Bombers set for fight as charges loom

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Fight ... Bombers players will try to keep their minds on the football. Source: Michael Dodge / Getty Images

ESSENDON expects to be charged by the AFL within days but the Bombers will take on the league if it tries to ban them from the finals.

The Bombers expect they will be heavily punished for bringing the game into disrepute over their controversial 2012 supplements program.

This is despite the fact the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into the club is yet to be completed and there are no infraction notices issued against any players.

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The AFL has the power to strip the club of its premiership points and draft selections.

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Club staff, including coach James Hird, could also be charged and face suspension.

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Adelaide legend Mark Ricciuto this week was adamant that James Hird would be forced to stand down by Thursday, but late last night Essendon was adamant there was no move against the coach.

The Hird camp said the Bombers legend had no intention to stand down.

Essendon will strongly argue that they should not lose their right to play in September because the players have not been found guilty in the interim report.

Bombers chairman Paul Little said the club would be "working as hard as we can to ensure that our natural justice and rights are being protected".

Another club figure said: "The punishment must fit the crime".

But it is open to the AFL to penalise Essendon over the club's lack of control and lax oversight of its drugs program.

The club could also be punished by the league for putting the health of the players at risk.

The club's own internal review of its 2012 practices compiled by Ziggy Switkowski found the Bombers failed their duty of management and governance and lost control of the football department.

"This combined to create a picture of a pharmacologically experimental environment never adequately controlled or challenged or documented," Switkowski said.

AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon has the task of deciding whether to charge Essendon and/or its officials but the league would not forecast any move against the Bombers.

The AFL Commission is due to meet on Monday, and again on August 26 - days before the start of the finals.

Any attempts to suspend Hird and other club figures, including doctors, will also be vigorously fought by the Bombers and the individuals' legal teams.

It was alleged in April that Hird was injected with the banned drug Hexarelin by the club's former sports scientist Stephen Dank, which Hird denied.

Sources said the 400-page interim ASADA report did not substantiate the allegation.

Little said the club would be seeking confirmation from the AFL that its players had been cleared of using banned drugs in the ASADA report.

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"Part of the frustration that is now brought to the table by the interim nature of the report is that we don't know what are the workings required, how long that may take and the pain goes on for the club," he said.

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"We remain confident that our players haven't done anything wrong ."

AFL chief Andrew Demetriou returned from the US and angrily denied claims by Bombers great Tim Watson that the AFL had already decided to strip Essendon of premiership points.

"It's just offensive and it's completely wrong," Demetriou said.

Hird's legal team was given a copy of the interim report on Tuesday night.

IN THE GUN AT ESSENDON

James Hird (coach): Declared on February 5 that he would take "full responsibility'' for the club's supplements program. Accused of being injected by Stephen Dank with substances banned for players. Has steadfastly protested his innocence.

Dr Bruce Reid (club doctor): Sent a letter in January 2012 detailing his concerns about the supplements program. The letter never got to the club's board. Yet to see the ASADA report.

Danny Corcoran (football general manager): Absent for three months in late 2011 and early 2012 after the death of his wife. Took a hands-on role in the football department midway through last season.

LAWYERS AT 10 PACES

With the Essendon supplements scandal reaching its climax the Bombers, and under-fi re coach James Hird, are preparing themselves for a bitter legal and public relations battle, engaging the best minds in the country.

TEAM HIRD
Steven Amendola - Ashurst industrial law expert leading Hird's defence.
Julian Burnside, QC - renowned human rights lawyer engaged in recent weeks.
Nick Harrington - a barrister friend of Hird who recommended Ashurst.
Ian Hanke - veteran political spin doctor who worked with Amendola on the 1998 waterfront dispute.

TEAM ESSENDON
Jack Rush, QC - St Kilda board member who was counsel assisting the Black Saturday Royal Commission. Hired in recent weeks.
Tony Hargreaves - leading criminal lawyer engaged by the Bombers at the start of the scandal.
The Shannon Company - communications firm with strong Victorian Labor links hired to replace crisis manager Elizabeth Lukin last week.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT
* AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon decides whether to lay charges against Essendon, its officials or players under AFL Player Rules. Rule 1.6.1 reads: "A person must not engage in conduct which is unbecoming or likely to prejudice the interests or reputation of the AFL or to bring the game of football into disrepute.''

Rule 1.5A reads: "Either or both the Commission and the General Manager Football Operations shall ... have the power in their discretion ... to impose any sanction on any person contravening the AFL rules and regulations on any terms or conditions seen fit or to otherwise deal with such matter in any manner they in their absolute discretion think fit.''

* If charges are laid, Essendon would be given time to prepare a response, which may include written submissions.

* AFL Commission would hear the charges and Essendon's defence and would then decide guilt and penalty.

* Penalties could include loss of premiership points, stripping of draft picks and fines.

* Club officials also face sanctions if deemed appropriate by the commission.

Compiled by: MICHAEL WARNER and GRANT BAKER

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