Mark Thompson reveals depths of despair during drug battle and how he has found happiness again
Bomber Thompson was told his PTSD had been triggered by the Essendon drug scandal. He spent years obsessively fighting in the background in the hope of exposing the “injustices” of the verdict. He nearly lost everything. Now he’s back.
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Footy great Mark “Bomber” Thompson has reclaimed his life after years of torment, declaring “I’m back and I’m feeling good about myself”.
In an emotional tell-all interview, Thompson, 56, has opened up on conquering his drug abuse and his plans for a simpler new life on the tools, surrounded by the family and friends he nearly lost.
The Essendon premiership captain and two-time Geelong premiership coach completed a 12-month community corrections order last month after being convicted of drug possession.
“I was pretty messed up,” Thompson says.
“I lost my way. In the end I just didn’t care. I didn’t care about the hurt. I just had no feelings, you know. Life had no reward.”
READ THE FULL Q&A WITH BOMBER HERE
Thompson’s first steps on the road to recovery took place in early 2018 in intense therapy sessions with a psychologist organised for him by mate James Hird and Adrian Dodoro.
“On the first day I met her, within five minutes, I was bawling my eyes out,” he reveals.
“She picked it in one (he was suffering post-traumatic stress disorder),” he said.
His illness had been triggered by the Essendon drugs scandal — a bitter, drawn-out saga that saw 34 Bombers players wiped out for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January 2015.
Thompson spent years obsessively fighting in the background in the hope of exposing the “injustices” of the verdict.
But the mission would consume and ultimately overwhelm him, leading to the destruction of his marriage and abuse of methamphetamines living alone in his Port Melbourne warehouse apartment.
Thompson says a handful of close football friends, including Hird, had stuck by him during the dark times, but he came to realise the game had become part of his problem.
“All my life has been footy people and that was the thing I had to get away from because it was the thing that was driving me crazy,” he says.
Now, a reawakened Thompson says he has discovered a new passion away from the football fishbowl.
At his factory in Airport West, Bomber is creating wood products combining recycled
timber with an epoxy resin glass.
READ THE FULL Q&A WITH BOMBER HERE
He is also rebuilding relationships with his parents and siblings, and shares the factory with electrician brother Steven.
“Steven employs his two sons … and my son works for Steven, too, so that’s five Thompson boys in there during the day,” the 202-game triple premiership champ says.
“It’s nice when you can actually make something and people come in and say, ‘Oh, I’d like to have that’ or ‘that looks great’.
“It’s pretty rewarding, it gives me something to do, keeps me out of the house and keeps me busy. When I left footy I didn’t really do much for four or five years.”
When the COVID-19 crisis passes, Thompson plans to hit the speaking circuit and share his story of rehabilitation to inspire others.
“I want to go out and tell people how I’m feeling, the mistakes I’ve made and if I had my time over again, what I’d do and the lessons learnt,” he says.
“Hopefully I’m worthwhile listening to.”
Asked how life was now compared to the depths of his despair, Thompson says: “It’s much better. It’s a lot different. I think I had to go through that hard stage, but I got through all of that.
“I’m back and I’m feeling good about myself — I’ve just got to sell a few tables.”
Debuting for Essendon in 1983, Thompson was a member of the club’s famed 1984 and 1985 back-to-back premiership teams, while running his own business as an electrician.
He captained the Bombers to their 1993 flag triumph under master coach Kevin Sheedy before becoming senior coach at Geelong in 2000.
The Cats won drought-breaking premierships under Thompson in 2007 and 2009 before he left to join Dons golden boy James Hird in a coaching “dream team” reunited back at Windy Hill.
His life began to spiral when the club “self-reported” the possible use of performance-enhancing drugs to the AFL in February 2013, triggering the doping scandal that would overshadow the league for years.
Thompson was fined $30,000 for his part in the injections program, but also filled in as senior coach when Hird was suspended for the 2014 season.
Then after police raids on his Port Melbourne warehouse in 2018, Thompson was convicted of drug possession in July last year.
He was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and fined $3500.
Now, after a tumultuous seven years, finally the tables have turned.
READ THE FULL Q&A WITH BOMBER HERE
Originally published as Mark Thompson reveals depths of despair during drug battle and how he has found happiness again