ST KILDA champion Danny Frawley has revealed he relinquished his selection panel duties when he discovered Mark Thompson was the favourite to be appointed interim Essendon coach for the 2014 season.

Thompson, who this week was charged with drug trafficking and possession, replaced James Hird as the Bombers’ head coach for one season after Hird was banned by the AFL for 12 months for his involvement in the Essendon doping saga.

Frawley, who also coached Richmond during the early 2000s, was part of the independent selection panel formed by Essendon to find a temporary replacement for Hird.

But Frawley said he felt obligated to walk away from his panel duties upon hearing of Thompson’s impending appointment because he’d heard rumours of Thompson’s life away from footy.

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Due to that, Frawley said he felt Thompson wasn’t an appropriate fit for the role at the time.

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“I walked off half way through because I was there to do the right thing by the club and I did my own scouting on the coaching scenario, the health and wellbeing of guys and maybe not making great life choices,” Frawley told AFL Nation.

“I heard about huge nights at Crown night after night and I had to walk away when I heard Bomber was going to get the job.”

Frawley added that he hadn’t seen evidence of Thompson’s struggles away from the football scene, but had “heard a lot” of whispers.

“I said I’m walking away because of what I’ve heard and because I’m led to believe it’s a boat race putting guys like Mark Harvey and Mark Williams through the process when you’ve already picked the guy,” Frawley said.

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“(Essendon club director) Ray Gunston is a very smart operator and he resigned two days after he was appointed.”

Frawley said he could remember Thompson arriving up to an hour late for media commitments, but “nobody said anything because it was Bomber Thompson”.

The former Saints defender added that Hird “wasn’t the right man to coach the Bombers in the first place” because he was too inexperienced at AFL level.