Every club’s biggest ‘what if’ moment of the AFL era – Part Two

What if Stephen Dank was never contacted?

We could have gone in a myriad of different directions with this one. We could have asked ‘what Damien Hardwick's laptop didn't cark it ahead of his pitch to the Bomber board?' We could have also looked at ‘what if Darren ‘Doc' Wheildon wasn't struck down in King Street in 1995?'

However, we have decided to go straight for the jugular.

I'll understand if I am without a head after this one, due to it being a wound that won't close for those that don the sash. However, we're here now, so I may as well press on.

As this dive into the near past involves entering a reality in which any mention of the shady biochemists' name would confuse, rather than enrage, Dons fanatics, this jaunt will involve absolutely no use of the infamous WADA and ASADA acronyms.

In the week between Collingwood and St Kilda's drawn grand final and the ensuing replay in 2010, Essendon took a punt on a man that had long been worshiped in and around Windy Hill to fill their vacant head coaching position.

James Hird – who in September of that year was only five years out of the game – shook hands with the club's hierarchy and agreed to a four-year deal with the club that his family's name will forever be synonymous with.

The 1996 Brownlow medalist's first season at the helm could not have been more even, with the coach leading his side to an 11-win, 11-loss and one draw year. Despite proving to be the league's equivalent of a flipped coin in 2011, Hird's side did manage to return to the finals after missing out the previous season. However, they were bested by the Blues in an elimination final by a resounding 62-points.

With this first calendar year behind him, and the Dons slowly trending towards their 17^th ‘preem-ya-ship' flag, Hird and the wider Essendon community could be forgiven for enjoying a slightly more rose-tinted summer than usual.

Still, by the time that the playing group had returned to the track following their Christmas breaks, the narrative had begun to darken.

In January of 2012, the late, and beloved, Essendon team doctor Bruce Reid penned a letter to Hird and the board about his concerns surrounding the supplements that the vast majority of the squad had been injected with the year prior.

Reid reportedly wrote in this document that he was both skeptical about the benefits of the immunisation regimen and that the club's course of action had the potential to end in tears.

Although ultimately prophetic, how had Reid come to this point? When did the Dons decide to start treating their stars like pin cushions?

When Hird walked back through the doors on Napier Street prior to the 2011 season, he was followed by his captain from the 1993 premiership team, Mark ‘Bomber' Thompson.

SEE ALSO: What if Mark Bickley never farted during half-time of the 1993 Preliminary Final?

Thompson - the architect of Geelong's 2007 and 2009 titles - had returned home on a lucrative deal that would see him look over Hird's shoulder during the club's rise back up the ladder.

From a footballing standpoint, ‘Bomber' was an astute hire. However, in hindsight, his appointment could be seen as the point that the Windy Hill side lost its way.

According to primary and secondary reports, it was Thompson who unknowingly set the chain of events in motion that led to the Dons' downfall when he expressed his desire to bring Geelong's former fitness coach, Dean Robinson, into the fold.

It must be mentioned that I am not blaming the two-time premiership coach for what transpired afterwards, but as Robinson's employment led to contact being made with ‘doctor' Dank, whether he likes it or not, he has become a key player in this tragic narrative.

So why not title this portion ‘what if Essendon never hired Mark Thompson?' I hear some of you ask. Well, as mentioned previously, Thompson's role in a purely coaching perspective is crucial to this alternative reality of ours.

Let's say that following the dual hires of Hird and Thompson, the pair still had qualms about their side's spate of soft tissue injuries, as well as their perceived inability to run out games, but instead of looking for a quick fix, an alternative route was taken.

Sure, this may mean that ‘The Weapon' was still brought on board, but for the point of this exercise, let's believe that instead of dialing Dank, the pair put a pin in Robinson's spitball.

If this replacement route was walked instead of the moves in reality, where would the Bombers be now? Would Hird be in the 11^th season of his tenure at Tullamarine? Would the club's contemporarily dismal record in finals still remain?

Prior to the club self-reporting to the AFL about the goings-on inside their four walls in February of 2013, the partnership of Hird and Thompson had combined for 22 wins, and prior to the roof falling in on August 2, 2013, a further 13 were added from another 17 starts.

The Bombers were truly flying, as evidenced by their occupation of the ladder's fourth rung before the league hit them with simultaneous jabs, upper cuts and a knock out hook.

Now, we all know about the messy fallout and the ambiguity surrounding any supposed evidence, but I'll have to quickly run though the checklist of punishments again.

The Bombers were fined $2 million over three seasons, their invitation to participate in the 2013 finals series was revoked, Hird and Danny Corcoran were suspended for 12 months and 34 players were suspended for two seasons for participating in the program - a portion of which was backdated

The club was also prohibited from using their first and second round picks in both the 2013 and 2014 national drafts.

Had the Bombers maintained their form before these sanctions, a final position of anywhere between fourth and eighth in 2013 seems more than a distinct possibility. For the purposes of this project, I have granted them a conservative sixth place finish for this particular season.

With this in mind, the Dons could have realistically had access to players such as Dom Sheed, Patrick Cripps, Matt Crouch, Jarman Impey, Aliir Aliir, Ben Brown, Toby Nankervis, James Sicily and Darcy Byrne-Jones. However, Essendon did manage to snare Zach Merrett and Orazio Fantasia following their delayed entry to the pool.

Had the Bombers again repeated their home and away season finish of sixth in 2014, then names like Isaac Heeney, Jack Steele, Jake Lever, Lachie Weller, Touk Miller, Brayden Maynard, Caleb Daniel, Harris Andrews, Dougal Howard and Ed Langdon could all have feasibly landed at Bomberland.

Despite this, Essendon's list manager, Adrian Dodoro, was able to move pieces around and select Kyle Langford and Jayden Laverde instead.

In addition to this, if the club had not been sanctioned for their illegal immunisation practices, names like Paddy Ryder, Stuart Crameri and even Angus Monfries could also have finished their careers inside a red sash.

SEE ALSO: The incredible numbers behind Essendon's turnaround

In a move that incensed those that back the Bombers, the sorry saga also saw Jobe Watson lose his Brownlow medallion. But had the club not fallen to the foot of the table following a season in which top-up players were required just to stay on the park, then current fan favourites such as Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti and Andrew McGrath would have almost certainly never become Bombers.

The ensuing decline of Hird's mental health would have also been spared, but in respect to a fellow human being's privacy, I'll leave this train stationary.

With Hird's coaching record standing at 41 wins, 43 losses and a draw before he was marched out the door, the numbers point to the fact that the club legend could coach. Had the Canberran been afforded the opportunity to stay in his post, and had access to some of the aforementioned draftees, then there is no telling how long the Bomber's golden-haired boy could have remained in the role.

Even though the nuts and bolts of this game altering series of moments are plain to see, how one wishes to alternatively assemble them is up to the individual.

Some Essendon fans believe that their side was cheated out of a 17^th flag, and this may well be true. Whilst others, often those that pray at a different alter, believe that other sides of yesteryear would have continued to reign supreme in Septembers past.

Like the episode on the whole, we will probably never get to the bottom of exactly what happened and, in turn, what could have happened, but one thing is for sure, had Stephen Dank's digits never been dialed by anyone in a plane adorned polo, then the club's current drought of September success would have been broken by now.