Essendon great Tim Watson has opened up about former teammate Mark 'Bomber' Thompson.
Thompson will face court after being arrested and charged for seven counts of drug trafficking and possession.
Watson spoke on SEN this morning about his sadness towards the state of his former skipper.
โIโm in a state of disbelief,โ Watson told SEN Breakfast.
โI canโt comprehend that the person that I played alongside with, and the type of bloke that I knew him to be as a teammate and great leader, could find himself in a situation that he has found himself in.
โTo piece together in my mind, itโs almost impossible to think thatโs the same bloke.
โThatโs not discounting what he has been charged for, if thatโs the case and he is found guilty, thatโs reprehensible behaviour and I donโt condone that in any way.
โThe point is, Iโm still having great difficulty in being able to marry up that person with that type of behaviour and that charge.โ
Watson has recently tried to make contact with Thompson to no avail, something which has become common.
โThe last time I spoke to him would have been about mid last year,โ he said.
โMike Sheahan came out and interviewed both he, Terry and I about Kevin Sheedy. That was the last time I saw him.
โI havenโt spoken to him much in the last few years and I then left him a message probably a month ago, because a lot of us have been concerned about him and I thought itโs time to reach out, and I didnโt ever hear back. That is consistent with other people."
Essendon's 1993 premiership reunion is scheduled in a few weeks, and it is not known if Thompson will be at the event due to a lack of correspondence.
Watson says Thompson has denied he has any sort of drug problem, but there were reported warning signs towards the later stages of his coaching career and even during his time at Geelong.
โI know that in the time he was at Essendon as one of the assistant coaches when he first arrived, they were concerned about his behaviour,โ he said.
โI know Geelong were concerned about his behaviour when he was there. I know Frank Costa has talked about that.
โPeople say all these problems started when he went to Essendon, thatโs not true. The Geelong people will tell you they were concerned about components of his behaviour.
โThey never really went into detail, it was just his lifestyle choices that he was making around that time.
โWhen he arrived at Essendon during that period of time, they quizzed him, they asked him direct questions about things that were going on and he denied everything at that time.โ
Watson acknowledges that the lingering affects of Essendon's recent supplement saga has taken its toll on Thompson.
โThat would be true from people that I know who still have spoken to him in more recent times than I did,โ he said.
โHe was never able to put that behind him.
โAs is the case with a lot of people, there are still a lot of people who just are angry and bitter and twisted about what took place because they donโt believe what was effectively the penalty for people was justified. He is one of those people.
โThe way it was painted and the way it played out, it was something that he was demented about.
โHe would stay up all night reading and trying to find bits and pieces that would prove what they were saying throughout the course of that period of time. I think it has had an effect.
โHe had possible behavioural problems and was making wrong choices before he came to Essendon, but I think that may have been a tipping point for him.โ
