Coach James Hird - is it time to give him a second chance at coaching an AFL club? Gil says yes!

Should James Hird be given a second chance at coaching an AFL club?


  • Total voters
    984
Apr 24, 2013
2,674
6,855
AFL Club
Collingwood
Gil doesn't want Hird to kick up a stink about the AFL's role in covering up the drug use again. It's that simple.

I would love GWS to select him as coach, because I would love to laugh at GWS when it hilariously backfires.
 

Red Bull

Brownlow Medallist
Aug 29, 2010
13,816
27,455
mornington peninsula
AFL Club
Carlton
Get old weapon back.

Whitfield needs to put some muscle on for starters So does Bobby Hill.

Here’s an old mate of Albert’s that could help Whitfield and Hill …
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Yep, this bloke
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I’m sure most parents would love to have their sons in the care of Albert, Spike McVitamins and their mates.
Parents like this guy would give their full support to the program
C68C0E55-D3EC-44F2-8909-B5D4629CAB13.jpeg
 
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,444
AFL Club
Geelong
Why would anyone want him?

Was a bog average coach bolstered by Bombers guidance. He’s not taking anyone to a premiership lol

Well, all the Hird Football Club supporters who bought their Flight Plan memberships or whatever they were called in 2013 will probably follow him to GWS and boost the Giants membership by about 20,000. They didn't seem to care much about anyone else at the club falling on their sword, as long as Hird was OK.
 
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,444
AFL Club
Geelong
  • 2 mill fine
  • Players banned
  • Jobes brownlow stripped*
  • Draft picks removed
  • Kicked out of finals even tho we qaulified
  • Staff and coaches sacked

How much more punishment do you want mate? we did the crime and did the time,time to move on.

An extra asterisk for Jobe, I think. He must have thought it was like donating it to a museum, especially now that he wants it back and people still call him a Brownlow Medallist.

Oh and at the very least, one more item on the list. Then I'm good:

"Systematic doping program", not "Supplements Saga".
 
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,444
AFL Club
Geelong
They're adults, not young boys.

They shoulder some of the responsibility, especially considering they deliberately omitted info to ASADA.

The captain, the 350 (at the time) gamer and the AFLPA rep at the very least. Of all people, it was left to (an admittedly bitter) Kyle Reimers to say that something seemed a bit NQR about the whole thing.
 
Oct 20, 2004
17,082
20,865
Brisbane
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Pompey
Aussies love to stick the boot in when people are down, especially fallen stars.

It is one of the worst things about modern Australian culture tbh.

What it means is that there will likely be no redemption arc for Hird, even if he has earned it by hard work and commitment.

Sorry Jimbob, the tribe has spoken.
Carey got a redemption arc.
 
I’m no defender of Essendon’s work, but you make it sound like Hird peddled heroin to schoolchildren.

Very little difference, potentially Hird's was worse.

AFL players, especially the young guys would have not only felt massive pressure to conform but they also would have been ignorant to much of what was going on. No explanation, no documentation and no choice.

At least a school kid makes a choice.
 
Oct 20, 2004
17,082
20,865
Brisbane
AFL Club
Geelong
Other Teams
Pompey
Very little difference, potentially Hird's was worse.

AFL players, especially the young guys would have not only felt massive pressure to conform but they also would have been ignorant to much of what was going on. No explanation, no documentation and no choice.

At least a school kid makes a choice.
Here’s a few differences:
  • heroin has an epic mortality rate
  • heroin is a drug with incredible addictive qualities
  • dealing it lands you in jail
  • young men are extremely impressionable but aren’t schoolkids
  • Hird wasn’t singularly -or even primarily - responsible for the program

Don’t mistake me for a minute - Hird should have been suspended from the game for a long time and what happened at Essendon was very wrong. However, let’s not weaken that argument by blowing it up to insane proportions.
 
Here’s a few differences:
  • heroin has an epic mortality rate
  • heroin is a drug with incredible addictive qualities
  • dealing it lands you in jail
  • young men are extremely impressionable but aren’t schoolkids
  • Hird wasn’t singularly -or even primarily - responsible for the program

Don’t mistake me for a minute - Hird should have been suspended from the game for a long time and what happened at Essendon was very wrong. However, let’s not weaken that argument by blowing it up to insane proportions.

he should never be allowed in the WORKPLACE ever again

It is completely unfathomable that his conduct is consistent with modern workplace practices



and FYI - illegal importation and provision of drugs is a jailable offence. The only thing that kept them out of jail was not co-operating or keeping records.
 
Nov 9, 2007
6,944
14,828
The honorable loss factory
AFL Club
Carlton
Hird should get a job driving a taxi

giving drugs to young boys is about as low as you can go

How about using an untested drug on players and considering buying into the production company (metabolic), then using the results of the drug as a proof-of-concept to boost sales?

The players were either complicit or utter guinea pigs.
 
How about using an untested drug on players and considering buying into the production company (metabolic), then using the results of the drug as a proof-of-concept to boost sales?

The players were either complicit or utter guinea pigs.

I would say both

but did they really have a choice?
 
Last edited:
Aug 17, 2006
23,225
21,444
AFL Club
Geelong
If he's a realistic chance, it's just baffling.

Think of the hard yards Voss and Ratten had to put in to get another go as a non-premiership winning recycled coach. And I'd argue both had records that easily stacked up against Hird's. And he's still yet to spend any time as an assistant coach (if I'm not mistaken).
 

matthew_s

Premiership Player
Aug 19, 2013
3,186
6,015
AFL Club
West Coast
If he's a realistic chance, it's just baffling.

Think of the hard yards Voss and Ratten had to put in to get another go as a non-premiership winning recycled coach. And I'd argue both had records that easily stacked up against Hird's. And he's still yet to spend any time as an assistant coach (if I'm not mistaken).

Also, his old team still haven’t recovered from the mess he left them in nearly a decade later
 
Jul 3, 2001
22,112
8,679
Melbourne
AFL Club
Collingwood
Other Teams
Heat, Victory, Man Utd, Redskins
There’s nothing stopping him being appointed. If someone wants it to happen it will.

It’s just fascinating why a drug cheat who never owned up to what he did, and activated losers like Bruce Francis, is considered to have done his penance. He hasn’t, he’s still a slimeball
 
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