PAUL LITTLE: 18 FEBRUARY 2015
President Essendon Football Club
Dear Mr Little
To my knowledge, ASADA can’t prove Thymosin Beta-4 was supplied to the club nor can it prove Dank administered it to specific players. Therefore, the players should be cleared. Even if for hypothetical purposes we accept that Thymosin Beta-4 was at the club, it is impossible to prove whether player 1 or player 2 or player 3 or player 34 was administered TB4 or an unknown amino acid. Therefore, it will be the biggest fix of all time if the players are found guilty.
Despite the above, I think it is incumbent upon the board to pre-empt the fall-out from a guilty decision. If any player is found guilty the media will demand James Hird’s head on a plate.
Hird had no legal responsibility for the supplement programme, and consequently, sacking Hird would arguably be one of the most unjust (and expensive) decisions in Essendon’s history. To be frank, I do not think your members and players would allow you to do it.
Despite ongoing criticism, I consider Hird the club’s top asset. The players obviously love him and the members worship him. Together, I think you two can build an empire.
There have been many soul-destroying aspects of this saga, one being your board’s refusal to do the honourable thing and take responsibility for Essendon’s failure to provide a safe workplace for the players. The law says the buck stops with the Essendon board and the AFL commissioners, yet the board has hidden behind Andrew Demetriou, Caroline Wilson and Patrick Smith’s hatred for Hird, and have allowed him to be the fall guy.
You know, your board knows, and I know, that legally the AFL commissioners, the Essendon board, Gillon McLachlan, Adrian Anderson, Brett Clothier, Paul Hamilton and Dean Robinson all had more responsibility than Hird.
If Hird is sacked, the foregoing should lose their jobs. Essendon uses a matrix organisation structure. For some inexplicable reason, James Hird was on a separate branch to the football department. Hird reported to chief executive Ian Robson and only had his four assistant coaches – Mark Thompson, Brendan McCartney, Simon Goodwin and Sean Wellman – reporting to him.
Paul Hamilton headed the football department and was general manager – football operations. The football department had a $20 million budget, and Hamilton, unlike Hird, was on the Essendon executive committee. Hamilton reported to chief executive Ian Robson. The doctors, physiotherapists, psychologist, conditioners, weight trainers, dietician, and sports scientist Stephen Dank, all reported to the high-performance coach, Dean Robinson. Robinson reported to Hamilton. The supplements program fell under Hamilton’s control.
I believe Essendon should pre-empt any attack on Hird. This can be done by the club spending about $30,000 to place an advertisement in the Herald Sun. The ad should explain Hird’s position and role; it should explain the background to the supplement programme; it should acknowledge that the Essendon board and the AFL commissioners failed to provide a safe workplace for the Essendon players; it should express dismay at McLachlan’s unacceptable recent comment that “the football public now accepted the possibility Essendon would be forced to field a team that included top-up players in premiership matches”; and in retaliation to McLachlan’s comment, it should express supreme confidence that the players will be cleared.
Admitting responsibility will create kudos for the board rather than create a possible legal problem because the Victorian WorkSafe Authority should shortly find the Essendon board and the AFL commissioners ‘guilty’ of failing to provide a safe workplace for the players. If any of the players sue, I’m sure they will sue the AFL, not Essendon.
I understand that you would be concerned about further alienating the AFL and the other 17, weak as piss, club chairmen. In my view, you have been pussyfooting around with the AFL. If you do not crush them, they will continue to screw you. You will only win the support of the other clubs when you expose the AFL for all its wrong doings.
One of the first things my dad said to me as a kid was to quote Sun Tzu: “Never enter into a fight willingly, but once in, make your opponent fear you.” To this point, you have been fighting the AFL while trying to appease it. You implore your players never to take a backward step; it’s time the board showed leadership and stopped taking crap from the AFL.
Although the Victorian WorkSafe Authority findings will result in a fine for Essendon, the VWA’s findings against the AFL should enable Essendon to recover the $2 million fine imposed by the AFL in August 2013.
I have attached a copy of a suggested draft advertisement. It will clear Hird and make his position impregnable at the club. It should also give the people of Melbourne their first true understanding of what happened. The ad will attract so much attention the tribunal members couldn’t miss it. They need to know you won’t tolerate a rogue decision.
I am sure if the Herald Sun flagged that you were issuing a statement the following day, speculation would be rife about the subject, and its circulation would increase, and therefore you should be able to negotiate an excellent price for the advertisement.
Yours sincerely
Bruce Francis
Cc Xavier Campbell – chief executive; Essendon board members