Former Essendon coach Mark Thompson says he regrets returning to the Bombers following a highly-successful stint with Geelong.
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During an interview on Fox Footy’s Open Mike, Thompson suggested that going back to Essendon was a mistake and that the supplements saga took a massive toll on him personally.
“Yeah … it hasn’t been much fun. It has been hard work. I wish I had’ve got out of footy (after Geelong),” Thompson is quoted as saying by Fox Sports.
Thompson said the wash-up from Essendon’s supplements saga has caused a lot of unnecessary “carnage” and that personal agendas had caused a bulk of the issues.
“There has been a lot of carnage from this whole episode of the supplements program — a lot of it probably unnecessary, but it has happened,” Thompson said.
“(It’s) everybody’s fault. If it ever happened again, and it probably won’t, the best thing would be to get (everyone) in the room to talk rather than have your own agendas. I think everyone had their own agendas.”
Thompson took over the reigns at the Bombers after James Hird was handed a 12-month ban by the AFL for his role in the saga and lead the club to a finals appearance in 2014.
The former Geelong coach was forced to make way for Hird’s return in 2015 and decided to walk away from the club despite being offered other roles.
Essendon have made a strong start to 2015, beating reigning premiers Hawthorn and the struggling Carlton in its last two matches.
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