Outspoken former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett would have sacked the AFL club’s entire chain of command had he been confronted with the Essendon supplements crisis.
Kennett said while he is prepared to give Jobe Watson the benefit of the doubt over the saga, the Essendon captain should be stripped of his 2012 Brownlow Medal if found guilty of breaking strict anti-doping rules.
He also accused the Bombers hierarchy of breaching the duty of care to their players.
The saga took a startling twist on Monday night when Watson admitted taking the banned substance AOD-9604.
Essendon officials were stunned by Watson’s candid admission, the first time an Essendon player has admitted taking AOD-9604 since the Bombers came under investigation in February.
The anti-obesity drug is a key factor in the anti-doping investigations that focus on last year’s supplements program at the club.
Watson said it was his understanding that AOD-9604 was a legal substance at the time and he remains confident he will be found innocent.
But the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) released a statement in April, saying the drug was banned.
Kennett was scathing of senior Essendon officials.
“The senior people at the club have so breached this trust, this duty of care with players,” he said.
“People have often asked me ‘what would you have done at Hawthorn?’
“I probably would have sacked the CEO, sacked the coach and sacked the head of the football department.
“And then if I’d had any courage, I would have sacked myself.”
Essendon chief executive Ian Robson resigned in May over the crisis.
Kennett said he had doubts over whether the Bombers could be found guilty of anti-doping violations.
“If they do then there’s going to be a very heavy penalty paid,” Kennett said.
“You can argue the penalty is two years. You might say if he didn’t know it comes back to six months.
“Whatever Jobe’s been told, and I give him the benefit of the doubt absolutely, I don’t think they’ve got any idea what they were having administered to them.”
But Kennett said if Watson was sanctioned for breaching anti-doping rules, he should lose the Brownlow.
“You’ve got to abide by the rules and that would not only mean a set penalty meted out to Essendon and some of their senior staff members and their players and Jobe Watson and that (he) will lose the Brownlow,” he said.
The AFL hopes the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) will release its investigation findings by early August.
The only AFL comment on Watson’s revelation was that there is an ongoing investigation.
Once ASADA’s report is released, the AFL will announce the findings of its own investigation into the crisis.
The Bombers went into damage control on Tuesday, with Watson saying he could not comment further.
Essendon released a statement, saying their players acted “reasonably” during last season.
“The club notes that it is yet to be determined whether any of our players in the 2012 season were given prohibited or performance enhancing substances,” the club said.
Also on Tuesday, WADA president John Fahey reiterated that the onus was on players to ensure they only took legal substances.
“Now whether or not there’s any mitigating circumstances depends on individual cases, and that’s a matter for ASADA who are currently investigating it,” he said.