Tell-all ... Dean Robinson and James Hird at training in 2012. Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited
JAMES Hird was a dominant footballer and the picture painted of him on Wednesday night by former Essendon high performance manager Dean Robinson shows an equally dominant club figurehead.
Robinson, who resigned last Friday and had been stood down by the club in February when an investigation into the Bombers supplements was launched, said Hird had a clear view of what he wanted for the club – and that no one was going to get in the way.
"It was no expense spared, Essendon this massive club - this foundation club," Robinson told Channel 7 in a paid interview on Wednesday.
"Everything was whatever it takes, and I guess that was the slogan they went with this year. Whatever it takes, because that was James Hird's attitude.
"There is so much Hird history at Essendon - it was a boys' club. Whatever James Hird wanted, James Hird got.
"It was made very clear to me and he had his plans for the club, he knew what he wanted and everyone was behind him and hell or high water, that was coming."
What Hird wanted was for his players to be as big and strong of those of rival clubs, such as Collingwood.
And when Hird suggested help with "supplementation", Robinson said sports scientist Stephen Dank was the only name he suggested.
Robinson and Dank devised a program that, Robinson admits, was designed to push the boundaries of sports science.
Robinson said last night that he was still of the view that nothing wrong had been done at the club.
He said it was no secret that the program was approaching the edge.
"They new from the top of the club, all of the way through," he said.
That included then chief executive Ian Robson.
I told him about the supplements pushing to the edge, and he said 'I'll put it to you in my terms, I'm an accountant. At the end of the day I've got no problem with tax minimization, I've got a problem with tax avoidance'. Which says to me, I'm happy to push to the edge.
"They new what was going on - this wasn't closed door, secret meetings, policies, the rest of it. No one was hiding anything, because we didn't think we were doing anything wrong."
But when things did go wrong – there was a spate of soft tissue injuries at Essendon last season – Robinson claimed he saw an ugly side of the club.
"I was threatened that I would be ruined by Danny Corcoran - he said 'you resign or we will destroy you'. In September, after all the injuries. Because they were blaming me for all the injuries."
In February, Robinson was stood down and said no one from Essendon had spoken to him since.
He has watched the rest of the saga unfold from afar.
"I think the supporters are good people, I think the players are good people. I think the management of the club is a disaster."
He said Hird should stand down: "If the man was honourable, he would".
"Too many people have decided to duck and dive and hide under the first rock they can, because they' can't stand up and admit the truth."
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