The Hird is the word, as the AFL last night handed down its punishments to the Essendon Bombers for their controversial 2012 supplements program.
The club, currently in seventh place on the ladder leading into the final round of the regular AFL season this week, has been dealt the following penalties:
– Senior coach James Hird will be suspended for 12 months, during which time he won’t be able to provide drugs to work for any AFL club.
– The team will forfeit its place in the 2013 finals series and finish the season in ninth place.
– The club has been fined a cool $2 million, the highest penalty ever imposed by the AFL.
– Senior Assistant coach Mark Thompson has been fined $30,000, and vaguely titled “football manager” Danny Corcoran is suspended for six months.
– Essendon’s draft picks will be restricted for the next two years.
The Bombers were quick to announce that Hird would be welcomed back as senior coach once his suspension was complete. Hird, who has repeatedly denied the charges, had indicated that there were certain circumstances under which he would accept a suspension, if it was in the best interests of the club. Essendon chairman Paul Little said “James Hird told the Commission tonight that he took responsibility for the shortcomings in the club’s 2012 supplements program. There’s no doubt in my mind that James Hird has accepted these penalties tonight so that the club could move on.”
James Hird this morning addressed the media waiting outside his Toorak home, saying he was “disappointed” at the level of sanctions levelled at the club, but “we understand that some sanctions had to be placed on the club, and it’s time to move on.”
“I’m very keen to come back and coach the club in 2015… I’ve been as Essendon supporter since I was born. It’s part of who I am.”
Via afl.com.au
