Caroline Wilson renews push for Hird sacking

[Lion of Panjshir]

Caro will win a Walkley for her pursuit of Hird. And deservedly so.

 

[TerryWallet]

I lol'ed at Caro's line "Hird's formidable team of yes men supporting him".

Yes, that includes you Ghost Writer Robbo

 

[2one2]

Ground breaking.

Remember when Barrett said the players will be cleared by next friday like a month ago? you guys all cleared and said "in your face" how is Barretts track Record by the way?

I also recall when Barrett was saying negative things on the subject Essendon supporters were calling him a flog that just spreads rumors next minute hes got positive news and all of the sudden he becomes creditable to Essendon fans.

Please link me Barretts track record on credibility but please don't include the players will be cleared by friday piece.

my post was in response to a blanket "it passed the legal team because it's true" statement.

The rest of your post is rude and presumptuous - don't pass me through some ****ing "bomber fan" template, spew shit like "you guys all" at me and then ask leading questions and sardonic "please link me to Barretts (sic) track record" based on my implied involvement.

 

[Walter Sobchak]

my post was in response to a blanket "it passed the legal team because it's true" statement.

The rest of your post is rude and presumptuous - don't pass me through some ******* "bomber fan" template, spew shit like "you guys all" at me and then ask leading questions and sardonic "please link me to Barretts (sic) track record" based on my implied involvement.

Nobody's going to sue Caro if she's wrong about Ross Lyon staying at St Kilda. There are much higher stakes here. Fairfax wouldn't publish this unless they had total confidence in it.

 

[2one2]

Nobody's going to sue Caro if she's wrong about Ross Lyon staying at St Kilda. There are much higher stakes here. Fairfax wouldn't publish this unless they had total confidence in it.

OK. Agree to disagree. Let's wait and see

 

[Lion of Panjshir]

Nobody's going to sue Caro if she's wrong about Ross Lyon staying at St Kilda. There are much higher stakes here. Fairfax wouldn't publish this unless they had total confidence in it.

It's pretty obvious she is getting it from Demetriou.

 

[Ron The Bear]

That's nice dear. Good luck with it all.

Good luck with uncovering the truth about your little problem. Essendon's quest is like OJ Simpson's interminable search for "the real killer".

 

[Keys]

It's pretty obvious she is getting it from Demetriou.

Now there's a mental image I could have done without

 

[Percel]

That Essendon coach James Hird has a different recollection of the 2011 meeting in which he was warned by the AFL to avoid peptides where his players were concerned, is not surprising.​

Hird, whose example in embracing and pushing the risky drug program in which his loyal players were regularly injected with questionable substances, still has not come to grips with the perilous position in which he finds himself.​

This is despite the fact that significant chunks of evidence gathered by ASADA and the AFL has not been kind to Hird. As the ASADA findings are put together in Canberra and the AFL Commission braces itself for one of its toughest decisions, just how the competition handles the fall from grace of perhaps its most beloved hero of the past two decades remains the most fascinating human dilemma of this sorry saga.​

Hird hired the hard-line spin doctor Ian Hanke as his media adviser when it became clear he would require one. Hanke on Tuesday did not deny Hird had met the AFL in 2011 over peptides, but indicated, as the club did again on Wednesday, that it would be wrong to interpret the meeting in a negative way.​

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Hanke implied to Fairfax Media on Tuesday that when all the facts were revealed several commentators would be embarrassed and Hird would emerge unscathed. This is a familiar refrain, echoing that of Adelaide chief executive Steven Trigg last year before the AFL banned him.​

But it is understood Hird met AFL investigator Brett Clothier in late 2011 after it had come to the league's attention, via ASADA, that the coach was seeking information about certain peptides. Fairfax Media believes Clothier cautioned Hird more than once to stay away from peptides.​

Clothier has refused to comment on the meeting, but multiple sources close to the joint investigation into Essendon have confirmed the meeting took place. They have also confirmed the context of the warning.​

Meanwhile, it now appears​

beyond doubt that at least one of Hird's offsiders, senior assistant Mark Thompson, had taken issue with the volume and regularity of the injecting program and cautioned against it, despite the support it received from Hird and football operations boss Danny Corcoran.​

Just why Hird and his supporters believed the players required such heavy-handed and risky treatment and wanted to keep it secret has never been revealed.​

What is also beyond doubt is the anti-obesity drug AOD-9604 is just one substance among several allegedly given to the players, and even if the Bombers can prove ASADA approved it, there remains the question of other drugs, such as the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 and the alleged presence of the WADA-prohibited Hexarelin.​

Equally certain is that Essendon has cast a pall over the integrity of the 2013 finals series. If the club contests the finals then its presence will be viewed by some as unsporting, and if it does not then the competition also will be tainted.​

At some point the senior coach - despite the formidable team of yes men surrounding him - must take some responsibility for that. We remain convinced the AFL will ensure it.​

​

Read more:​

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http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bombers-are-yet-to-face-facts-20130717-2q4n9.html#ixzz2ZJRD4jhc​

 

[Dustin Credible]

If she is putting out what the AFL wants out there then the last couple of sentences give a strong indication of what's to come.

 

[B 52]

Good luck with uncovering the truth about your little problem. Essendon's quest is like OJ Simpson's interminable search for "the real killer".

O.J is innocent my good man,as are Essendon.

 

[Jobe Watson]

28th February - Caro:
Thompson has been in denial on several fronts, far less convincingly on Fox Footy on Monday night when he tried again to play down his authority at Essendon over the past two years. The fact is that for all his coaching brilliance so crucial for the untried Hird, Thompson has had far too big a say in off-field issues and his failure to follow administrative practices in his zeal to improve and fast-track the Bombers’ fortunes was one reason Paul Hamilton’s position as football boss became untenable.

Thompson was not the only culprit, but there’s no doubt the football department became increasingly cavalier. And there seems little doubt that Thompson pushed for the appointment of Dean Robinson and, by extension, Dank, both of whom were given an irresponsibly long leash. Inexcusable when you consider the players and careers at risk.

Thompson therefore is unlikely to survive and will probably fall on his sword before the year’s end.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/thom...l#ixzz2ZJBlfv3l

17th July - Caro:
Meanwhile, it now appears beyond doubt that at least one of Hird's offsiders, senior assistant Mark Thompson, had taken issue with the volume and regularity of the injecting program and cautioned against it, despite the support it received from Hird and football operations boss Danny Corcoran.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bomb...l#ixzz2ZJC7E6ji

So first Thompson was the authoritative mastermind who was an absolute monty to get the sack. Now, he's the hero who tried to stop the evil injection program was but overruled by dictator Hird.

Honestly, she changes her stance willy-nilly to suit her own agenda. Her vendetta against Hird and Essendon is just sad. I can see what Brayshaw and North have to go through; she made up blatant lies about them a couple of months ago as well. The fact she was still bringing up the "Wangaratta debacle" as recently as earlier this year shows the grudge she holds against us for publicly embarrassing her and her mole on our football board a few years back.

 

[TerryWallet]

Caro has long been the Commission's Go-To when it comes to leaks.

They rate Fairfax over Rupe's Rag.

 

[Danog]

 

[Munich]

It's pretty obvious she is getting it from Demetriou.

I hope so.

 

[carlton2dabone]

So ASADA have a record of Hird enquiring about peptides, and they alerted the AFL to it, so does anyone really think that ASADA would give approval for a peptide in 2012 after they had already dobbed in Hird earlier?

 

[MeeSo]

Bombers fans will need to hope she's fallen for bad info once again. If she's got it from high up at the AFL though Hird's in serious trouble.

 

[Dustin Credible]

So ASADA have a record of Hird enquiring about peptides, and they alerted the AFL to it, so does anyone really think that ASADA would give approval for a peptide in 2012 after they had already dobbed in Hird earlier?

Wrt. The ASADA advice re: AOD IMO it will come down to whether Essendon's interpretation of the advice was reasonable or not.

 

[TerryWallet]

So ASADA have a record of Hird enquiring about peptides, and they alerted the AFL to it, so does anyone really think that ASADA would give approval for a peptide in 2012 after they had already dobbed in Hird earlier?

I would say they would be more likely to go to the Australian Crime Commission to........

 

[Leather Poisoning]

It's pretty obvious she is getting it from Demetriou.

I don't get why people are suggesting this.

Can someone explain for a simple sod like me?

 

[MeeSo]

This is the 2nd report of someone at Essendon asking about peptides. Makes you wonder why the AFL didn't follow up further considering both were reported to Clothier.

 

[forwardflanker]

Nobody's going to sue Caro if she's wrong about Ross Lyon staying at St Kilda. There are much higher stakes here. Fairfax wouldn't publish this unless they had total confidence in it.

+1 the damage if she incorrectly smeared someone in this case would be huge. i.e. end of career never work in the industry again stuff, or say in Essendon's case having a huge financial impact on their revenue through marketing, memberships etc. The Age probably have like five legal teams working on this since the number of involved parties, their size, and the damage of claims made against them could result in massive civil claims should they mess it up.

 

[Ron The Bear]

O.J is innocent my good man,as are Essendon.

I guess the difference is OJ tried to escape where Essendon surrendered to the authorities at a press conference. Both very public denouements.

 

[blackshadow]

We hated her the most when she kept saying North would be relocated to the Gold Coast. Turned out she was well-briefed by the AFL, which was secretly working with our then Board to make it happen. The fact she was wrong in the end, because the Board and shareholders and supporters stepped in to change the game, doesn't undercut the fact that her reporting was not the personal vendetta we assumed it was in the lead up - she was a mouthpiece for what the AFL wanted to happen and was trying to make happen.

She doesn't like Brayshaw, but, again, even the silliest things she's reported about him weren't made up by her - they were fed to her. In club politics she can get distracted by her sources' agenda, but on AFL policy and issues I'd have thought her history says she's usually pretty well informed. And she is very experienced.

Pretty good assessment.

She's doubling down in her newest piece: www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/bombers-are-yet-to-face-facts-20130717-2q4n9.html

Never liked Caro in the past, but have to admit it's fun watching her unleash on people you think deserve it

She's working from the long run up. I'll back Caro on this one, poor old golden boy is going to come a massive cropper.

 

[Calcium Man]

I don't get why people are suggesting this.

Can someone explain for a simple sod like me?

Caro is well know to get very good info from inside AFL house and is usually spot on (cannot think of a time when her info from the AFL was wrong).

Her info from clubs is often a bit less legitimate.