I REMEMBER first being alerted to it via a sledge - probably from a Carlton or Collingwood fan - on Twitter that Tuesday afternoon back on February 5, 2013.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was a reference to disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong becoming Essendon’s latest recruit.
With Armstrong having only two weeks earlier in an interview with Oprah Winfrey come clean on doping throughout his cycling career, the tone of this tweet was clearly cause for alarm for this Essendon member.
And sure enough the footy world was thrown into disarray that afternoon as Bombers chief executive Ian Robson, chairman David Evans and coach James Hird fronted that infamous press conference announcing: “In the past 48 hours the Essendon Football Club has received information about supplements that have been given to our players as part of the fitness program in 2012.”
From the moment Evans uttered those words that fateful Tuesday, life as an Essendon supporter hasn’t been the same since.
I’ve bled red and black since the mid-80s when an old family friend - Dean Eteridge - brain-washed me to barrack for the Bombers, much to the annoyance of my Geelong-supporting old man.
It didn’t hurt that around that same time Terry Daniher, Tim Watson, my childhood hero Simon Madden and co had just beaten Hawthorn in back-to-back grand finals.
I proudly wore an Essendon jumper given to me with No.4 on the back - Leon Baker at the time - along to the local footy each week, and apart from the usual banter among mates when their team beat mine, most of the barbs that have been thrown my way as an Essendon supporter have been easy to be brushed off.
Sure, we were beaten by a then record margin of 83 points by the Hawks in the 1983 grand final; only kicked five goals in the 1990 grand final against Collingwood; choked in the 1999 preliminary final against Carlton; and underachieved by only winning one flag between ’99 and 2001.
I was more than happy to recite in my defence Essendon’s 16 flags is a league record; the Bombers have played finals more often than not in my lifetime; and surely, it’s no coincidence most of the biggest games of the year involve the Dons.
Oh, and when you combine senior (16), reserves (8), under-19 (5) and night flags (6), Essendon’s 35 is more than any other club.
But there has been no shortage of ammunition over the past two years for rival supporters to take aim at the Bombers with, while trying to defend the club has been no easy task.
Even the headline of this column caused ridicule from one of my colleagues.
The Essendon supplements saga has become bigger than the game itself - it even has its own Wikipedia page - and severely tarnished the brand of the club when I’ve got my eight-year-old daughter, Sophie, asking “why did the Bombers take drugs?”
People often ask, how do you think it will unfold?
And my answer is always the same - your guess is as good as mine.
For it’s difficult to form judgement when we haven’t heard the full story of what went on at Windy Hill in 2012 from the two people we most want to - James Hird and sports scientist Stephen Dank.
And what has made it all the more difficult to follow is you can only read, listen and watch so much on the saga before enough is enough and you tune out.
All I know is the players must have gone through hell and back over the past couple of years, and while it could have been easy to lose faith in the club given the position it put itself in, that’s why I have retained my Essendon membership - for the players.
They’ve had the ASADA probe hanging over their heads since that Tuesday back in February, 2013, but have shown enormous resilience in the face of adversity to soldier on and win enough games to qualify for finals both years.
They’ve done that under what must be extraordinary mental anguish, the likes of which has never been experienced before by a playing group, and spare a thought for the families, like Stewart Crameri’s parents, Bernie and Amanda, from Maryborough.
Whatever happens on Tuesday when the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal finally hands down its verdict, my support and loyalty for the players will remain steadfast.
Luke West - Essendon member No. 1665975