Time to go ... Patrick Smith says it is, Hirdy. Source: Colleen Petch / News Limited
James Hird had no option but to stand down from his coaching role following allegations he was injected with a WADA-banned drug.
After Thursday night's revelation of exchanges of texts between former Essendon sport scientist Stephen Dank - who made the claim in the Fairfax press that he injected the club coach with the banned drug Hexarelin - and Hird, the club must ask Hird to walk away until the ASADA investigation and the club's own external review are completed. It is the very least that can happen.
The text messages pull Dank and Hird together as enthusiastic supporters of a supplements program that pushed the very limits of WADA guidelines. Hird's assistant coach Mark Thompson has admitted the program was extreme. Hird has stated all along that he was reassured everything the club did in the sport science program, while edgy, was within ASADA guidelines and, in fact, had been cleared by the anti-doping body.
The text messages, aired on Nine News in Melbourne and the ABC's 7.30, leave no option but for Hird to stand down. It is a question of his judgment, both personally and professionally. If he doesn't, Essendon chairman David Evans must demand he does. It is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement that until Hird is cleared he would remain a distraction for the club and represent a curious message to the public - a coach alleged to have been injected with a banned drug in charge of men who he must ensure respect the WADA protocols.
Evans has already admitted slovenly governance within the club, which prompted him to call for an independent review of his club's administration.
The texts do not link Hird to willingly using drugs he knew to be banned, nor do they suggest he doubted that the drugs mentioned were legal under the broad ASADA umbrella. Nonetheless, Dank has alleged he gave players the anti-obesity drug AOD9604, which appears to be banned, as well as an extract from a pig's brain, a bark extract and cow colostrum. Hird needs to answer charges that he was derelict in his duty of care.
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said on Thursday - in reaction to the claim Hird had injected a banned drug - that he could not think of any accusations more serious than the ones levelled at the coach. So the AFL community has every right to ask, to be angry, as to why Essendon did not get Hird to relinquish his position early on Thursday - until at least the club's own investigation was complete. It was a bad look for football, bad look for Essendon. And it got even worse last on Thursday night.
There was an understanding among some clubs and officials on Wednesday night and Thursday morning that Hird had opted to hand over the senior coaching duties to his senior assistant, Thompson, until the results of the external review by Ziggy Switkowski were completed and digested by the Essendon board. However, it is believed Hird changed his mind at the last moment despite the urgings of close friends to step away.
When asked in Sydney why Hird should not step down following the allegations in the Fairfax press that the Essendon legend had been injected with Hexarelin, Demetriou did not answer the question directly. But rather said Hird was entitled to put his case to ASADA. Of course, he is but he does not have to be coaching to do that. Nor is it a denial of natural justice he puts his case while temporarily stepping away. In business this is the accepted practice.
Hird fiercely denies he was injected with illegal drugs supplied by Dank. The sport scientist had left the club by the end of the season and remains central to an ASADA inquiry into potential drug breaches by 31 NRL players.
Evans, who would know acutely how compromised Hird's final stance looks, was less than convincing when he addressed the issue before flying to Perth for Friday night's match against Fremantle. Asked whether Hird should step down, Evans turned his back and walked into the club. Even Demetriou's response to questions in Sydney were hesitant and repetitive.
Evans had said that Hird was "a person of great respect at this club and in the broader football community and the board will not be taking decisions about the next steps until the process of the review and the investigation have taken their course".
That is a fair and reasonable position to take. But it does not preclude Hird standing down. By staying in the senior coaching position, it is unlikely that he can give the job his complete concentration. Nor will Hird or the club be free of constant media attention while he remains coach.
To step down is not an admission by Hird that he is guilty. But it does give the club some clean air and uncomplicate Hird's existence as club leader and strategist. Hird, as coach, is a 24/7 distraction until the investigations are completed.
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