Mark Thompson takes aim at AFL, calls for public release of internal review into Bombers supplements saga

ESSENDON legend Mark Thompson says he was rocked by James Hird’s drug overdose and called for the public release of the AFL’s internal review into its handling of the Bombers supplements saga.

James Hird cries as he talks to the media following his resignation as head coach of the Essendon. Picture: Getty Images

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ESSENDON legend Mark “Bomber” Thompson says he was rocked by James Hird’s drug overdose and called for the public release of the AFL’s internal review into its handling of the Bombers supplements saga.

“I felt sick in the guts — it just didn’t have to be like this,” Thompson told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“I think the AFL have taken it all way too far.

“Everyone makes mistakes but James Hird should have been welcomed back to the footy world a long time ago.

“We almost lost a great person and a great player of the game tragically too young.”

Thompson, one of three Essendon figures punished by the AFL for his involvement in the club’s disastrous 2012 supplements program, said it was time for the league to explain what it had learnt about its own conduct throughout the four-year drugs scandal.

“What ever happened to that internal review?” Thompson asked.

“What has actually changed? You wonder if the same thing happened again whether the actual processes would be different.

“We almost lost a great person and a great player of the game tragically too young.” Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“Are they out visiting clubs now? Are they making sure all the right forms are being signed?”

Former Bombers football boss Danny Corcoran broke a four-year silence in yesterday’s Herald Sun to claim Hird was suffering from a post-traumatic stress disorder triggered by the drugs saga and years of AFL “bullying and intimidation”.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou announced in February 2014 that the league was conducting a formal self-assessment of its pursuit of Essendon.

It followed intense scrutiny and criticism of the joint AFL-Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation.

It was also revealed Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie had been drafted in, with the approval of AFL commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick, to help convince James Hird to accept a 12-month AFL-imposed ban.

Hird was offered a series of inducements including “an outstanding career development opportunity’’ in return for dropping legal action against the league.

The AFL was also embarrassed by revelations Hird was being paid his full salary while suspended.

Asked about the internal review in April 2014, Fitzpatrick said: “I have got a very good sense of the shape of it, but it would be a bit premature to announce it today”.

On the same day, when he was unveiled as Demetriou’s successor, AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan said: “A key learning out of last year is that process and transparency are going to have to be prioritised ... rather than what we think is the right solution for the game in the short term.”

Fitzpatrick said in November last year a summary of the review would be released by the end of 2016.

Corcoran conceded Essendon and key club officials, including Hird and himself, had exposed the players to unacceptable risk.

“Trust was given and that trust was breached,” Corcoran said.

“The failure of leadership in the football department was just astounding.

“The club’s organisational chart had more dotted lines of people reporting to other people than the National Highway.”

But he said once penalties had been handed down it was time to back off.

“But as we have seen in other situations, that’s not the way they operate,” Corcoran said.