Words like “controversial” and “disappointment” and “reclusive” have followed James Hird, the former AFL coach at Essendon Football Club, since February 2013.
Especially the world “guilty”. It’s been used a lot.
February 2013 was when Essendon self-reported to the league’s regulatory bodies. The club, where Hird was senior coach, asked the authorities to investigate concerns about the inappropriate use of supplements during the 2012 season.
It came just before the Australian Crime Commission found professional sport in Australia was ”highly vulnerable to organised crime infiltration”, including doping. It was dubbed the “blackest day in Australian sport.”
Now, Hird has been admitted to a mental hospital following a suspected drug overdose on Wednesday night.
The Victorian ambulance service was called to the family home to attend a “poisoning overdose” just after 10pm two nights ago. The cause of his hospitalisation is yet to be confirmed. It’s been reported to be of a “serious and disturbing nature”.
We should have seen this coming.
Likely, you know about the doping scandal.
A supplement program which, implemented at the club in 2012 under Hird's supervision, should have involved vitamins and amino acids. Instead, it saw the administration of prohibited drugs.
The club was ruled ineligible to participate in the 2013 AFL finals series. Hird was suspended from involvement in any football club for 12 months, effective August 2013.
Top Comments
Some interesting points raised. My Father played for Essendon in the late 70's & early 80's...I grew up watching James Hird become a champion of the game. I feel deeply for him and his family especially now. Hird's reputation was always that of the golden boy, the paradox that has played out with him at the centre of the ugliness of the AFL is representative of what sport is all about today. Its not about athletic ability, sportsmanship and competition...its about greed. Hird unfortunately happens to be an actor in a scheme larger than we realise.
I for one feel for him
Yes he ducked up, he has paid the price in many ways
The club paid a price
But thats football, he is still a person, with a family. They all trying to get through the last few years and now this
The guy needs help, space from media and support
Not a circus camped on his doorstep