‘What people don’t realise’: Candid Hird opens up after missing out on the Essendon coaching role

When James Hird said his goodbyes after finishing his challenging interview before the panel charged with finding Essendon’s new coach, he was buoyant. On two fronts.

According to a senior industry figure with knowledge of the Bombers’ interviewing process, the former premiership captain and club great felt as if he had done all he could to reclaim a role he cherished, and one he had held proudly more than a decade ago before trouble struck.

But, just as importantly, he was also satisfied the Bombers had run a thorough process, where he was given the freedom to push his case, but – on the flipside – was spared no leniency.

That’s why, amid the disappointment of being overlooked in favour of great mate Mark McVeigh, Hird cannot complain.

“From a personal point of view though, it’s very disappointing,” Hird said on Nine’s Footy Furnace after it was confirmed that he, like Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and Adelaide coaching director Murray Davis, had missed out on the job.

“Yeah, I’m disappointed, put my heart and soul into the effort, but, obviously, fell short and that’s the way it goes.”

On Tuesday night’s episode of Footy Classified (also on Nine), Hird spoke about the Essendon coach selection process and detailed part of an “off-the-record” conversation with club president, and former teammate, Andrew Welsh, who according to Hird told him the process would be genuine, and the Brownlow and Norm Smith medallist “wasn’t at the front of the queue” heading into it.

After McVeigh said at his introductory press conference that he loved Hird, and that the two are close friends, Hird expanded further.

“We’ve been friends for 27 years, since he walked in the doors in 1999 to the Essendon Football Club,” he said.

“[I’m] incredibly proud of Mark – a wonderful person, great mate, and I couldn’t be prouder.

“What people don’t realise is that the last four weeks we’ve been going through this interview process together. We’ve spoken every day over the last four or five weeks about the process, ‘What questions did you get?’, ‘What questions did I get?’

“He’s going to do an incredible job, and I just hope all Essendon people get behind him.”

Before facing the selection committee of chief executive Tim Roberts, Welsh, vice president Anthony Di Pietro, board member and former Swans player Ted Richards and people and culture executive Caroline Monzon, Hird had felt the one issue that may torpedo his bid to return was the hangover from the supplements’ saga all those years ago, the senior industry figure said.

However, Hird felt he had moved on as best he could. McVeigh was one of the 34 players suspended for the 2016 season. Over the years since, Hird has met with many of the 34 who had sought answers, and Hird provided them with as much clarity as he could.

There were a couple who still harboured frustration, but Hird, according to the same senior source, had left those deep conversations believing the two parties were now on better terms.

This process was relayed to Welsh when he asked Hird about his relationships with those former players, according to the source.

Hird, himself, backed this up on Tuesday night, adding, “some bridges have been mended through the process – some people through the ASADA saga that we sort of headbutted and fought [against], I’ve come back together with them … there’s been a lot of positives gone on through this process, but as I said it’s time to get behind Mark and the football club and go forward.”

Welsh declined to discuss specifics of the interview when asked about this on Tuesday.

“I’m not going to go into specifics of candidates. What I will go into is that Murray [Davis], James and Jaymie [Graham] were all fantastic, and all had different views on different things from a game-style perspective, and also from a club perspective, but I won’t be commenting on any questions that we did or didn’t ask any of those candidates,” Welsh said.

Hird was pushed and challenged through the Bombers’ detailed process, as were all the candidates.

Late in his pivotal interview, Hird, according to two sources with knowledge of the meeting, asked the panel: “What concerns have you got about me being the coach?”

Roberts said he had wondered whether Hird was “bigger than the club”. But Roberts and the rest of the panel agreed in the end that their concerns on that front had been extinguished.

Ted Richards, the club’s football director, and a former teammate who went on to be a Sydney Swans’ premiership player, told Hird that successful coaches typically come from a top-four or top-six team and had experience at multiple clubs. Hird did not.

Hird politely reminded the questioner that he had been captain of the best team of his era, the dominant 2000 premiership side, and, in his first stint as coach, the Bombers had played off for top spot on the ladder in round 14, 2013.

As this masthead has reported, Hird has also made it clear he has been involved in high-performance environments in the years since, including the business world, and you don’t need to follow the “typical linear” model to succeed.

Hird had briefly been an assistant coach at GWS when McVeigh was caretaker coach, and is now director of coaching at VFL club, Port Melbourne.

He had seen how the game – and coaching – had changed, the attention span of younger players becoming shorter and shorter in this modern, social media-driven age. Rather than long sermons, Hird had seen the importance of soundbites, and the use of artificial intelligence.

Hird was asked how he would handle major media issues. The panel acknowledged that what Hird said, because of his huge standing in the game, let alone the club, carried tremendous weight, so if he broke ranks, the club could be destabilised.

Hird responded that he would always consult the president and chief executive, and would fall into line behind what the club wanted, regardless of his own view.

Soccer great Kevin Muscat was used by the Bombers to scrutinise the applicants’ game plan and strategy, although this was an open-ended question because applicants needed more details on the opponent they may have been playing and conditions at the venue.

For anyone who has listened to Hird weekly on his football shows on Nine, the owner of this masthead, he has been big on having a team outnumber an opponent at the contest, and then run, spread and attack – as is the modern way. However, Welsh said McVeigh had the better plan.

“Mark was clearly the best candidate for what this role demands. He’s developed emerging talent throughout his coaching career, and he connects with younger players in a way that matters for a list at our stage,” Welsh said.

“His game plan is built for the modern game, quick ball movement, adaptable structures, and it’s suited to where this competition is heading.”

Hird believed he was the best applicant for the job. As did all the applicants; otherwise, why would they have applied? The Bombers may yet seek to bring him back inside the tent in a prominent role, but Hird craved the senior coaching role, and may be unwilling. Welsh said on Tuesday he was keen to catch up with Hird and would love to see him at Essendon in some capacity. Hird later explained on Footy Classified, “I’ll get round to ringing Andrew, but in my mind there’s no rush, I mean today’s about Mark and about the Essendon Football Club, and what Mark wants to do going forward with the club”.

A twist in the tale would be if Hird joined another club, having raised eyebrows on Sunday when he said rivals had reached out to him.

Hird has repeatedly said he wants what’s best for the Bombers, a one-time power that has fallen on hard and miserable times and just completed its worst season.

As former club president Lindsay Tanner said, the job of all Essendon people now is to unite behind the new coach.

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