ESSENDON coach James Hird has denied explosive claims that his house was raided by Australian Federal Police during an investigation that led to the conviction of drug trafficker Shane Charter.
Speaking outside his Toorak home on Thursday morning, Hird said the AFP had "never raided my house, not in relation to anything".
Click here for the Dean Robinson interview
A Fairfax Media report on Thursday backed Hird's version of events, saying police sources confirmed his home had never been raided and that he had never been subject to a drug squad investigation.
Essendon football manager Danny Corcoran has also responded to claims made by former Essendon fitness coach Dean Robinson in a paid interview on Channel Seven on Wednesday night. .
"Very unhappy ... [but] I think the club's response is what we want [today]," Corcoran said
Robinson claimed Corcoran had threatened to "destroy" him.
Corcoran wouldn't indicate whether he intended to take his own legal action.
Hird drove everything: Robinson
Robinson said in the interview that when sports scientist Stephen Dank joined Essendon on September 28, 2011, the pair went to Hird's home that night and were told of the alleged raid several years earlier.
"He told us that at 5am ... his house got raided," Robinson said.
"They went through cereal boxes, cupboards, everywhere, looking for things."
Hird also denied Robinson's claim that he had spoken to a New York doctor about a testosterone cream that was undetectable.
"I've never spoken to a New York doctor," Hird said.
Robinson was stood down when the crisis broke on February 5 and resigned from Essendon last week. He intends to sue the club.
ASADA are close to finishing their investigation into the club.
Robinson claimed in the interview that Hird drove Essendon's controversial supplements program and has been untouchable at the AFL club.
Robinson said Essendon midfielder David Zaharakis was the only player who did not become involved in last year's controversial supplements program.
Robinson said senior figures at the club, including former chief executive Ian Robson, knew exactly what was going on with the supplements program.
Hird said he had watched some of the interview, but had "definitely not" asked Robinson to investigate an untraceable testosterone cream, as claimed by the sacked fitness coach.
When asked if Robinson could be trusted, Hird said: "Who knows?"
Robinson also accused Hird of having "30-odd" injections of the drug Hexarelin, which is banned for players but not coaches.
Western Bulldogs coach Brendan McCartney said on Thursday morning Hird and Robinson were both men of integrity and honesty.
McCartney knows both men well, having worked with Robinson during his long stint as an assistant coach at Geelong and with both Robinson and Hird at Essendon in 2011.
"They're both great footy men and good people and I, like everyone, am looking forward to seeing [the ASADA-AFL investigation] get sorted out and finished," McCartney said at Whitten Oval.
McCartney said it had been hard to watch the personal toll the Essendon supplements saga had taken on his two former colleagues.
"But for all that, they're both really strong people and they'll come out of it," he said.
