Jon Anderson looks at the rise and fall of Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson
PRIOR to sharing his Port Melbourne digs with a bikie known as ‘Bang Bang’, Mark Thompson’s friends thought he was working his way back to the ‘Bomber’ of old. JON ANDERSON looks at how it all went wrong.
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PRIOR to sharing his Port Melbourne digs with a bikie known as “Bang Bang”, Mark Thompson’s friends thought he was working his way back to the “Bomber” of old.
Even in recent times of estrangement, erratic behaviour and invisibility, the one-time electrician from a modest upbringing in Melbourne’s north (Airport West) has always had plenty of friends.
It’s just the way of Bomber, he of the cheeky smile, infectious giggle and quirky personality.
Those same friends have reached out to him in recent times, most noticeably James Hird, the man he shared such a rollercoaster ride with at the Bombers during what is now known as the Essendon drugs saga.
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Hird made contact with Thompson on Wednesday, the morning after his one-time assistant coach had been bailed on serious charges of drug trafficking.
Thompson, 54, has strenuously denied any attempt to traffic the drugs ecstasy and ice and is confident he will be cleared of those drugs when he returns to court on May 25.
But even if he is, the question remains how did one of the AFL’s most decorated members find himself domiciled with co-accused Thomas Windsor (no relation to the Royal family) and Karl “Bang Bang” Holt?
For Thompson is football royalty in every sense, being one of just 15 living men to have both played in and coached an AFL premiership.
His coaching win/loss record of 173 wins from 283 matches leaves him with a very healthy winning percentage of 61 (Mick Malthouse and Kevin Sheedy are 57%, Leigh Matthews 58%).
And when Essendon named its 25 Greatest Champions in 2002, there was Thompson listed at No. 20 with Mark Harvey and John Birt on either side of him.
His and Harvey’s Essendon journeys began with the friends being the youngest members of Essendon’s 1984-85 premiership sides before going on to win club best and fairests and eventually coach at AFL level.
Their friendship more than most has been strained in recent times, as has that of Thompson and Peter “Crackers” Keenan.
Keenan, 67, was a ruckman with the Bombers in 1980 when Thompson had just joined the U19s from Airport West.
“He was a terrific young fella. Ask anyone and they will say the same. Later on I ended up working as a ruck coach for him at Geelong and in particular with Steven King,” said Keenan.
“Much later I heard the stories so I had a go at him.’
“He said ‘nothing’. I said ‘bullshit’. He said ‘I’ll catch up, I’ll catch up’ but I haven’t heard from him for three years.
“The last time we spoke he said it wasn’t right the way he had been treated at Essendon. He thought there were people who were very involved who had got off.
“‘Bomber’ tried to stop it.”
For Keenan and every other concerned friend, the fact Thompson’s first wife, Annette, and daughter Lauren had supported him in court last Monday night was an extremely positive sign.
Their marriage breakup had been bitter and left fractured relationships with his children Michael, Daniel and Lauren.
In recent times he has been attempting to rebuild those bridges.
Friends have been buoyed by his appearance, from his attire to the fact he’s put some weight back on.
Late last year he attended functions with both Geelong and Essendon, the former in December when the Cats held their annual unofficial Christmas lunch at The Flower Drum.
Thompson had agreed to attend although Geelong’s current coach Chris Scott was said to initially be reluctant to participate if Thompson was there.
Scott did go and relations were polite if not close.
Thompson arrived late and initially sat quietly before opening up once Scott and Geelong’s General Manager of Football Simon Lloyd left.
He spoke of being in a dark place over the Essendon saga, how sapped he had been left.
Some listening read between the lines speculated drug use provided an escape for a problem that was eating at his very being.
Football had been such a big part of his 54 years and without it he had been left with a gaping hole.
The group partied on to the Garden State Hotel in Flinders Lane with Thompson very much a part of the revelry.
Then he was gone. No goodbyes, just gone. “That’s Bomber” was the general consensus.
But Thompson and unusual have long gone hand-in-hand.
Take his time as a commentator with the 3AW football team where the calling team sought a drink and feed after a game at the Adelaide Oval a couple of years back.
AW caller Tony Leonard smiles when recalling the story.
“Bomber was unusual in that he didn’t want to hang around with what we might call ‘footy media types’. In fact he was happier with members of the public, often who he didn’t know.
“I remember we were calling this game in Adelaide and walked back over the bridge to the Inter Continental,” said Leonard.
“We were having a couple of beers and some satays and Bomber buys the first round of beers.
“Then a couple of people came up and asked Bomber could they get a photo? No worries. Could we have a chat? Fine, but just stay there and I’ll be back in a minute.
“So he goes and buys beers for these people and brings back five plates of satays for them. They couldn’t believe it. He was always insanely generous.
“As a commentator there were times when you weren’t initially sure where he was coming from but once he got there, by god he was accurate.
“I’m genuinely disappointed he is where he is because he’s a bloke you love being around and unlike some in the industry, he always wanted to know about you. I just hope he hasn’t been doing what he’s been charged with.”
Another night the AW team was in chilly Launceston after a Hawthorn game, all doing their best to keep warn inside except Thompson who was outside having a cigarette with some locals.
When it came time to leave for the airport Thompson couldn’t be spotted, but he arrived on time, presumably hitching a ride with one of his new found friends.
Someone who worked with Thompson at 3AW was Matthew Lloyd, who first met the former Geelong and Essendon coach in the mid 1990s: “I only had one year with him as a player then he coached the reserves before he went to North.
“He was massive on the morals and ethics of us young players coming through, the way we treated people, spoke to staff and supporters. That will stay with me for life. He had an aura as a captain and I hung on every word,” said Lloyd, 40.
“I didn’t see him for a long time when he was coaching but got to see him again at 3AW. He was always laughing and seemed to be enjoying what he was doing.
“I could sense he had changed a lot from the person I had met in 1995. I viewed that as what coaching could do to you, being in that stressful environment for so long.
“He wasn’t as consistent as he had been in 1995 but he was still very likeable.
“The last time I saw him was at an Essendon catch-up in last year’s Grand Final week. He was in very good form, laughing and good to talk to.”
“Consistent” being an operative word given Thompson’s life would seem to have lacked consistency for some time. So when did his erratic behaviour begin?
Those at Geelong say his mood swings became more pronounced in 2010, others believing it was earlier than that.
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As one Cats insider explained on Friday: “You don’t usually know what goes on inside someone’s home or private life, but if the Essendon people who lured him had done due diligence, they would have found out he was off the rails a bit in 2010.
“How did it get to the stage where he was found asleep in his car at the club?
“Some of the people responsible for appointing ‘Bomber’ have to ask themselves, ‘Are they satisfied with their actions?’.”
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