Bring back Syd! Second best winning %.
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Watching Freo last night , we are a long long long way off. This appointment shouldnāt just be the senior coach it should be a presentation on our whole coaching structure from development to assistants. Hird from what we hear understands that. It will be interesting if the other applicants have also done that.
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I donāt think anyone is looking at Essendon and thinking it just needs a little game plan tinkering.
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He had a pretty solid list with AA players Brownlow medalists, norm smith medalists, legends of the club and players that went on to flags at other clubs.
It amazes me that we finished 1 win behind Freo in 2024. Oh what development can do
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Itās not just the coach, itās the whole coaching and development package we need.
I think James understands this, and why I am voting for him.
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My great hope for our coaching group moving forward is a total reset.
Iām slightly less worried about the senior coach and more concerned about resetting our assistants.
Weāre a young list needed massive guidance. Our assistants will do the lion share of that work. They are the day to day voices of leadership.
We need that whole group reset. Badly.
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I think McVeigh is the third. Coming back to Melbourne will be the issue on that one.
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Totally agree and I know we are a young team but Freo look like hulks . We have a long way to go but hopefully we get the best coach and support staff on offer, next comes game plans. Maybe this is all part of the āpresentationsā we are looking for.
Brad - he loves to develop young players
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No, but given the comment about Hirdy not necessarily being allowed to bring an entoruage ticket, it may be some of these interviewees are potentially assistant coaches if they miss the big one.
I donāt think any of the interviewees other than maybe Solly (if, in fact, he is interviewed) would take second prize and go from being an assistant coach in really successful systems like Fremantle, Sydney and Geelong to an assistant coach at the car crash called Essendon.
McVeigh may be a possibility simply because they can sell him on the bigger Essendon picture under Hird -āweāre getting the band back togetherā kind of pitch
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Iād say itās practically no chance Hird would decide to be an assistant if offered.
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Fair enough. Some might come for the challenge, more money, but agree itās a wait and see what falls out.
Thatās a given.
Are you implying the other candidates donāt know this as well?
I have a few general observations.
I think it would interesting to know how many people have shifted their position on their preference for Hird as a coach over time. My sense is that in 2016, the chances of Hird becoming the senior coach of Essendon were close to zero. Even as recently as the beginning of this year, the chances were less than 50-50. There are a number of reasons he is now in the mix. First, as the standing of the club has declined, so the standing of Hird has increased, increasingly seen as one of very few options, and less risky than many of the others. Second, many of those who previously would never have seen him as a viable candidate now think he is viable. Third, I think most reasonable people know he was scapegoated. What was once a minus is not so much of a minus.
We are left with a hard core of detractors who will never shift their opinion and never give him a chance. When I look at some of the discussion, i wonder why anyone would listen to Caroline Wilson. She was prejudiced between 2013 and 2016. She is still prejudiced. Her preference for John Longmire should be a red flag.
It is interesting the discussiion re Longmire and Hinkley. To me a successful coach is a coach who wins finals and wins premierships. It is one thing to get a team into the finals. It is another to win finals. When I look at Longmireās record, he lost the last four grand finals he coached.
When I look at Hinkleyās record, it is the same. Even in Portās best home and away seasons, he had a very poor record in finals. The question is whether a coach is just to get us into finals or win finals.
To me there are only two options and they both involve Hird.
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nor would he take on an administration role - its head coach or bust for Hirdy
However, as much as I support Hirdās interest in the role, my only proviso is he is helped out in the box with a Hinkley or Goodwin type Mentor, neither of which have any interest
So who can that person be? I have heard Voss mentioned? Then others have said Voss has no interest. Simpson seems to be fully against Hird so thats a no. Longmire and Buckley are apparently eying off Tassie. Or do we trust Hird with a couple of up to date assistant coaches?
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I guess when you look at it like that - Hirdās record of losing the only final he has coached by more than 10 goals stacks up well. Iām sold.
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People will say anything for a cool Million a year.
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