Delisted #49: Tom Hird - Delisted, thank you for your service - 23/8

49 hird.jpg

Contract Status: Delisted
Last Game Played: Yet to debut

Injury Status: n/a

My Boy Draft 2022: Claim here
 
Last edited:
May 6, 2007
39,093
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Essendon
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No knock on the kid but so endemic of our club.
Does he get recruited if his surname was anything else.

I’ve no problem offering him the chance the way he had gotten it but let’s not give him a sustained period in hope of him turning into something


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Exactly my concern.
We don't bat deep enough to be offering feel good story ops.
I guess the powers that be decided that there’s not enough feel good stories coming from our onfield activities so we’ll go with this instead. That said, he hasn’t been on the list for very long yet.
 
Jun 11, 2007
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Victoria
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I guess the powers that be decided that there’s not enough feel good stories coming from our onfield activities so we’ll go with this instead. That said, he hasn’t been on the list for very long yet.
Surely would have been safe giving him a vfl spot and seeing what happens.

If a Jack Carroll comes on, as an example, as a solid B grade inside mid i'll be annoyed AF
 

TheFrenchCut

Premiership Player
Apr 22, 2014
4,353
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tbh, im not sure how that works. so i could be barking up the wrong tree on this one.
Category B = outside the standard list and the salary cap. Applies to guys outside the system (internationals, players arriving from other sports, i.e. Blicavs and Keath).

Hird is as has been mentioned above, a free hit. You get 3 years of cat b eligibility so we'll likely keep him around at least one more year, unless he's totally off pace.
 

fairbump_playon

Premiership Player
Jun 27, 2014
4,757
7,607
AFL Club
Essendon
Hird is as good an idea now, after 2 bad losses in the seniors and a VFL praccy match as he was when drafted from
nowhere. No one was too doom and gloom when we added him.

There’s truly no harm. It would be different if he wasn’t cracking in and working hard but he does that. Just let him learn to play footy. Anything is a bonus.
 
Jul 15, 2008
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nothing on the kid himself.
Just the thought process and ? on the clubs list mgmt.

Did we see a prospect that could pay off.
Or did we see a Hird and fan propaganda to distract & placate.
Can't it be both?

Cat B players given the definition most likely means they're going to have a fair bit of Aussie Rules craft and know-how to learn.

You basically want good athletes with a strong work ethic and possible large upside.

Given Tom's soccer background, pedigree and work ethic I would have thought he'd tick those boxes.
 
Jun 11, 2007
34,086
29,320
Victoria
AFL Club
Essendon
Other Teams
Bayern, Milan, Boston Celtics
Can't it be both?

Cat B players given the definition most likely means they're going to have a fair bit of Aussie Rules craft and know-how to learn.

You basically want good athletes with a strong work ethic and possible large upside.

Given Tom's soccer background, pedigree and work ethic I would have thought he'd tick those boxes.
it can be.
it was an off the cuff question/observation on the club, not so much Tom, and the thinking behind a Hird vs. any other Cat B candidate.
Have no way of knowing if we passed on anyone else. i just don't trust the decision making at the club these days.
 
it can be.
it was an off the cuff question/observation on the club, not so much Tom, and the thinking behind a Hird vs. any other Cat B candidate.
Have no way of knowing if we passed on anyone else. i just don't trust the decision making at the club these days.
Most clubs don't use all of their three cat B spots. We currently have Hird and formerly McQuillan as Cat B. That means we still have one free Cat B spot, we didn't have to pass on anyone to get Hird. So if we passed it's because they were no good/didn't suit us for some other reason.

Since McQuillan went home, we now have two free Cat B spots again. McBride is on the Cat A list as we can only have one Irishman on the Cat B list, and at the time we had McQuillan in that spot already. I don't think there is a mechanism to move him onto the Cat B list at this point, but even if we did get dispensation to move him to Category B, there's still a spare spot there.

I'm also pretty sure rookie salaries are outside of the cap (match payments are inside of it though.?) so that's unlikely to have been an imposition.
 
Sounds like he's improving but confirms that kicking 'to advantage' is an issue..

"'Hirdy' was better this week with his one-on-one stuff. He had some really good tackles and ground-ball gets, was a lot more accountable as a defender and won enough of his own ball. He needs to keep working on his kicking to advantage, and that's something he'll get better at with time."

 
Jul 15, 2008
10,248
17,185
AFL Club
Essendon
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Celtics, Colts, Renegades
Sounds like he's improving but confirms that kicking 'to advantage' is an issue..

"'Hirdy' was better this week with his one-on-one stuff. He had some really good tackles and ground-ball gets, was a lot more accountable as a defender and won enough of his own ball. He needs to keep working on his kicking to advantage, and that's something he'll get better at with time."

Well he's not alone at Essendon, I think 2/3 of our list don't kick to advantage particularly well.
 

BrunoV

Brownlow Medallist
May 5, 2009
21,620
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Yeah, we got that first time bud.

2 (practice) games in and you’ve written him off


Sometimes, sometimes I wish life was a dream and I’d wake up with sh*t like this


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I was saying Hird couldn't be any worse, as in might as well have a look at him.

I otherwise echo what others are saying about Cat B rookies. No reason not to take them, even if the only reason we're doing it is because of his last name. It's not a list spot.

Hird seems to have a few things going for him other than his surname. I'd like to see him play.
 
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