In fairness, only people that weren’t good enough to get drafted complained. The other clubs couldn’t give a ■■■■. Everybody understands he’s a long shot.
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They’re all going to hate it when Mason Fletcher comes back a monster after 3 years in the College system as a cat B. Great strategy moving forward. We supply the colleges with players, they return them in 3/4 years bulked up.
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Getting in the US college system would be a great experience. Fletcher is lucky he can punt.
Could have been a option for Hird too under a soccer scholarship in US colleges, if he didnt go down the AFL route. (not sure how competitive soccer is in US colleges) but worst case he comes out with a US university degree and a good life experience.
Worked great for Aussie runners, Jessica Hull is running well out of the college system.
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Would love to know how Tom tests athletically. His endurance base has been talked up in an article but I’d love to know if he also has the speed/agility combo that soccer players are known for. His skills would probably be pretty damn good compared to most soccer players.
Fkin’ spot on!
Exactly.
Some kids just aren’t ready at 18 to play football.
Absolutely this. Strikes me as the kind of thing Sheedy would have done, even if it was clear he wasn’t going to make it at AFL level. I hope he runs out for us at least once.
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I’m extending that to the media by association
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Unless I missed it - not one Brad Green comment in this entire thread. I am disappoint.
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Trialing for Stoke City is not as glamous as trialing for Man U.
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Just once, I hope to see the kid lick his fingers then rub them together as he’s about to take off and clunk a pack mark.
Asking too much?
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Needs to just hit the gym hard this year and play a few VFL games to set up up for a big year next year and beyond. Good luck Hirdy, you’ll be loved no matter what happens from here.
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We are lucky that it’s been barely long enough for a Hird to he willing to come to the club.
It’s a long shot, but I’m proud that the club is giving him a chance. We need to bring in guys from other clubs(Goddard, S,S,S,S, etc) but we gotta take chances on the Longs, Danihers, Hirds, Fletchers, that’s what makes us EFC.
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Please draftees aren’t happy. They aren’t cat B eligible. The kid is a long shot at best.
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No other footballer has had to go through what this kid has, to get on a footy clubs list.
The whiners, who are probably as real as Sarah, can go and… meh, who cares.
Welcome Tom. We reserve the right to treat you like all the other blokes that play for EFC. Which is poorly.
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I know it’s the Age - but it’s a good article.
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Are you able to post the article please ?
Cannot bring myself to click on it.
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Like his son Tom, James Hird was also a bit of a gamble when Essendon came knocking.
Essendon picked James with selection no.79 in the 1990 draft because injuries stopped him playing much representative junior footy across two years in the Teal Cup, the under 18 championships of the time.
James was essentially unsighted by recruiters given not many would have made the trip to the ACT to watch him play for Ainslie, according to long-time AFL talent spotter and recruiter Kevin Sheehan.
But like Tom, James had impeccable bloodlines as the son of Allan Hird Jnr and grandson of Allan Hird Snr, both league footballers.
“James barely played, so he was drafted on ability and his family connections in part,” Sheehan said.
“This kid [Tom] has got the bloodlines too, obviously, and you’re not giving up too much to get him.
“James adapted quickly and had a great aptitude for operating in that professional environment. It looks like Tom does too with his soccer background."
Tom isn’t as unsighted as such, he trained with Essendon in January. However he still hasn’t been registered to play footy for at least three years. Now 19, he gave up on footy in his early teens to try soccer.
Like his father, Tom’s selection as a category B rookie is somewhat a speculative one.
Having played with Port Melbourne Sharks he earned trials at Stoke City in the United Kingdom and more notably, Ajax, the Dutch club that is the pre-eminent breeding ground for junior soccer players.
Tom was given a senior contract with the Sharks this season after impressing with the club’s under 20 side. Port Melbourne play in the NPL Victoria, which is one rung under the A-League.
“He’s a natural sportsperson with anything he does,” Port Melbourne coach Adam Piddick said. "His athletic ability to get around the park, the repeat sprint … he is a very smart kid so has good sense tactically.
"He was a left full back and central midfield type of player. He can play in pretty much any position because he can pick things up quickly though.
"He really enjoyed Ajax obviously - its world class facility and development program. After that experience over there I was a little bit surprised he made the switch, but understandably you can’t knock these opportunities back.
“He’s so coachable, a nice kid, doesn’t give any attitude. It’s head down and hard work. No matter what you ask him to do – pump the balls up or the extra running – he does it without whinging.”
Sheehan says there are transferable skills between soccer and modern day Australian Rules outside of elite aerobic capacity. AFL recruiters like soccer players for their “two-footedness”, goalkeeping skills, familiarity with defensive blocks, running patterns, ability to read cues from opposition and teammates and their intercepting qualities.
Tom joins other soccer converts to footy, of varying degrees of skill, which include Lachie Keeffe, Zac Smith, Mason Cox, Ellie Brush, Brianna Davey and most famously Brad Green, who was scouted by Manchester United.
Gary Ablett Snr was also known as a very good social player, while Irish players like Tadgh Kennelly are usually handy with the soccer ball.
Wayne Oswald saw Tom play at Prahran Juniors from age nine to 14. Oswald said Tom was very skilled, athletically gifted and tactically smart as a footy player. He played as a midfielder and medium forward.
“The parents of Tom have been excellent,” Oswald said. "As a kid, he was well founded, mature, a good decision maker, popular in the club and made his choices by gaining good knowledge first.
"The greatness of this [decision to go back to footy] is that the parents said ‘okay, if that’s what you choose to do then go for it’, when he chose to play soccer.
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Exactly, they could say the same thing about every Cat B ever.
Giving Tom Hird a chance says A LOT to me about the club embracing the Hirds, they owe the family big time.
And even if this only amounts to Tom basically doing an internship at the club then hopefully he leaves with fond memories of the opportunity and steers HIS kids towards the club one day.
Our club is more than just a bunch of mercenaries playing footy, we have traditions and things like this remind the other players that we are proud and that the belief and success of 30 years ago still lies within.
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