Andrew Demetriou is preparing for the fight of his professional life, writes Rebecca Wilson
The Daily Telegraph
December 13, 2013 10:00PM
ANDREW Demetriou has bunkered down ready for the war of his professional life. The urbane boss of the AFL thought he had his ducks in a row when he announced smugly that the Essendon anti-doping saga had been handled with great skill and aplomb back in August, just in time for his showpiece finals series.
The file was closed, Demetriou style, and the amazing world of the AFL - the one of ivory towers, big money and club ties - was all in one beautiful piece.
That was until two weeks ago when the wheels fell off the Andrew Demetriou machine. All hell has broken loose over the Essendon saga, and the AFL boss is now perched on the brink of disaster. All of that public relations glossing over, all of the deceit and the back room deals are coming home to roost for the once impregnable footy boss.
The great irony is that the undisputed golden boy of the AFL, James Hird, could be the very man to bring the whole thing crashing down. He walked away from his coaching job at Essendon with a big fat weekly pay packet. Yesterday came a claimed resolution. This time the spin is that Essendon will pay Hird what he's owed before the 2014 season starts. Regardless, Demetriou's seemingly perfect outcome was in tatters.
Meanwhile, in rugby league land, a newish chief with a plain name and a banking background opened a file last weekend and started going through it in a painstaking manner, at snail-like pace.
Dave Smith won't be rushed. This is infuriating for the media types like me waiting for an outcome to the Cronulla Sharks doping saga. It is even worse for those at the Sharks, eager to wipe the slate clean and get on with life after eight months of accusations, allegations and innuendo around the coach and player group.
Smith has sat back and watched with great interest the drama that has engulfed the AFL. He might be a novice in sports administration but he knows a crisis when he sees it. This, he says, will not be repeated at the National Rugby LeagueNRL.
Smith set up his own investigation into the Cronulla doping allegations. He told ASADA to go on their way and continue with an independent investigations. He did not interfere, like Demetriou did, in ASADA's work. He never said a single time that his model was the best (as did the AFL chief) and nor did he skite about the smooth handling of things at his end.
Smith did not make deals with the federal government to ensure players were given favourable treatment. He did visit the prime minister, however, when he realised the AFL had attempted to move the goal posts by seeking lighter penalties for their players. He insisted on a letter that spelt out very clearly the AFL would not get off as lightly as they had hoped.
Smith did not take part at any level in the NRL's investigation either. He left that to the integrity unit led by Jim Doyle and the new in house counsel, Nick Weeks.
The result is a report that has left no stone unturned and an ASADA investigation that is now uncovering more failings and findings because of its new powers. By next week, or the week after, those who oversaw the Sharks' alleged doping program will know their fate. It will be a measured, calculated and fair outcome.
The Sharks will not be in a position to complain like the Essendon Bombers did. They will not be allowed to go behind closed doors and broker secret deals. The evidence will be there for all to see and those closest to the doping will receive their just penalties.
Unless I'm a bad judge, that will include severe punishments for those who ran the doping program in 2011. The ASADA findings will deliver a double whammy for those officials.
The wait has been long, tedious and often gut-wrenching. The AFL's outcomes were swifter and much smoother. The result of their haste is now laid bare for the world to see - the Essendon doping saga is as far from resolution as it was in February when the federalgovernment announced we had a problem.
He may not have the communication skills of Demetriou or the fearless approach of David Gallop, but Smith is emerging as his own man. He will infuriate the media by being the tortoise to Demetriou's hare, but he will deliver an outcome that cannot be queried as anything but right and thorough.
The ultimate judgment for both men will come in coming months. Demetriou is long odds to survive his last big battle, while Smith, as unlikely and wide-eyed as he appeared at the beginning, might just be settling in for the long haul.
