Essendon coach James Hird finally had enough on Friday.
After five months of playing a straight bat, Hird hit out at what he labels innuendo, half-truths and lies spread about him and his AFL club over the supplements saga.
It was a marked - and obviously intentional - departure from Hird's previous approach throughout the ongoing ASADA investigation into his club's suspect supplements program in 2012.
Following a week of having sand kicked in his face - among the allegations one that he was the architect of the program - an emotional Hird launched a measured defence of himself and his club.
"There's been some truth put out there, but the constant innuendo, rhetoric, half-truths and probably lies that have been spun about the club, the players, the great people that work here, and the half-truths, rhetoric and lies that have been spun about myself have been very hurtful and very damaging," Hird said.
"It's very hard when you keep looking at the hurtful and damaging nature of those comments."
Essendon issued a strongly worded statement this week refuting Fairfax Media claims that the AFL warned Hird not to involve his players in a peptide program.
The Bombers have also denied that Hird was the main architect of the supplements program now under investigation.
They say sports scientist Stephen Dank's arrival at the club was at the insistence of stood-down high-performance boss Dean Robinson.
As he has throughout the process, Hird urged people not to rush to judgment and wait for ASADA to deliver its findings, which are expected next month.
But he also admitted frustration at not being able to comprehensively respond to claims publicly - the Bombers maintaining they cannot make full and frank comment on the issue until after the investigation is completed.
"It's hard when you can't respond either. It's hard when you want to talk about the facts, when you want to explain to people what has happened here," Hird said.
"But the club has committed to a process and we'll follow the process through.
"But I would say to people ... if you are sitting in judgment, if you've made your judgment, please wait until the facts are on the table.
"The facts will come out on the table very soon.
"To my peers, to the players at other clubs, to the people at other clubs, if you can reserve your judgment until all the facts are on the table and we get a chance to see the report, put our version of events across, that would be much appreciated.
"There's no person out there more than myself that wants the truth, that is trying to find the truth, that wants it out on the table."
AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has refused to be drawn on allegations the league cautioned Hird against peptides as an option for his club.
But he told Melbourne radio station 3AW he was hopeful the ASADA report would be released next month - and saw no reason it would not be.
The Bombers play Greater Western Sydney in Sydney on Saturday, pitting Hird against his long-time coach and mentor Kevin Sheedy.
Share
