| James Hird | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Hird withPort Melbourne in2025 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | James Albert Hird[1][2] | ||
| Nickname | Hirdy[3] | ||
| Born | (1973-02-04)4 February 1973 (age 52) Canberra, Australia | ||
| Original team | Ainslie (ACTAFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 79,1990 National Draft | ||
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Weight | 89 kg (196 lb) | ||
| Position | Midfielder /half-forward | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 1992–2007 | Essendon | 253 (343) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 1993 | NSW/ACT[4] | 1 (3) | |
| International team honours | |||
| 2000–2004 | Australia | 4 (3) | |
| Coaching career3 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2011–2013, 2015 | Essendon | 85 (41–43–1) | |
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2007. 2 Representative statistics correct as of 2004. 3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2015. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| |||
| Sources:AFL Tables,AustralianFootball.com | |||
James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professionalAustralian rules football player and past senior coach of theEssendon Football Club in theAustralian Football League (AFL).[5]
Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he was often given free rein by then-Essendon coachKevin Sheedy to play wherever he thought necessary. Hird was a highly decorated footballer, with accolades including the 1996Brownlow Medal and membership of theAustralian Football Hall of Fame.[6] In 2008, he was listed by journalistMike Sheahan as the 20th greatest player of all time in the AFL-commissioned bookThe Australian Game of Football.[7]
Hird was appointed as the coach of the Essendon Football Club in September 2010. In August 2013, he was suspended from coaching for 12 months when he was charged by the AFL with conduct prejudicing the game in relation to his role in theEssendon Football Club supplements controversy.[8] He returned to the club following the 2014 season but resigned in August 2015.[5]
Hird is the son ofAllan and Margaret Hird. He was born inCanberra, where his father worked in the public service and his mother was a teacher, although they had met in Melbourne.[9] Hird has two younger sisters. After first living in the Canberra suburb ofAinslie, his family moved toLatham. When Hird was in high school, the family moved to the suburb ofReid.[10]
Hird participated in rugby league,[11] ballet,[12][13][14] and soccer in his youth.[15] He played for theAinslie Football Club in theACTAFL, and in June 1990, at the age of 17, he was a member of the league's senior representative team in a match against theVictorian Football Association.[16]
He was recruited to the AFL by Essendon from the1990 AFL draft; however, due to a serious hip injury along with other injuries in his junior football career, he was not selected until pick number 79, Essendon's seventh pick and one of the last in the draft.[17] Due to injury, Hird missed out on playing for most of 1991, his first season with the club. At the end of the season, a vote was held on whether to delist him. The majority (4–2) voted in favour of Hird being delisted, but coachKevin Sheedy, sensing a promising future for the young Hird, voted to keep him. Ultimately, Hird remained with the club. He made his senior debut againstSt Kilda in 1992 at Waverley Park as a late replacement for former captainTerry Daniher. Hird spent most of the season in the Essendon Reserves, which, underDenis Pagan, won the premiership that season. He achieved regular selection in the Essendon senior team during the 1993 season. In that season, he was a member of what was referred to as the "Baby Bombers", a group of young players (most notably including Hird,Mark Mercuri,Gavin Wanganeen,Dustin Fletcher,Ricky Olarenshaw,David Calthorpe,Paul Hills andJoe Misiti) that played a key role in the sidewinning the premiership that year. In 1994, Hird won the first of three consecutivebest-and-fairest awards, culminating in his 1996 season that earned him aBrownlow Medal.[18][19]
A series of injuries restricted Hird's appearances during the remainder of the 1990s. He played only seven games in 1997, and, although he was named captain in 1998 (a position he held until the end of 2005), he was restricted to thirteen games that year due to injury-related issues. An even worse year followed in 1999, withstress fractures in his foot keeping him to only two games.[18][19]
In 2000, both Hird and the Essendon Football Club experienced themost dominant season in AFL football to date. Injury-free, he received numerous honours, including selection in theAll-Australian team and theNorm Smith Medal as best on ground in theAFL Grand Final. The Essendon team also won theAnsett Cup pre-season competition as well as theregular season premiership. The team only lost one game—against theWestern Bulldogs—in the entire calendar year.[18][19]
The year2002 then saw Hird's worst injury, a horrific facial injury sustained in a match againstFremantle when he collided with teammateMark McVeigh's knee, fracturing several bones; Hird was in hospital for a week and missed several weeks of the season.[20][18][19]
In2003, despite again missing many games through various injuries (eight games in total), Hird tied withScott Lucas for the best-and-fairest award. He also narrowly missed out on a second Brownlow Medal, finishing three votes shy of joint winnersMark Ricciuto,Nathan Buckley andAdam Goodes. He gained a place in the 2003All-Australian team, the fifth and final time in his career.[18][19]
One of Hird's more memorable performances was in his Round 3 game againstWest Coast in 2004. Up until three-quarter time, Hird had 19 disposals and one goal; in the final quarter, however, he managed 15 disposals and two decisive goals.[21] Despite the incredible effort, and to the consternation of fans, Hird did not receive anyBrownlow Medal votes from the umpires for his 34 disposals and clutch goals, which was perceived by some as retribution for his comments earlier in the week against umpireScott McLaren, for which he was fined $20,000.[22] Hird's winning goal was the focus of a popular instalment of the Toyota Memorable Moments advertising campaign,[23] and the hug is captured in Jamie Cooper's paintingthe Game That Made Australia, commissioned by the AFL in 2008 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the sport.[24][18][19]
On 27 September 2005, Hird handed the captaincy toMatthew Lloyd following the side's2005 season in which it missed the finals for the first time since 1997.[25][18][19]
After Lloyd sustained a season-ending hamstring injury in Round 3, 2006, Hird served briefly as acting captain until young ruckmanDavid Hille was named acting captain for the remainder of the 2006 season.[26][18][19]
Hird continued to be an outstanding performer in his utility role when fit, but age was forcing him to miss games through injury with increasing frequency. He suffered broken ribs and a calf strain during his 200th and 250th games, respectively.[27][28][18][19]
Despite much speculation that he would retire at the end of the 2006 season, Hird played out the 2007 season, playing 17 of a possible 22 games. Aged 34, Hird continued to feature prominently among Essendon's best players and concluded his career by winning a fifth best-and-fairest award.[18][19]
Hird played two farewell games: his final game in Victoria at theMelbourne Cricket Ground againstRichmond and his final game overall atSubiaco Oval againstWest Coast. The games were made higher profile as they were also the final games coached by 27-year coachKevin Sheedy. Hird was one of the best on field in his final game, with 34 disposals, one shy of his career high. As Hird and Sheedy left the field for the last time, the crowd gave them a standing ovation.[29][18][19]
Before season 2008, theArcher–Hird Medal was created to honour Hird and formerNorth Melbourne Football Club player and fellow futureAustralian Football Hall of Fame inducteeGlenn Archer. From 2008 until 2013, the medal was awarded to the player showing the most determination, courage and skill in matches between the Kangaroos and the Bombers.[30]
Immediately after Hird retired from playing football, there was much speculation as to whether he would be interested in a coaching role at a club in the AFL, but primarily at Essendon.[31] After initially dodging questions about his future, Hird stated in August 2010 that "There's something in me, deep in my heart, that says at some point I want to coach Essendon".[32] These words came as a surprise to many, including formerpremiership teammateMatthew Lloyd, who said that Hird had "changed his whole persona in regards to how he's answering his questions... Just in regards to saying, 'I'll coach one day. I want to coach Essendon one day'. Even those type of words, I haven't heard before." These comments by Hird, considered to be Essendon's "favourite son", furthered speculation towards the future of then-Essendon coachMatthew Knights.[33] A rumour emerged following these comments suggesting that Hird was part of an unofficial agreement with the Essendon board to replace Matthew Knights for the2011 AFL Season.[34] However, two days after Hird's initial comments, he announced that he had changed his mind due to the intense division and speculation over Matthew Knights' future following Hird's initial comments. Hird stated that he was ruling himself out of coaching Essendon for at least three years.[34]
On 28 September 2010, the rumours were confirmed when Essendon's chief executive officer, Ian Robson, and chairman, David Evans, announced at an official press conference that Hird would be the next senior coach of the Essendon Football Club on a four-year contract.[35][36][37][38]
Hird's coaching career began with the Bombers winning against triple preliminary finalists theWestern Bulldogs in the first round. Wins againstSt Kilda, theGold Coast (by a record margin of 139 points),West Coast andBrisbane Lions in the first eight rounds saw the Bombers in the top four by round eight, but a draw againstCarlton, losses toSydney andCollingwood and a five-game losing streak halfway through the season saw Essendon drop to tenth on the ladder after Round 14.[39] Hird's team then won by four points against the previously undefeatedGeelong in Round 15, whom assistant coachMark Thompson was coaching against for the first time since his exit from the club.[40] Prior to that match, Essendon had one of the worst records among current AFL clubs against Geelong in recent times, having only beaten the club once since 2003. Hird coached Essendon to the 2011 finals, where they lost against rivalsCarlton in an elimination final at the MCG.[41]
At the start of the 2012 season, Essendon won eight of their first nine games (the only loss being by one point to Collingwood on ANZAC Day), at which point Essendon were in first position on the league ladder. The club then won 11 of their first 14 games but this was followed by seven consecutive losses until the end of the season. The club ended 2012 in 11th place. A spate of soft-tissue injuries accompanied the decline, as did noticeable fatigue in other players, leading to criticism of the club's fitness and conditioning coachDean Robinson and, indirectly, Hird and his assistant Thompson for having overseen Robinson's program.[42]
The 2013 season was initially a good one for Hird and the football club, during which the team was second on the AFL ladder with a 13–3 win–loss record after 17 rounds. However, internal pressure on the club finally took its toll on the players and coach when the AFL banned Essendon from participating in the 2013 finals series. The club on-field performances fell away and lost five of their last six games. In August 2013, he was suspended from coaching for 12 months when he was charged by the AFL with conduct prejudicing the game in relation to his role in theEssendon Football Club supplements controversy.[8]
Banned from coaching in 2014, Hird spent several months living inFrance attending an exclusive business school,INSEAD, nearParis.[43] He returned to the club following the 2014 season. Shortly after returning from his suspension, on 2 October 2014, it was reported that Hird was to be sacked by Essendon due to his determination to lodge an appeal against the Federal Court decision handed down the previous month when the club had chosen not to.[44]
On 18 August 2015, following a 112-point loss toAdelaide in Round 20, 2015—and a dismal season overall for the Essendon Football Club, by which time they had a 5–14 win–loss record and were fifteenth on the AFL ladder—Hird resigned as senior coach.[5][45][46][47][48]
On 17 May 2022, it was announced that Hird would be joining the coaching staff atGreater Western Sydney as part-time assistant coach for the rest of the 2022 season under GWS caretaker senior coach and his former teammateMark McVeigh, who replacedLeon Cameron after he resigned as the club's senior coach midway through the season.[49][50][51] On 2 February 2023, it was announced that Hird left GWS Giants.[52]
Since 2025, Hird has served as the director of coaching at thePort Melbourne Football Club in theVictorian Football League (VFL).[53]
Following Hird's retirement as a player from the Bombers at the end of the2007 AFL season, he became acommentator and footballanalyst for Australian rules football onFox Sports, a position which he held until he began his coaching career at the end of 2010. Hird also became a writer for Melbourne newspaper theHerald Sun. At the start of 2025, Hird joined theNine Network, becoming a panellist on the Tuesday night edition ofFooty Classified, as well as Sunday night program Footy Furnace.
Hird jointly won theBrownlow Medal withMichael Voss in 1996, the award for the fairest and best player in theAustralian Football League. After his retirement, Hird stated that being a member of the "Brownlow Club" was a privilege.[54]
In 1997, the Essendon Football Club named the then-triple best and fairest winner in its Team of the Century on the half-forward flank.[55]
In 2002, the Essendon Football Club conducted a fan-voted promotion to find the "Champions of Essendon". Hird was eventually named as the number three player on the all-time list of Essendon players.[56]
In April 2013, Hird, as coach, was accused of being personally injected with supplements in 2011 and 2012 that would be deemed performance enhancing if he were a player. Essendon players from 2011 and 2012 were also accused of ingesting performance enhancing supplements. As head coach, Hird was subsequently implicated.[57]
Following months of rumours and investigations, on 13 August 2013, Hird, along with the Essendon Football Club, senior assistant coachMark Thompson, football managerDanny Corcoran and club doctorBruce Reid, was charged by the AFL with bringing the game into disrepute in relation to the poor governance of the supplements program at the club in 2011 and 2012. The club was given 14 days to consider the charges and faced an AFL Commission hearing on 26 August 2013.[58][59]
On 27 August 2013, following much negotiation, Hird accepted charges that he had brought the game into disrepute and abandoned possible Supreme Court action against the AFL and its chief executive, Andrew Demetriou. He maintained that he did little wrong, but said he should have known more about the club's supplements program. He was banned from working at any AFL club in any capacity for twelve months commencing from 25 August 2013.[60] Hird was allowed to attend Essendon matches as a spectator during this period.[60] However, despite not being allowed to pay him for working as a coach during 2014, the club paid Hird $1 million in advance for 2014 in December 2013.[61]
A media report on 3 October 2013 said that Hird denied pleading guilty for a reduced charge as alleged by Demetriou. Hird's lawyer, Steven Amendola, asserted that the AFL withdrew all charges against Hird under the deeds of settlement that he and the club signed with the AFL. At the time of the media report, Hird was considering legal action against both the AFL and Demetriou.[62]
Essendon chairman Paul Little said that Hird would be wanted as the senior coach once his suspension was served and that he had been offered a two-year extension from 2015, which would have seen him coaching until the end of the 2016 season.[60] However, Hird resigned after round 20 in August 2015, near the end of the season, with the team near the bottom of the ladder.
Hird married Tania Poynton on 11 October 1997. Around the time of the marriage, Poynton was working as a lawyer at legal firmCorrs Chambers Westgarth, where she remained until 2002.[63] The couple have since separated.[64] Hird shares four children with Tania: a daughter and three sons. One of his sons, Thomas Hird, was signed as a category B rookie at Essendon in 2019[65] and was delisted by Essendon in 2022.[66] Tom Hird now plays for thePort Melbourne Football Club in theVictorian Football League.[67]
Hird's paternal grandfather, the lateAllan Hird, Sr., was a notable player for and president of the Essendon Football Club, and his father,Allan Hird, Jr., had a brief playing career with Essendon.
Hird completed a bachelor's degree in civil engineering in 1998 and worked in that capacity as a consultant on theCityLink project.[68] He has also spent time working for a stockbroking firm and is an active partner in Gemba,[69] a sports marketing and media consultancy firm based in Melbourne. He is the founder and managing director of Euree Asset Management, where he currently works.[70]
On 5 January 2017, Hird was taken to a private hospital following adrug overdose and suspected suicide attempt and was subsequently transferred to a specialistmental health care facility for further care and treatment.[71]
On 28 November 2018, Hird was hit by a car when cycling in Richmond.[72]
G | Goals | K | Kicks | D | Disposals | T | Tackles |
B | Behinds | H | Handballs | M | Marks | ||
# | Played in that season's premiership team | ± | Won that season's Brownlow Medal |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | Votes | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | |||||
| 1991 | Essendon | 49 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 0 |
| 1992 | Essendon | 49 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 45 | 24 | 69 | 29 | 2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 11.2 | 6.0 | 17.2 | 7.2 | 0.5 | 0 |
| 1993# | Essendon | 5 | 16 | 31 | 20 | 174 | 88 | 262 | 89 | 16 | 1.9 | 1.2 | 10.9 | 5.5 | 16.4 | 5.6 | 1.0 | 6 |
| 1994 | Essendon | 5 | 20 | 27 | 17 | 224 | 155 | 379 | 143 | 31 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 11.2 | 7.8 | 19.0 | 7.2 | 1.6 | 6 |
| 1995 | Essendon | 5 | 24 | 47 | 31 | 254 | 201 | 455 | 177 | 25 | 2.0 | 1.3 | 10.6 | 8.4 | 19.0 | 7.4 | 1.0 | 7 |
| 1996 | Essendon | 5 | 24 | 39 | 39 | 330 | 237 | 567 | 175 | 34 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 13.8 | 9.9 | 23.6 | 7.3 | 1.4 | 21± |
| 1997 | Essendon | 5 | 7 | 31 | 18 | 75 | 47 | 122 | 31 | 11 | 2.6 | 1.3 | 10.7 | 6.7 | 17.4 | 4.4 | 1.6 | 3 |
| 1998 | Essendon | 5 | 13 | 19 | 19 | 159 | 89 | 248 | 73 | 24 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 12.2 | 6.8 | 19.1 | 5.6 | 1.8 | 4 |
| 1999 | Essendon | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 11 | 30 | 5 | 3 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 9.5 | 5.5 | 15.0 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 0 |
| 2000# | Essendon | 5 | 20 | 36 | 18 | 294 | 145 | 439 | 115 | 41 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 14.7 | 7.2 | 22.0 | 5.8 | 2.0 | 16 |
| 2001 | Essendon | 5 | 22 | 27 | 17 | 266 | 134 | 400 | 109 | 45 | 1.2 | 0.8 | 12.1 | 6.1 | 18.2 | 5.0 | 2.0 | 5 |
| 2002 | Essendon | 5 | 16 | 11 | 9 | 232 | 104 | 336 | 84 | 29 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 14.5 | 6.5 | 21.0 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 7 |
| 2003 | Essendon | 5 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 279 | 117 | 396 | 77 | 44 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 15.5 | 6.5 | 22.0 | 4.3 | 2.4 | 19 |
| 2004 | Essendon | 5 | 20 | 25 | 14 | 307 | 114 | 421 | 103 | 40 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 15.4 | 5.7 | 21.0 | 5.2 | 2.0 | 9 |
| 2005 | Essendon | 5 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 234 | 80 | 314 | 78 | 36 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 13.8 | 4.7 | 18.5 | 4.6 | 2.1 | 8 |
| 2006 | Essendon | 5 | 13 | 19 | 9 | 172 | 93 | 265 | 86 | 20 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 13.2 | 7.2 | 20.4 | 6.6 | 1.5 | 5 |
| 2007 | Essendon | 5 | 17 | 8 | 6 | 278 | 94 | 372 | 109 | 38 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 16.4 | 5.5 | 21.9 | 6.4 | 2.2 | 9 |
| Career[73] | 253 | 343 | 234 | 3342 | 1733 | 5075 | 1483 | 439 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 13.2 | 6.8 | 20.1 | 5.9 | 1.7 | 125 | ||
W | Wins | L | Losses | D | Draws | % | Win percentage |
† | Team qualified for finals |
| Season | Team | Ladder | Home-and-away season | Finals | Total | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Games | W | L | D | % | Games | W | L | D | % | Games | W | L | D | % | |||
| 2011 | Essendon | 23 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 50.0% | 8† | 17 | 8 | ||||||||
| 2012 | Essendon | 22 | 11 | 11 | 0 | 50.0% | 11 | 18 | — | ||||||||
| 2013 | Essendon | 21 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 66.7% | 9 | 18 | — | ||||||||
| 2015 | Essendon | 19 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 26.3% | 15 | 18 | — | ||||||||
| Career[74] | 85 | 41 | 43 | 1 | 48.8% | ||||||||||||
Team
Individual
Then James Albert Hird was called
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Coach:Brereton | ||
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Coach:Lyon | ||
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| National | |
