It has been a while since our last post. As an Essendon member, it has been a tough year and, despite the team’s success in being second on the ladder after sixteen rounds, not an enjoyable one. We think a small positive that has emerged, at least for AussieRulesBlog, is a new way of looking at the game.

AussieRulesBlog hopes that Essendon people will think twice, three times, or more, before commenting on others clubs’ plights. That’s certainly our intention.

We also hope that Essendon people will refrain from baiting other clubs’ fans if those clubs find themselves the subject of controversy. If we had a dollar for every time some @#$&^%* had approached us over the past seven months seeking some comment on the supplements affair, there’d be no need to buy any more lottery tickets.

We’ve reached some sort of definitive end this week, apart from Doc Reid, and our thoughts are with him in his battle to clear his professional reputation.

The hysterical end of the media reporting has, it seems to AussieRulesBlog, rested on the starting (and startling!) presumption that Essendon coach James Hird had callously disregarded the welfare of his players in seeking an advantage.

Fortunately, there has been some writing taking a more rational middle ground and avoiding the bias that has characterised the writings of The Age’s Caroline Wilson and her clique. We commend the recent article by Mick Ellis of Inside Football to all football followers. Throughout the evolution of the crisis surrounding Essendon and its supplements program, Ellis has written from a dispassionate position.

In his recent article, Ellis writes about confirmation bias, and perhaps we’re a victim of this as much as Wilson is in her way. Ellis’ views very closely reflect our own (hence we regard him as a great writer and Wilson as appalling). The difference between us and Wilson is that we’re aware of our shortcomings.

In the end, although we consider the penalties exacted by the AFL in its characteristic sledgehammer diplomacy modus operandi are logically inconsistent with their acknowledgement that the club and the four officials didn't set out to establish a program to flout the rules, ongoing hysteria was damaging the club, the four officials charged, the players and the members and supporters.

Throughout, Essendon — through David Evans and Paul Little, and James Hird and Mark Thomson as the public faces — has conducted itself with admirable restraint in the face of a vicious media campaign. Hird in particular has been singled out for an unprecedented torrent of journalistic abuse.

In the past, AussieRulesBlog has tried, often unsuccessfully, to keep our love for our football club at arms length to our commentary on issues. At least to one extent, we’re abandoning that stance today. Our Countdown clock is today proudly renamed the Countdown to Hird Retirn and is proudly displayed in the famous red and black.

Go Bombers!