‘Job is his if he wants it’: VFL club makes James Hird its ‘No.1 priority’

Essendon legend and former coach James Hird is pondering a return to coaching at state league level, with a big VFL club making him their top priority.

James Hird. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Essendon legend and former coach James Hird is pondering a return to coaching at state league level, with a big VFL club making him their top priority.

Outside of a brief stint at the GWS Giants supporting interim coach Mark McVeigh in 2022, Hird has remained away from the AFL landscape since being sacked as Bombers coach towards the end of the 2015 season.

But speaking on Fox Footy’s Midweek Tackle on Wednesday night, Herald Sun journalist Sam Landsberger reported Hird was the “No.1 target” for VFL club Port Melbourne, which is on the lookout for a new coach after current boss Adam Skrobalak indicated he would depart at season’s end.

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“I can tell you tonight the job is his if he wants it,” Landsberger said of Hird on Midweek Tackle, adding Hird was poised to have a key meeting with Port Melbourne next week.

Hird’s son, Tom, has played 33 games with the Borough across the past two seasons following a three-year stint on Essendon’s list as a rookie.

“The key consideration for James is whether he wants to coach his son Tom – Would that be awkward? How would Tom feel? – and also his business interests,” Landsberger said.

“But the family is in love with Port Melbourne Football Club … They could not be more thrilled with the way they’ve taken his son in and what they’ve done for him.”

James Hird, Assistant Coach of the Giants. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Fellow Midweek Tackle panellist Glenn McFarlane added: “I think this would be a great move, both for the competition and James Hird, who’s too good a person and too good a footy brain to not be involved in some way shape or form in footy.”

Landsberger added money “won’t be an issue at all”, adding Hird could command $200,000 to coach Port Melbourne, which would be a higher salary than the average AFL assistant coach wage.

Hird was interviewed for the Bombers’ AFL coaching job in late 2022 before Brad Scott was ultimately appointed to the role.

While the Port Melbourne gig would be a strong starting point in a potential return to coaching, the wildcard option would be the Eagles’ vacant job should West Coast approach him.

“My understanding is with key candidates dropping out of the West Coast race in Dean Cox and Josh Carr, if they were to make the phone call to James Hird, I think he would be receptive to it,” Landsberger said.

James Hird during the 150th birthday of the Essendon Football Club. Picture: Michael Klein

“Now it’s long odds they’d put the call in, but I think he’d pick up the phone if they did call.”

Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark told Fox Footy that Cox and Carr’s respective recommitments to Sydney and Port Adelaide meant premiership Eagle and Blues assistant coach Ash Hansen “really looms as an incredibly strong candidate” for the West Coast job.

“West Coast is yet to reach out to him – or any of the other candidates,” Clark told Midweek Tackle.

“I think West Coast is getting their ducks in a row. I think they’re trying to work out what they want in their coach … so they’ve taken their time.

“I think it’ll be interesting from this weekend and whether those phone calls will start to be made. From a timeline perspective, that pre-finals bye looms large as a time where West Coast and Don Pyke can get in front of some of those candidates.”

Originally published as ‘Job is his if he wants it’: VFL club makes James Hird its ‘No.1 priority’