Geelong champion Cameron Mooney couldn’t bring himself to watch Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson’s emotional tell-all interview on Monday night.
Thompson opened up to Channel 9’s A Current Affair about his life hitting “rock bottom” after the Essendon supplements saga in 2013 and the toll the scandal took on his mental health.
The dual Geelong premiership coach and triple Essendon premiership player was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and admitted to using drugs after leaving the Bombers at the end of 2014.
He was found not guilty of drug trafficking in 2019 after police seized 481 ecstasy pills and ice during a raid of his Melbourne home in January 2018.
“I didn’t watch it. I purposely didn’t really want to look at it,” Mooney told SEN’s Dwayne’s World.
“I made sure I didn’t watch it because even just watching the ad and seeing him a little bit teary actually brought a tear to my eye.
“The love and respect that we have as players for 'Bomber' will never change.
“We just hope that he’s doing alright so we can get him back to a reunion at some stage.”
Mooney described former coach Thompson as a “father figure” during their days together at Geelong.
“It’s been a long time since a group of us have sat down with him and had a beer. That breaks our heart,” he said.
“To see what’s happened in the last couple of years has been extremely hurtful for us because this is a guy who was a father figure to us.
“We all came into the footy club as young boys and we left as premiership men all under the tutelage of the great man Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson, who was the greatest coach that I ever had.
“For us, we just want to see him get well, get his life back on track and we’ll have premiership reunions again.
"We want to make sure he’s there having a beer and celebrating with us.”