Stewart Crameri opens up on how the Essendon supplements saga impacted his life

[GVGjr]

I think it always on people to understand what is being injected and in a football sense the alarm bells should have been raised when the club Doctor was being ignored.

[Bulldog Joe]

The players did nothing wrong.

No doubt they should have been banned - no doubt - but they were let down by the club.

I have sympathy for Hird as he has been made the scapegoat by the AFL. I don't have sympathy for his penalties but no doubt Gill + co have a LOT to answer for. A LOT! They threw Hird into the Lions Den when they could have offered support. They isolated Essendon from the AFL to ensure the suggestions that other clubs (esp. St Kilda) were equally up to their eyes in it went no further...

None of that means he isn't a peanut and shouldn't have been banned. He is and he should never coach again. But there's a reason he fought the AFL and that's because Gill and co weren't necessarily honest about what they knew and when.

With all due respect the players were led astray and Hird was at the head of the program.

While there are clearly errors in the AFL handling of the case, Hird is much more than a mere scapegoat.

The suggestion that others were doing similar things does not exonerate Hird.

[Hotdog60]

David Zaharakis' full story would be an interesting one as he was the odd one out and was he really a needle phob has he had pain injections during games which contradicts that story or did he have some apprehension about the program and its legitimacy.

[MrMahatma]

If you were the captain, would you not be raising some alarm bells re offsite injections?

The players that were "leaders" I don't have sympathy for.

Who would they raise it with? And maybe they did and were told “it’s all good. The doctors are all over it and Hirdy is too.”

I feel for them. I mean, I hate Essendon and sucked in, but the players I feel for. Can’t say I’d have done anything apart from going along with it myself.

[comrade]

I’ve seen Crammers around Ballarat recently and not only is he still a big unit, he’s a really nice guy. Such a shame how his career panned out but it seems he’s gotten his head around it as well as possible.

[bornadog]

I think it always on people to understand what is being injected and in a football sense the alarm bells should have been raised when the club Doctor was being ignored.

I would always ask the Doctor what is being injected into me.

[Mofra]

Who would they raise it with? And maybe they did and were told “it’s all good. The doctors are all over it and Hirdy is too.”

I feel for them. I mean, I hate Essendon and sucked in, but the players I feel for. Can’t say I’d have done anything apart from going along with it myself.

The big red flag was Doc Reid being excluded from the program.

I do have sympathy for the players as the club held a huge position of power over them, but I'd want to know what I was putting into my body as a professional athlete.
Heck, I want to know now as an amateur hack

[Mofra]

I’ve seen Crammers around Ballarat recently and not only is he still a big unit, he’s a really nice guy. Such a shame how his career panned out but it seems he’s gotten his head around it as well as possible.

No doubt.

Jobe cops a lot of flak but he's an absolute gentleman too

[MrMahatma]

The big red flag was Doc Reid being excluded from the program.

I do have sympathy for the players as the club held a huge position of power over them, but I'd want to know what I was putting into my body as a professional athlete.
Heck, I want to know now as an amateur hack

"It's just some additional proteins to help us recover quicker so we can work harder. It's cutting edge but it's all good".

Then what?

Did the players know that Reid was excluded?

[mjp]

"It's just some additional proteins to help us recover quicker so we can work harder. It's cutting edge but it's all good".

Then what?

Did the players know that Reid was excluded?

Exactly.

The players did what they were told and why would they need to talk to the Dr...from their perspective, the injections were club sanctioned so...

[mjp]

With all due respect the players were led astray and Hird was at the head of the program.

While there are clearly errors in the AFL handling of the case, Hird is much more than a mere scapegoat.

The suggestion that others were doing similar things does not exonerate Hird.

Pretty sure I said Hird should be banned. I do NOT think he should be exonerated.

My sympathy for him comes from the way the AFL approached the situation - they KNEW what was happening and threw Essendon under the bus. Where Hird and the club needed support, they were isolated and forced to deal with the top-bottom scenario personally...it was not cool.

Hird did the wrong thing but so did AFL House. There are two scandals here:

1/. Essendon drug scandal and I doubt we will EVER know what the real story over what was being injected was.
2/. AFL information scandal.

Read Warner's book. It's bad.

[Grantysghost]

Who would they raise it with? And maybe they did and were told “it’s all good. The doctors are all over it and Hirdy is too.”

I feel for them. I mean, I hate Essendon and sucked in, but the players I feel for. Can’t say I’d have done anything apart from going along with it myself.

Not all the players, the leaders.

Maybe it's a cultural issue that there's not a "safe space" to air your concerns.

If they did approach Hird with concerns (I never read they did) and they were rebutted then at least that's something.

It was a systematic breakdown, however somebody knew what they were doing wasn't legit.

Plus I can't believe we are still talking about it

[Hotdog60]

Plus I can't believe we are still talking about it

It's simple we all hate Essenbums and their pain is the gift that keeps on giving. If the knife is in there just give a little twist every now and then.

[Bulldog Joe]

It's simple we all hate Essenbums and their pain is the gift that keeps on giving. If the knife is in there just give a little twist every now and then.

It seems the media has decided this week is the week to seek redemption.

Numerous articles and all it does is confirm that Essendon are stuck in their own mire.

[Sedat]

"It's just some additional proteins to help us recover quicker so we can work harder. It's cutting edge but it's all good".

I have a bit of sympathy for the players but it is 100% their responsibility, as well-paid professional athletes who had access to all possible information around PED's, to know to the last ml what is being injected into their bodies. I get the argument about peer pressure from the club saying everything is kosher, hence the small amount of sympathy.

I have much less sympathy for the club and its leaders. They are still the ony club to win a flag in the same year they were confirmed as cheating the cap - this is not beneath them at all. That's not to give a pass to the AFEL for shutting everything down that might have been going on at other clubs, or these other clubs (St Kilda, Geelong) who may or may not have been up to their ears in similar nefarious activity.