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See Fox Footy’s Talking Points after Round 12.Source: FOX SPORTS<\/p>\n
COACHES\u2019 HIRD HESITANCY A \u2018DEADSET JOKE\u2019\u2026 BUT \u2018SUPERPOWER\u2019 COULD BE TOO GOOD TO IGNORE<\/p>\n
The James Hird groundswell is out of control. Already.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s why Essendon, sooner rather than later, must blatantly and specifically declare its plan and intentions for the process to find its next senior coach.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been less than a week since Brad Scott was sacked as Essendon\u2019s coach and it seems he\u2019s been long forgotten in the Bombers coaching narrative.<\/p>\n
The spectre of Hird over the Bombers has lingered for years \u2013 even in the weeks and months before Scott\u2019s 2022 appointment \u2013 but now it seems more significant than ever.<\/p>\n
One of Essendon\u2019s greatest ever players, Hird coached Essendon for nearly four full seasons before his sacking late in 2015 when his Bombers were 5-14. He didn\u2019t coach the club in 2014 as he served a 12-month AFL-imposed ban for his role in the controversial Essendon supplements program.<\/p>\n
Hird is now 11 years removed from his Essendon resignation, having since briefly served at the Giants in 2022, and taken up a director of coaching role at Port Melbourne. <\/p>\n
He wants back in.<\/p>\n
James Hird, Director of Coaching at Port Melbourne. Picture: Morgan Hancock\/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
The Bombers legend, as he publicly declared last week, still has a clear passion for his beloved club. He said Essendon \u201cneeds people around the place that know how to rebuild that spirit\u201d.<\/p>\n
Hird wants to coach the Bombers again and he\u2019s willing to enter that process hinted at last week by club president Andrew Welsh, who said: \u201cWe\u2019re not ruling anyone in or anyone out of this.\u201d<\/p>\n
This really has all the makings of a rolling soap opera the AFL world won\u2019t be able to take its eyes off.<\/p>\n
Other prospective coaching candidates, clearly, feel that way.<\/p>\n
Four possible Essendon coaching candidates \u2013 two experienced campaigns in Ken Hinkley and Adam Simpson plus two assistants looking for full-time roles in Troy Chaplin (Melbourne) and Brett Montgomery (Giants) \u2013 in the past week all publicly expressed varying degrees of scepticism about entering a Bombers process.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine anyone entering the race for the Essendon coaching job, with James now looking like he\u2019s one out, one back in the pole position with all the things that have gone on in the past. It looks like this is somewhat James Hird\u2019s job,\u201d Hinkley told SEN on Wednesday<\/p>\n
Giants assistant Montgomery told ABC Sport: \u201cAn opportunity is an opportunity but if it doesn\u2019t feel real or authentic, it makes it hard to enter.\u201d<\/p>\n
The attitude of the coaching fraternity left Collingwood legend and ex-Pies coach Tony Shaw ropeable, to say the least.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat a deadset joke,\u201d Shaw told 3AW Football on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you want to coach and you want the job, you go in there and you argue everything that you\u2019ve got to make sure you get the job.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t get caught up in the \u2018favourite son\u2019 stuff. You make him look embarrassed by the way that you present to the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cMan up you other blokes, get your presentation ready, go in there and sell yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n
For what it\u2019s worth, ex-Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley \u2013 who\u2019s now an assistant at Geelong \u2013 said he wouldn\u2019t be scared off by Hird.<\/p>\n
Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd, who spent eight seasons on the same Bombers list as Welsh and played in the 2000 flag with Hird, on Sunday insisted the club\u2019s president \u201cwill not just pick James Hird, he will pick the best coach for the footy club\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is not Hirdy\u2019s job at all. He has to fight for it and he has to get an interview first,\u201d Lloyd told The Sunday Footy Show.<\/p>\n
Solomon won’t consider Bombers gig | 05:27<\/p>\n
Herald Sun chief football writer Jay Clark told Fox Footy on Saturday night Welsh, at this stage, was not \u201cready to give the keys to the Essendon Football Club back to James Hird\u201d. He added there were \u201cstill sections of the board that feel very nervous about Hirdy coming back and coaching \u2013 particularly because he hasn\u2019t had a senior AFL coaching role over the past five years\u201d.<\/p>\n
Veteran football reporter Caroline Wilson even suggested on 3AW Football on Saturday that Hird simply wouldn\u2019t get the job as the Bombers saw it as \u201ctoo risky given his lack of experience\u201d.<\/p>\n
Yet it feels Hird\u2019s candidacy is impossible for Essendon to ignore.<\/p>\n
No matter what key Bombers figures truly think, Fox Footy commentator Gerard Whateley says the Bombers \u201chave to answer the Hird question first\u201d before even thinking about going to the wider coaching market.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou won\u2019t get the collective and depth of coach you want to run through a process unless the Hird question is answered,\u201d Whateley told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf they answer in the affirmative, they need to make it a triumph. An absolute triumph. \u2018This is happening, we\u2019re all in on it\u2019 \u2013 and do it relatively swiftly \u2026 Or they need to sit with him and go \u2018it\u2019s not going to be you and we need you to withdraw\u2019 \u2013 so that the club is able to move on and actually attract people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t envy anybody in this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt said Hird\u2019s public stance was \u201ca massive spanner in the works\u201d for the Bombers process, telling Fox Footy: \u201cThe Essendon Football Club are, I\u2019m going to use the word, \u2018incestual\u2019 \u2013 because it\u2019s so much about Essendon people and how you\u2019ve got to become an Essendon person.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brad Scott addresses the players with James Hird watching on in 2025. Picture: James Wiltshire\/AFL PhotosSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n
It\u2019s why Riewoldt also believes \u201cthe only person who maybe can save them (the Bombers) is James Hird\u201d.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s why dual premiership Kangaroo David King says bringing Hird back would be the right move.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a James Hird fan, so I\u2019m probably coming from a different slant on this. The Essendon Football Club are a unique organisation \u2013 and I can see this happening,\u201d King told Fox Footy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, they are going to have to appoint someone to unite this football club and start the climb back up the table, because they haven\u2019t been a happy camp for too long.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut a great footy manager above him (Hird), put good support beneath in terms of guys that have been in the system for the last four to five years that are strategically minded \u2013 and I don\u2019t think you\u2019d have a problem. But I\u2019m in the minority I think.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clark believes the Bombers should at least \u201chear him (Hird) out\u201d, for he has a \u201csuperpower\u201d arguably no Bombers coaching candidate would bring to the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got unfinished business as a coach and he has a superpower: He connects, he\u2019s got great charisma and young people follow him,\u201d Clark said. \u201cIf James Hird is the coach of the Essendon Football Club, I reckon Zach Merrett stays \u2013 that\u2019s the power of this man<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he was appointed (as Bombers coach) in 2010, the membership went up 23 per cent \u2013 an extraordinary number. He has an unbelievable power and he would unite this football club I think. But it\u2019s whether they\u2019re prepared to take the risk and whether he is the best football coaching candidate for Essendon.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s as fascinating a story I\u2019ve seen in the past 20 years.\u201d<\/p>\n
CRIPPS THE HERO! Late goal seals victory | 00:45<\/p>\n
THE WILDCARD REALITY GIVING BLUES SNIFF OF SEPTEMBER<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve only just reached June, but Carlton\u2019s three-game winning streak under interim coach Josh Fraser means we\u2019re already feeling the impact of a re-shaped September.<\/p>\n
The idea behind the wildcard round was obvious – with 10 teams to qualify for the post-season, and 7th vs 10th and 8th vs 9th in the pre-finals bye week to decide who makes the traditional top eight bracket.<\/p>\n
The AFL wants more interest from more fans at the pointy end of the season, after a 2025 campaign where half the league was effectively eliminated with two months left.<\/p>\n
Well, we\u2019re about to talk about Carlton having a shot at playing finals. Which means it\u2019s working.<\/p>\n
The Blues, mired in misery at 1-8 just three weeks ago, look completely different and have recorded three genuinely impressive wins – over the Bulldogs (a finals contender), the Power (better than their record, and it was on the road) and now Geelong (a proper flag contender).<\/p>\n
Last year, if the Blues were trying to make the top eight, they would\u2019ve needed to go on a massive winning run. You often needed 13 wins to make the eight, and last year even 14 wasn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n
Carlton’s crazy run continues vs. Cats | 03:48<\/p>\n
But the bar for finals qualification has been lowered. History tells us the average 10th-placed team in the 18-club era won 11.46 games, and the average 11th-placed team won 10.95 games (figures adjusted for the 23-game season).<\/p>\n