Former Kangaroo captain David King has called for Essendon to appoint James Hird as coach, citing the need for a unifying figure at the struggling club.
Dual premiership Kangaroo David King has urged Essendon to take a chance on James Hird and appoint him coach for a second time, declaring the Bombers legend would unite the struggling club at the perfect time.
Hours after Brad Scott was sacked last week, Hird declared his passion for his beloved club and genuine interest in returning to coach the team, saying Essendon “needs people around the place that know how to rebuild that spirit”. Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports |WHAT'S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit.
For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au. The spectre of Hird over the Bombers has lingered for years – even in the weeks and months before Scott’s 2022 appointment – but now it seems more significant than ever.
This has led to four possible Essendon coaching candidates – two experienced campaigners in Ken Hinkley and Adam Simpson, as well as two assistants looking for full-time roles in Troy Chaplin and Brett Montgomery – in the past week all publicly expressing varying degrees of scepticism about entering a Bombers process with Hird in the picture .
That’s despite Essendon president Andrew Welsh insisting last week the Bombers would take time to assess what they need in their next senior coach and plan how they would find their new leader.on Sunday night, King cheekily suggested the Bombers should do “whatever it takes” to get Hird back in the role – a reference to the Bombers’ 2013 membership slogan that became heavily associated with the infamous supplements saga that unfolded during the same year.
“I just think it’s the most Essendon thing I’ve ever heard of. The Essendon Football Club is a different place, it has always been this way and if you’re an outsider trying to step in in recent years, it’s difficult. There are challenges that the home town crew don’t really have,” King told“The old Winston Churchill: ‘A riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, but perhaps there’s a key. ’ The key, for me, is James Hird.
I think he’s perfect for this footy club. ”King said he “understood the negativity” around a possible Hird return, especially due to his lack of recent AFL coaching exposure. But the Fox Footy commentator suggested he knew “people that have been in the system for 10 years that don’t have half the charisma, half the football IQ” that Hird has.
“It hasn’t been evident at AFL level, but it’s there. It’s just a matter of getting those juices flowing again,” King said.
“Is he a perfect fit? Well I don’t know if there is a perfect fit for any club out there when you’re going through a process.
“When he walks into a room, he has that presence, that feel, that aura about him. That’s not everything – and winning and success builds that, no doubt … But this guy has already got that. He’s a high achiever.
“A lot of people outside the football world talk about football clubs like they’re a business inside the actual game centre … They talk about it like they actually understand it. But football is not a business. It’s about gathering a group for a common cause, ‘us against the world’, charging them week-in and week-out, teaching them, educating them, having great rapport and relationships. This guy has that in him in spades.
Dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna said it was “an itch that needs to be scratched” at the Bombers.
“I think they have tried to go down the path of getting other coaches and it hasn’t worked. The noise will continue to get louder about James Hird if they go with someone else because of him being so public that he wants the job,” Montagna told“As much as he hasn’t been in the system for 10 years – and if they lined him up just from a pure coaching perspective against the best-credentialed assistant coaches, he might not have the highest credentials – but being a senior coach is now 90 per cent about selling the dream and bringing the players and the football club on the journey.
“You could have the greatest tactical nous of football in the world, but if you can’t get the group to be on your side to buy in on it, it’s not going to work. ”chief football writer Jay Clark reported some at the Bombers were hesitant about bringing Hird back considering he’s 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.
“You can go and get the best IP with your assistant coach,” he said. “Every AFL coach talks about it is now a ‘coaching group’. It is not just the senior coach deciding on the game plan and how it’s all going to work and everyone else just sits there and nods.
You can go and get IP from someone at Geelong or Hawthorn or the Brisbane Lions and bring them into the coaching department – and you can easily have enough IP to be able to keep up with the modern game. ” King added: “There would be no sharper and smarter mind who loves footy than James. I think it’s a little bit lost on what this guy brings in terms of footy nous. ”
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