Explosive new details have to come to light over the handling of the Essendon drug saga and the club’s interaction with the AFL.

The Herald Sun has released a secret tape recording of a meeting between James Hird, Paul Little, Mark Thompson and Danny Corcoran in 2013.

The meeting took place at Windy Hill on August 8, just hours after lawyers told Essendon charges would be laid over the 2012 drug program.

Then-chairman Little is heard asking his senior group to keep trusting the board, while he also expressed his anger at the AFL of going back on its word.

Hird is then heard saying ‘they’re a pack of ****ing lying pr*cks’ during the recording.

3AW Football’s Mick Warner wrote the story and said all four people heard on the tape had given approval for it to be made public.

‘It (the recording) clearly contradicts a lot of the things we were being told at the time,’ he explained.

The meeting took place just days before the AFL charged Essendon and several officials with bringing the game into disrepute.

The club later agreed to penalties including a $2 million fine, losing draft picks and banishment from the 2013 finals series.

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