I’m already in love.
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The man certainly knows how to evoke a reaction (long sleeves, 49, finger-lick).
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Don’t go there girlfriend
AKA “the Jason Cloke”
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Hopefully all three Hird boys are playing at Essendon in a few years and Stephanie in our AFLW team. That would be the ultimate middle finger to Vlad and Gil.
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I’d say Gil wouldn’t care if it meant more Essendon fans watching games on tv, going to games and spending money on merchandise.
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Stephanie doesn’t even play in our VFLW team!
Didn’t she have a nagging injury?
Lack of ability really.
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I know I did, … but then I broke up with her, … 
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Oh well, she can still give Gil and Vlad the middle finger though. 
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You left out one, arguably the most important one; barracked for Essendon as a kid.
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[quote=“Hird Mentality, post:279, topic:17864”]
Sensible haircut, check
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May need to add some hand sanitiser to that routine, for a couple of months maybe…
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Really happy to hear the news, for all the reasons mentioned above. And there’s no denying the emotional element of all this. Once it all settles though I think we should pull back a bit on the Jimmy link (as far as that’s going to be in any way possible) and allow Tom to be his own man and his own player, however that pans out. I’d hate the kid to feel he has to carry too much baggage with him.
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He’s already copping flack from some of the comments on EFC Facebook page. Of all the traits he could inherit from his parents, I hope he has a healthy dose of resilience. There certainly are some arseholes in the world.
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Went to a reverse raffle tonight.
Pick 1 number out of 150.
Chose no.49, put it under the name Tom Hird.
Won the 5K prize, not saying it’s a sign, but thanks Tom.
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Bombers great Tim Watson says Tom Hird has work to do after the 18-year-old son of James joined Essendon as a Category B rookie.
What could help the teenager win out in his bid to add a fourth generation to his family’s legacy, however, is his “unbelievable endurance and great skill”.
Just months after completing a trial with Dutch soccer club Ajax, Hird put his round-ball career behind him to sign a two-year contract with his father’s former AFL club.
Some scepticism surrounded the announcement after the teenager qualified for the Category B rookie list as a non-registered athlete from outside the system.
“There was a little bit of manoeuvring that had to take place, the AFL still had to tick it off,” Watson said on SEN radio.
“They were questioning it. If you’re going to add someone to a Category B rookie list … you’re not allowed to have been registered. They have to clear that.”
While Hird has been busy attempting to launch a soccer career, the next-generation academy member previously trained with the Dons in January last year
7NEWS cameras were there as Hird sought out the footy in a pre-season session with the seniors.
Former Melbourne captain Garry Lyon couldn’t deny the “romance” of Tom following father James, grandfather Allan and great-grandfather Allan Sr into Essendon’s ranks.
Whether that happens remains to be seen but Hird’s two-year deal provides time to use his soccer nous and athleticism to become a footballer.
“He’s elite. He was over at Ajax, over there in Amsterdam, trialling and in fact they invited him back again after a tryout over Christmas,” Watson said.
“He loved footy but he went away from footy after the ASADA thing. Now he’s back and he’s going to be training there.”
during the 2012 AFL draft combine at Etihad Stadium on October 3, 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. Credit: Scott Barbour/Getty Images
James Hird’s former teammate Adam Ramanauskas, a player manager, told RSN radio he hadn’t seen Tom play since “2007 when he was in the change rooms”.
Watson, who was aware the code switch had been in the works, acknowledged the challenge ahead of Hird and the Bombers.
“He’s a project, he’s only 60-something kilos,” Watson said of the 180cm prospect.
“(He’s) very, very tiny, but has unbelievable endurance and great skill.”
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Essendon great James Hird was surprised by his son’s decision to join the Bombers
Feb 6, 2020, 7:27pm
Tom Hird joined the Bombers in March. Picture: AFL Photos
ESSENDON champion James Hird says he was “shocked” by his son Tom’s decision earlier this year to give up his soccer aspirations and join the Bombers as a category B rookie.
Tom Hird became a fourth-generation Bomber when he signed with the club in March, leaving a burgeoning round-ball career to follow in the steps of his famous father.
He had trained with Essendon ahead of the 2019 season through the club’s pre-season program before trialling for soccer in the Netherlands, but the lure of the Bombers was strong.
“I think Tania and I were both pretty shocked actually that he chose to go down this path. He’d been going very well at his soccer both here and overseas, so we were a bit taken aback that he wanted to go down that path,” the former Bombers great and ex-coach said on essendonfc.com.au .
"He and [Essendon list manager] Adrian Dodoro must have been concocting some sort of plan without us knowing, so we were a little bit shocked but now he’s down that path we’re fully supportive.
"He’s training very hard. It’s interesting to get a look at what the players are doing now and the way they need to train, and the club’s been very good at setting up a structure for him.
“What I’ve been very impressed with is not only the physical side of things, but the psychologist’s been in touch with him a fair bit and also with Tania a fair bit.”
Tom, who agreed to a two-year contract, is the fourth generation of his family to join the Bombers, following his father James, his grandfather Allan and great grandfather Allan snr, who had a grandstand at Essendon’s Windy Hill headquarters named after him.
He is a small left-footer who could be used in defence or attack, and was only early into his time at the club before it was shut down to deal with the spread of the coronavirus.
Hird joked he may soon have to muscle in on Tom during a marking contest, “because he’s getting very confident with his new body” after joining the Bombers.
“He’s got a long way to go and hopefully he does well, but obviously there’s a lot of hard work in front of him, but the good thing is he’s a hard worker. He’s got a lot of support from his family and the club so we’ll see how he goes,” he said.
“I think he got two or three weeks down there but I think he’s enjoying [it]. A footy club is a great place to be and the one thing you have to admire football clubs for is they put a lot of time into their players and genuinely care. It’s great to see.”
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