Disturbing conclusions and one resounding positive in Essendon's drug saga

WHEN Ziggy Switkowski finished his report into Essendon's regime, he came away with many disturbing conclusions - and one resounding positive.

David Evans

IN his decades in Australian business Ziggy Switkowski has seen all manner of corporate crooks and saviours.

By the time the former Telstra boss had finished his report into Essendon's disturbing pharmacological experiment, he had come away with many disturbing conclusions - and one resounding positive.

Ziggy's report might have laid bare cataclysmic failures at Essendon.

Bombers at risk of being gutted

But he told friends no man confronting a business crisis of this scale had done more than David Evans to set about addressing those issues and chart a path for the future.

Now Essendon chairman Evans is gone after the most turbulent week in a five-month drama that has become football's biggest story ever.

And while Evans would ultimately agree that the buck stopped with him as Essendon's chairman, it is impossible to quantify just how big a loss this is for the Bombers.

The son of former AFL Commission Ron Evans was the man who who put aside making millions at his stockbroking firm to help save the club's players and protect its reputation.

Whether that will be possible remains to be seen.

Hird won't follow Evans out the door

But there was one saving grace from the doomsday scenario which includes an adverse finding with players banned for up to two years and James Hird de-registered by the AFL.

That saving grace was that Evans might remain and begin to rebuild this football club and eventually restore it - however long that took - back into the mighty club it believes itself to be.

Consider that worst-case scenario for a moment, because it is scary.

A club last year on the cusp of a premiership window and about to move to flash new digs has already lost its chairman, its chief executive (Ian Robson), its sports science division (Stephen Dank and Dean Robinson) and its football manager (Paul Hamilton).

Those that could join them include some or most of the playing list, Hird forever, several assistant coaches accused of supplements use, and potentially Mark Thompson and Dr Bruce Reid who would resign in protest if Hird was to fall.

Evans at least seemed to be up to the task no matter what hell Essendon descended into.

As club legend Tim Watson said on Sunday, he was a friend and an ally as well as a leader of the club.

David Evans

In the end, those friendships might have been Evans' greatest strength, but also his greatest weakness.

How did a man who had business ties with AFL commissioner Bill Kelty, was a close friend of Andrew Demetriou, a 20-year friend of James Hird, and a confidante of senior Essendon players protect them all?

In the end, he couldn't.

"Many of the people that I deal with are close friends,'' Evans said in his resignation statement.

"This has given me great insight and assisted in making tough decisions, but those decisions now may be seen to be clouded by those relationships or be seen as a conflict, and I am not prepared to have my decisions reflect poorly on the club either now or in future.''

There is no doubt Hird believed Evans was not doing enough to protect him from the AFL.

Witness the fallout from that lingering discontent in the front pages of the Herald Sun in recent days.

Now new president elect Paul Little will be able to take up Hird's fight, content Evans has done all he could to shield the players from potential sanctions.

The current threat from Essendon is it will not lie down and accept penalties to the club or Hird.

Does that mean this could get messy and proceed to Melbourne's courts?

Potentially, but remember we heard similar mutterings from Adelaide and Melbourne before they were whacked by the AFL.

Essendon's band of highly-paid coaches were once dubbed Little's Men given he had found the cash to lure the Dream Team to Windy Hill.

Now with Essendon backing James Hird to the hilt, it will be Little leading the charge to protect him.