By Peter Ryan
Famous VFL club Port Melbourne are making a longshot bid to convince former Essendon coach and AFL legend James Hird to consider a return to senior coaching.
Two senior club sources confirmed the interest in Hird with the Brownlow medallist expected to have further discussions with the club next week.
The club told players before training on Tuesday night that current coach Adam Skrobalak will be leaving, after three seasons in charge, and they were in the process to find their next senior coach.
James Hird (right) and Damien Hardwick in 2013. The pair were premiership teammates and later opposing coaches.Credit: Sebastian Costanzo
No official approach has been made to Hird; however, the 51-year-old has been a constant presence at the club supporting his son Tom who has played with Port Melbourne in the past two seasons after spending three years on Essendon’s list as a category B rookie.
Club powerbrokers have been urging for Hird to be on the club’s wishlist, but two sources close to the former Bomber said Hird would be unlikely at this stage to take the job despite his love for the VFL club that has welcomed him as he watched his son.
Hird is the managing director of Euree Asset management which manages approximately $150 million in investor funds. The business has become his major focus since he missed out on the Essendon coaching job at the end of 2022, which went to Brad Scott. He would be a major coup for Port Melbourne, which celebrates its 150th season this year.
The Borough are keen to attract a high-profile coach, having been extremely successful during the reign of Hawthorn champion and dual Norm Smith medallist Gary Ayres, and will speak to Hird to gauge his intentions.
Tom Hird at Essendon training in March 2020. Credit: Getty Images
Former Western Bulldogs champion Rohan Smith is also expected to be on their radar.
Ayres was the club’s longest-serving coach, leading Port to two premierships between 2008-2021 and also keeping the profile of the famous club high.
Hird has not been in a senior coaching since he left the Bombers late in the 2015 season, when Essendon underwent upheaval amid the club’s drugs scandal.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame member took time away from football to recover from the effects of the saga on his health and wellbeing, but he has returned to football in recent years.
He presented the Norm Smith Medal to Richmond’s Dustin Martin after the 2017 grand final and worked in a part-time capacity with Greater Western Sydney in 2022, helping out in the coach’s box when former teammate Mark McVeigh took over as interim coach for the last 13 matches that year.
The Essendon champion coached the Bombers in 85 matches, leading them from 2011-2013 and then for 19 matches in 2015. He won the 1996 Brownlow Medal and the 2000 Norm Smith Medal and played in two premierships.
He was suspended by the AFL for 12 months at the end of 2013 after being charged by the league, along with other key figures and the club itself, with bringing the game into disrepute over the drugs saga.
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