Australia and the World Past and Present

James Hird has signalled that he is keen to coach Essendon once more.

Hird played for Essendon from 1992 to 2007, playing 253 games. He was a dual premiership player (1993 and 2000) and won the 1996 Brownlow Medal.

He served as captain for eight seasons.

Hird was appointed senior coach in September 2010.

In 2014 he was suspended for the season during the club’s supplements saga, but returned in 2015 before resigning in August 2015.

Essendon ties run strongly in the Hird family.

James’s father also played for Essendon, playing 4 senior games in 1966–67.

His grandfather, Allan Hird Sr, had a much larger role in Essendon history.

He played for Essendon in the early 1940s, was part of Essendon’s 1942 premiership team and later became club president.

So James Hird is effectively a third-generation Essendon figure.

The supplements scandal was a pivotal moment in the club’s history. There was significant fallout. Captain Jobe Watson was stripped of his 2012 Brownlow Medal.

Essendon was barred from participating in the 2013 finals series.

34 players were later suspended for two years.

The slogan “whatever it takes” was part of Essendon’s 2013 marketing campaign.

Australian rules football is fiercely competitive.

Competition can be healthy, pushing players to do their best. But as people push the limits, there is the danger of them crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed. A win-at-all-costs mentality can be dangerous.

The current debate about Hird returning as the coach of Essendon is more than just a matter of football.

It is also raises issues about human frailties, making mistakes, what Hird has learnt from his time away and redemption.

After his resignation in 2015, Hird largely stayed out of senior coaching.

Hird has worked as a football commentator and analyst. More recently he joined the Nine Network football coverage, including Footy Classified and Footy Furnace.

He returned to AFL coaching in a limited role as a part-time assistant coach at the Greater Western Sydney Giants.

He has held a Port Melbourne role (from 2025) as Director of Coaching.

How successful was Hird as the coach of Essendon?

He coached 85 games and had a win rate of 48.8%.

His best season was in 2011. In that year Essendon had 11 wins, 11 losses and narrowly missed the finals.

Critics point to the sub-50% win rate and his limited coaching work since 2015.

How does Hird compare with some other potential coaches?

Some names being tossed around as the next Essendon coach include Nathan Buckley and John Longmire.

Nathan Buckley coached Collingwood between 2012 and 2021. He coached 218 games and had a win rate of 54.1%. Under Buckley, Collingwood made appeared in one Grand Final (2018), 2 prelims and multiple finals campaigns.

John Longmire was with the Sydney Swans between 2011 and 2024. He has even more games than Buckley under his belt (333). He holds a high win rate of 62.9%. He has coached in 5 Grand Finals and won the premiership in 2012.

So, will James Hird be the next coach of Essendon?

He was the man at the top when the supplements saga took place.

The buck does have to stop with the leader to some extent.

Hird has now had around a decade to reflect on what went wrong. He has had some time to work on himself and develop.

Having through something like the supplements scandal, he might now be hyper-focused on governance – perhaps more than others.

Hird is attached to Essendon in way that he is not to other clubs.

Hird has been making positive moves in the last few years, but he isn’t the club’s only option. They are so many coaches and assistant coaches out there.

It would a be dramatic move for Essendon to make him coach once more. I’m not sure that Essendon will take the plunge.