'Bombers have used my son as a guinea pig' Stathi Paxinos
The Age
August 22, 2013 - 11:21AM A woman claiming to be the mother of a 20-year-old Essendon player says the club treated her son like 'a guinea pig' and says the ongoing supplement scandal is 'intolerable'.
The families of Essendon players have been muzzled and the welfare of players forgotten by the club and coach James Hird, a woman claiming to be a player's mother has told a Melbourne radio station.
The woman, who did not use her real name and was referred to only as "Sarah", rang Triple M on Thursday morning to voice her anger after the AFL upped the ante on the Bombers by releasing details that formed the basis of the charges laid against the club, Hird and three other officials for bringing the game into disrepute.
The woman said she had lost faith in the club, particularly after watching the defiant responses of Hird, who is taking legal action against the AFL in the Victorian Supreme Court, and chairman Paul Little on Wednesday.
Bombers coach James Hird and club president Paul Little arrive to speak to the media during an Essendon press conference on Wednesday.
Bombers coach James Hird and club president Paul Little at an Essendon press conference in Melbourne on Wednesday. Photo: Scott Barbour
She broke down several times while describing the pressures she felt.
"This whole debacle has created... my worse nightmare as a parent," she said. "My son who plays for Essendon and who I entrusted to be taken care off has basically been used as a guinea pig."
She accused Hird and other senior staff of being more concerned with saving their own reputations than the welfare of their players.
"It's all right for James and the board of Essendon to say they have not cheated, the whole question is not about cheating it's about morals, it's about ethics and it's about the trust that parents put on their club for the club to take care of their kids," she said.
"My child is in his early 20s, he'll be 21 shortly, and for him to be used and to be injected with substances that may not be illegal but could be banned, for substances to be labelled not for human consumption, or not for human use and for the club to completely disregard it, to disregard those warnings, and to inject my son I find appalling.
"To watch James Hird yesterday, and James Hird is a man who I've always respected, but to watch his press conference it was all about him. It was all about 'me, me, me, how to protect me.'
"Who's going to protect my kid and who's going to protect all the other players ? Let's not forget the harm was done to the players not to James Hird and let's not forget that any health repercussion the players will have to deal with not James Hird, not [club chairman] Mr [Paul] Little, and it frustrates me and it angers me as a parent we've basically been muzzled and we've been told not to talk to people.
The stress at home, the stress with my son, is intolerable. He is actually contemplating walking away from the sport."
The club has been holding information sessions with players' families, but "Sarah", whose husband attended the session held earlier this week, said Essendon staff were more concerned with the fate of the club than the welfare of the players.
"The parents haven't been given a voice. We go to meetings, we get told this is what's happening but we haven't been given a voice," she said.
"When my husband went to the meeting the other night the whole meeting was centred from Essendon's point of view and a lot of it was in legal speak.
"People have to remember there are kids involved. James Hird can say what he likes and Mr Little can say what he likes and Mr [Stephen] Dank can say what he likes. I challenge them to inject their own children with the same substances and see if they will do it willingly."
She said she wanted an acknowledgement from Essendon that it had been in the wrong.
"I would like for Essendon, or ASADA or whoever, to disclose everything that the players were given and for Essendon or Mr Little or whoever to admit that they did something wrong," she said.
"It's not about cheating. I actually don't think the club went into this with cheating in mind... I actually think they did it thinking they could improve the health and the fitness of their players, but it's the way they went about it. To get young men... to sign documents, a waiver, that in itself was a huge flag to me because if the club didn't think they had any issue why get them to do it?'
"They've done things that are unethical. From a moral aspect they're wrong and that is bringing the game into disrepute whether they chose to believe it or not."
She said her son had signed the waiver because "everyone else signed it" and he did not know what substances he had been injected with.
She said morale at the club had been destroyed and that was being seen in the club's sudden form slump.
"My son, come game day, there's no enthusiasm there," she said. "He used to jump out of bed... and it's the unknown. There's fear because he thinks 'I may be rubbed out for three months, I may be rubbed out for a year'. You don't know, plus the morale, regardless of whatever is put to the media, is just awful."
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