Ivan Franjic and Alex Hird open up on partnership at Melbourne Knights
Alex Hird, son of AFL great James, made a debut to remember for Melbourne Knights. He and coach Ivan Franjic discuss their burgeoning partnership.
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It was a debut to remember for Alex Hird.
Melbourne Knights claimed a thrilling 3-2 win over Heidelberg United and Hird provided the clever assist on the match-winning goal.
The son of AFL great James started at left wing-back and showed his potential in both attack and defence, often marking on-loan Central Coast Mariners winger Sebit Ngor.
It was a debut, of sorts, for Socceroo Ivan Franjic too.
His first match as full-time Knights’ NPL Victoria coach, standing on the sidelines after captain-coaching his boyhood club for the second half of last year.
It was Franjic, the 20-time Australian international that attracted Hird to Knights Stadium.
Hird said there was no one better to learn off.
“There were a couple of things but Ivan was the biggest thing (that attracted me to Knights,” Hird said.
“A former Socceroo, he’s played in Europe, he’s played a ton of games in the A-League.
“I know dad, as a young boy, grew up in Canberra but always followed Melbourne Knights – or Melbourne Croatia – on the TV so there was that as an attraction as well.
“I remember watching the Asian Cup in 2015 and being a right-back as well, getting to learn off him, it’s a dream come true.”
Franjic was the starting right-back on that historic night in 2015 when Australia beat South Korea 2-1 to win a first Asian Cup.
He sees plenty of potential in young Hird, fresh out of the Western United A-League.
“He was excellent, he set up the winner at the end but worked hard all night,” Franjic said.
“To be our wing-back you have to have a great engine, Alex has that, and he’ll get better and better as the season progresses.
“(I can pass on) experience obviously, defending, body position, when to go forward and when to stay back.
“Learning what I’ve learnt over the year, obviously I was young and people passed information on to me.
“He knows the mission is to be a professional and hopefully he can get there.”
Alex almost followed his father, playing four VFL games for Essendon before turning to football.
Older brother Tom, once a Port Melbourne NPL junior is now playing Port Melbourne VFL, and younger brother Will is coming through the Sharks NPL pathway.
Like his old man, who had a knack for being in the right spot at the right time, Alex was perfectly positioned to set up the winning goal on Friday night.
Melbourne Knights had taken a 2-0 lead only to see Heidelberg United storm back to level at 2-2.
In the 77th minute the ball bounced high, Hird pounced as two Heidelberg defenders dallied and headed down for Josh Karantz to smash a volley into the back of the net.
The 20-year-old enjoyed his NPL debut experience.
“It was really exciting, there were a couple of nerves before the game,” he said.
“We’ve got some really good senior players that take you through it and make sure you’re feeling good and ready to go.
“The ball just popped up in the air and I went after it, not much more to say.
“It was an amazing finish from Josh, that wasn’t me, I was just lucky enough to head the ball on.”
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Standing in the dugout, it was a different experience for Franjic watching on.
“It’s obviously different being a coach than a player, so the heart-rate was right up there,” he said.
“The boys showed fight, they showed character, obviously we’re a lot younger this year but for a young team I thought they were brilliant.
“We’ve started, I don’t think we’ve touched the surface of how good we can be but we’ll get there through the year.”
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