long-term health implications.
Essendon's reaction at all times has been to try and protect the people responsible for this. Indeed, the day after the AFL penalties were announced Hird received a contract extension so that he could continue coaching until at least the end of 2016.
When David Evans was still at the helm, he genuinely sounded like his No.1 concern was for the health and welfare of the players. That has shifted since Paul Little took over, and it all became about protecting James Hird's legacy. Fortunately, footy fans don't often get taken in by legalese and spin and Hird will forever be remembered as the coach that sullied the sport like no other.
http://www.sportsfan.com.au/painting-hird-a-hero-a-big-mistake/tabid/91/newsid/110858/default.aspx
