Bombers miss PR target?

Essendon’s announcement that Michael Hurley will be suspended for the pre-season period is, it seems to AussieRulesBlog, an attempt to deflect criticism in the wake of Geelong’s suspension of Matthew Stokes.

The similarities are simply that both are facing Police charges which are yet to be heard. The problem for the Bombers is that the pre-season period suspension may be seen to be a lot too little pain for both Hurley and the club.

We have it on what we regard as good authority that Hurley’s indiscretions aren’t at the serious end of the continuum. It would seem on what has occurred to this point that the cabbie wants his day in court though.

To some extent, Essendon will be damned for being too light by some and for being too heavy by others, loyalties and tribal hatreds probably being the dividing line.

AussieRulesBlog is, as an avowed Bombers fan, comfortable with the sanction. It’s appropriate to the scale of the misdemeanour. The club will take heat from many quarters though and may have been better advised, from a purely PR standpoint, to have included one or two home and away games in the sanction.