Essendon on the ropes after another controversial day in supplements saga

ANDREW Demetriou is a deal-maker extraordinaire and his brinkmanship has Essendon on the ropes, writes Jon Ralph.

ANDREW Demetriou is a deal-maker extraordinaire.

Yet when that fails to work, Demetriou switches to the type of brinkmanship that on Thursday had Essendon on the ropes and running out of options.

Demetriou could not have counted on the stunning intervention of "Sarah", claiming to be the parent of an Essendon player and incandescent with rage at the conduct of James Hird.

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But even without that, Demetriou and his commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick have kicked Essendon's feet out and left the club sprawling.

Demetriou's ploy to back Essendon into a corner was multi-faceted.

First he released the withering charges that Essendon is still fiercely contesting, then he handed the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority report to AFL Players' Association chief executive Matt Finnis.

Then, after Finnis launched a blistering attack on the Dons, Demetriou summoned the 17 rival club presidents to strengthen his position.

The message was clear: Those of us on the side of all that is good in football are in one corner. Essendon, more isolated than ever, should bend to our will.

Despite the rumours, the presidents were never going to vote to throw Essendon out of the finals, but the morning murmurings didn't hurt the AFL's position of strength.

James Hird

The presidents met separately after their talks with the AFL, releasing the statement: "We wish to unanimously express our confidence in the AFL Commission and AFL management."

Essendon was officially in the naughty corner. Even Hird's Supreme Court writ was big on bluster and short on anything that was going to dethrone King Andrew.

If the tide of public opinion had not turned in the time it took to read Wednesday's 34-page charge sheet, it was a tsunami after "Sarah's" testimony on Triple M about the selfishness of Hird and Co.

The AFL is mystified by the end game for Essendon and its officials. Any delay after the finals only brings into consideration the spectre of playing 2014 for no points.

Any independent tribunal would only reduce the penalties against Hird and his three co-workers, not throw the charges out completely.

It is difficult to see how Hird coaches next year. He has made it clear he will walk away from football if given any type of suspension.

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Hird deserves his day in the dock. He still deserves the presumption of innocence, but how can he not stand down until this sorry saga is resolved? He deserves time and space to prepare his case.

The problem with Hird's defence is that it is almost exclusively about process and alleged tip-offs and legal mumbo jumbo.

Nowhere does it involve him sitting down and answering questions about his innocence or guilt.

Hird has ducked and weaved, and he's lost ground in the process. The only way to win back the public is to do what he told us all those months ago he wanted to do: tell his side of the story.