Essendon coach James Hird has defiantly reaffirmed his club’s right to play in the finals as an AFL decision looms on their supplements scandal.
The AFL has had an interim report from the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) for a week and there is growing speculation the league will announce its findings on Monday or Tuesday.
Essendon could be stripped of their premiership points over last year’s supplements program at the club.
The Bombers have been under ASADA and AFL investigation since February 5.
“We’re playing tomorrow, the next week, the next week and the next week, because we believe we’ve got a right to play in the finals,” Hird said.
“We believe that so we’re not doing all this training we’ve been doing over the last six months, we’re not going out to risk our players’ bodies by playing every weekend for no reason.
“We believe we’ve got a right to be there.”
Essendon are coming off heavy losses to Hawthorn and Collingwood and play West Coast on Sunday at Etihad Stadium.
They dropped out of the top four after the loss to the Magpies and are now fifth.
Essendon great Tim Watson said earlier this week that the AFL had already decided to strip the Bombers of their points, with the decision to be announced in the week before the finals.
But AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou has vehemently denied that is the case.
“The AFL has stated there’s been no deal done and no pre-determined penalties,” Hird said.
The Bombers coach was predictably tight-lipped about what might come out of the investigation.
Hird was asked if he felt more comfortable about the club’s position after his legal team viewed the interim ASADA report.
He said nothing had changed.
“I think we’ve felt very comfortable about our position all the way along, and we still do,” he said.
Several hundred Essendon fans attended Saturday morning training at Windy Hill and they were vocal in their support for Hird and the players.
“It’s very heartening and this has been going on every Saturday morning that we have these events,” said interim Essendon chief executive Ray Gunston.
“The fans have just been terrific, supporting both the club and Hirdy and the players.
“So it’s a real credit to the club and the supporters.”
Gunston said the support was a definite morale boost for the players.
“The players always appreciate the support of the fans, but to have people turning up … it’s a real lifter for the club and everybody,” he said.