Bomber: The Whole Story

by Mark Thompson, Martin Blake

Mark Thompson has had more than his fair share of challenges and dramas in his career. He's been part of five premierships: three as a player at Essendon, where he was coached by the best, and two at Geelong, where he coached that club's greatest team of all. He exited the game amid the Essendon supplements scandal with unfinished business. After 34 years 'at a thousand kilometres an hour', Thompson has taken the opportunity to reflect on the game that shaped him and to reveal the personal cost of his involvement at the top level. We ride the bumps of the coaches' box, the boardroom and the press conferences as Mark Thompson handles things his own way. He talks about his mentors, his proteges and contemporaries with insight and candour. And he reveals the development of what became his trademark as a successful coach: building a team from the ground up to play defence-first accountable footy, with kamikaze ball movement, under a teacher-mentor relationship. This is as good a book about football as you'll get, from a purist who is not interested in the politics of the AFL. His legacy is some of the greatest footy to be played in the modern era. 'I hate group-think, it's just not my style. I have never been part of any boy's club in footy. I have been an independent going right back to my youth ...I make no apologies for saying what I think. It is my story, after all.'

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

352 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2016

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Philip Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of interest, most likely, only to AFL football fans and those wanting to understand what-the-f*** happened at Essendon. As for the football, Mark's book is good on how the game is played and, as expected, as it is coached. Or ought to be. On the Essendon saga, Mark's view is mostly "What Happened?" bemusement. He, like the 34 players, are portrayed as victims of an incompetent and lax club administration, and an aggressive and punitive AFL. Bottom line: a lack of natural justice resulted in the wrong guys being punished. According to Bomber.

[Matt Farrelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Always been a fan of Bomber Thompson in both the way he played his football at Essendon and later with his coaching methods that went on to produce one of the most dominant teams in AFL/VFL history. This book chronicles his journey from young player. to premiership winning coach, to the dark days when Essendon was embroiled in the supplements scandal and his role in that.

[Douglas Fyfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. An easy read and always gaining new insights into a period of time I'm very familiar with from an outsider's perspective; great to hear what it was like on the inside.

One thought I had on reflection, hearing how he understands culture in an organisation and has ideas on how to change it, is how good it would be for him to go into AFL house and work on the culture there in the same way as he did as Geelong and would've, had he been given the chance to, at Essendon. It sounds like he never would, but that is also the reason that he should - if that makes sense!

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in Essendon, Geelong, AFL and/or organisational culture.

[Chris Klitzing · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a life time Essendon FC supporter I picked up this book with a good deal of pleasure and the actual read was fantastic
Definitely a champion player and an unbelievably great coach and a great Essendon bloke!!
I was particularly interested in his version of that horrible period for EFC 2012 - 2016 which strengthens my resolve that there was a miscarriage of justice
I feel for those players suspended with Circumstantial Evidence!!
But this is from the past and I think Bomber give a truthful and honest view of what happened and more particularly what did not happen
Great read
😊🫤

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

So insightful to hear about one of the AFL’s great coaches.
Was also fantastic find out the inside story about the Essendon saga. So sad that it (wrongly) cost him so much. Miss watching Bomber on AFL 360.

[Mark Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting biography covering Mark Thompson's career as a player and coach. Cover's 5 Premierships and the Essendon "Drugs" scandal. If true it seems they are hard done by. Quite a bit on tactics and in depth analysis.

[Andrew Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark is a great man, in the wrong place at the wrong time and in the right place at the riht time.

[Julie Garner · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fascinating read and insight in to the world of Aussie Rules from the perspective of player, coach and fan. I enjoyed reading what Bomber had to say in all aspects of his AFL career.
As a Geelong fan I found it especially interesting to read what he had to say about his time at Geelong, as well as his thoughts on their recent adventures.
His writing about the Essendon Football Club as a player just brought back memories of the 80s and watching the football from that time. His hardhitting thoughts on the recent Drug saga that is honest and hardhitting. It is interesting to note that it was as confusing for Bomber as it is for the rest of us.
I like his honest thoughts and getting that little bit of insight into incidents that we, as fans, know the media side of the story, but hearing from the inner sanctum makes you go...hmmm....that makes more sense.
I also like that Bomber was not afraid to give his assessment of the AFL, the new teams and what is happening with the AFL in 2016. We need more books and insights like this so that we, as fans, can understand more some of the decisions that are made that don't seem right to us.

[Damien Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a start, it's not the whole story.
I have enjoyed watching Bomber on AFL360 on Australian TV, and his thoughts are usually insightful. He gets a bit prickly around certain subjects, and those are exactly the ones I expected more of in this 'Whole Story'.
We needed more about the Gary Ablett saga at Geelong in 2010, why Essendon missed a pre-season game in 2012, and much more about the governance and drugs disaster that Essendon was, while he was there as Assistant Coach - a position of power!
With regard to that, Bomber does more finger-pointing than current Essendon captain Brendon Goddard, and that hasn't worked out too well, either.
Anyway, an interesting enough read (thanks Martin Blake), and while I have the greatest respect for him as a player and coach, I'm not convinced he has been completely open here.
Curious aside: so many of the people involved on the 'inside' at Essendon keep saying things like "Wait till it all comes out" and "Don't judge me until the whole story is told". Well, they've had plenty of time and opportunities and it still looks as messy and dodgy and illegal as it did at the start!

[CF · Rating 4 out of 5]

Explosive.

Chronicling his life from a footy-loving kid in Airport West, right through to the controversial Essendon supplements saga and the end of the 2016 season, Bomber covers his entire life in footy in detail.

Including long extracts on what he thinks of free agency, his role in the supplements saga, his favourite players to play with and to coach, and heaps more. Bomber doesn't censor anything and his views are so honestly presented.

The part on the supplements saga is especially interesting, how it seems the AFL did not listen to Essendon or conduct any independent investigations but rather had them all doomed from the start.

Great read for footy fans!

[Kerri Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this was a great read. The only reason I gave it 4 stars was because I didn't read the section on his Geelong years so it felt unfair giving it a 5! What I read I found honest and insightful. The debacle at Essendon was well documented and clearly goes to show the mess the AFL found themselves in and many people who did not do the right thing (including Essendon!)

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was excellent book. While I am not a huge AFL fan this did not impact upon my enjoyment at all. What shone through to me was Thompson's leadership, honesty and self belief. Working in that environment would be very difficult and yet he is/was able to navigate through it without compromising his principles. A great read.

[Jake Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it. Very honest and inspiring. What a coach!!

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable book to read with a good insight to his thoughts as both a player and a coach and through what happened at Essendon.

[Vicki Robe · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was insightful and interesting but didn't really surprise as I am sure that there would be restrictions on what can be mentioned in regards to the doping saga at Essendon.