Essendon champion James Hird says he wants to coach his beloved club again.
Hird, who oversaw a dark period in the club’s history when it was engulfed by the supplements scandal that resulted in 34 players receiving doping bans, says, “if I’m the best man for the job, yes, I would love to do that job.”
The coaching vacancy has been sensationally thrown open after Essendon sacked Brad Scott on Tuesday … and now Hird says he wants to bring his club back to its former glory years.
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Hird said the club had lost its way since its last premiership in 2000, while admitting he had been part of the problem when he was in charge. “The mistakes made in 2011 and 2012 were partly my fault… The spirit of Essendon is not there…. I’d like to go through that process,” Hird said on Channel 9.
“I love my football club, and it hasn’t been performing well, and it’s been very concerning where we’re at, and when we talk around what you want to do in your life, where you want to be in your life, the football club means so much to me,” Hird said.
“It’s been through my grandfathers, from my father, from my playing days, to the supporters, it’s been one of the key staples in my life, and such a key rock in my life.
“So, when we think about whether I want to coach, whether I don’t want to coach, people will say last year that, you know, over a year ago, (I said) did I not want to coach. And I honestly, at that time I wasn’t in a position to coach. It wasn’t on my mind, it wasn’t something I wanted to do.
“They had a coach who was doing reasonably well, winning games of football, but hings have changed … and the club has gone to a position where they’ve won one game in 27.
“It hasn’t been performing well and that’s distressing for me, because, as I said, I’ve loved being part of that football club and being part of the journey.”
But veteran AFL journalist Caroline Wilson says there are already rumblings at AFL House about Hird, and it seemed unlikely he would return to the job.
About 12 months ago Wilson revealed that former chairman Paul Little was putting pressure on the board to get Hird back.
At that time Hird said it wasn’t happening and the commentary around it was “water off a duck’s back”.
Now Hird has done a 360, but Wilson says she’s unsure if it will actually happen.
“My understanding is that someone senior at Essendon, and I don’t know who, or someone very influential, has made it clear to the corridors of power at the AFL that that will not be happening,” Wilson said on Channel 7’s The Agenda Setters on Tuesday night.
“James Hird will not be coaching the Essendon Football Club.
“My understanding is, and these have been casual conversations, but too many people at head office are saying to me today, it is not going to happen.
“Now, they’re not going to stand in James Hird’s way … because of the darkest period in the club’s history … (but) I think people have made it clear to the AFL that it won’t be happening.”
