Essendon address player payment blunder

Essendon has apologised to its players after the club tried to dock their November wages by nine per cent.

The players were told by email.

The Bombers have since backed down.

The club said on Tuesday it had adjusted payments to ensure the full amount for November would be paid.

Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell said the club “fully understood the players’ disappointment” about the matter and said sorry.

“I have apologised to the players for how this matter was handled,” Campbell said.

“We should have done it better, we needed to do it better, and we will do it better moving forward.

“In recent days, I have had productive discussions with members of the leadership group and playing group, including captain Dyson Heppell, and the players are aware the club was not acting with any ill-intent.

“I’d like to thank the players for their understanding. We look forward to working through this with them over the coming weeks to finalise the process.”