Tim Watson says he's surprised Essendon coach James Hird hasn't crumbled under the pressure of a six-month investigation into the AFL club's use of supplements.
Hird and his legal team will return to AFL House on Tuesday for a second day of negotiations over possible penalties for the club and four officials.
Hird, senior assistant coach Mark Thompson, club doctor Bruce Reid and Bombers football manager Danny Corcoran are facing AFL charges relating to conduct unbecoming and bringing the game into disrepute.
Club great Watson, a former teammate of Hird's and the father of Essendon captain Jobe Watson, says the seventh-placed Bombers are likely to lose their premiership points and be ruled ineligible to compete in the top-eight finals series which is due to start on September 6.
But Watson says the Bombers are concerned losing points, draft picks and receiving a heavy fine, plus fines and suspensions for four key officials, would be over the top.
"My reading of this now is they think it's too harsh in terms of the draft-pick penalties thrown in on top of the individual penalties on top of the fact they will lose their points," Watson said.
One of the major barriers to a deal is last week's Supreme Court writ that Hird issued against the AFL.
Watson says he's been amazed by Hird's resilience.
"I have because I thought under the weight of what he's been under at some point he would crumble and buckle," Watson said on Channel Seven's Talking Footy on Monday night.
North Melbourne great Wayne Carey, no stranger to massive media interest on and off the field during his playing days, says Hird's self-belief is the key to his confidence in the public eye.
"It's a real example of where Hirdy thinks and what he thinks he's done wrong here and he's prepared to say `well, no'," Carey told the program.
"If you think you're right, or you've done nothing wrong, it makes it a lot easier to stand there and walk out and front those cameras every day than if you know in the back of your mind you may have done something wrong.
"In his own mind he believes he has done very little wrong."
Essendon remain under an Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority investigation, with the AFL laying its charges after receiving an interim ASADA report.
