Whatever James Hird does next, it’s time for him to shed the entourage

September 12, 2026 — 3:00am

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James Hird’s response to the revelation that Mark McVeigh planned to meet him this week to discuss an official club role should serve as a warning sign to the new coach and everyone else at the Bombers looking to welcome him back in some capacity.

Hird, whose public performances alongside Footy Classified host Eddie McGuire on Nine (the owner of this masthead) have punctuated his redemption campaign, is now calling for privacy as he considers his professional future. That seems a bit rich.

Fair play to him – his supporters insist his disappointment was genuine. They say key Essendon bosses asked him to keep the meeting confidential. And, whether or not you believe Hird was deluded to think he could win a senior coaching role given his absence from the elite competition for the best part of 12 years, he has clearly been badly bruised by missing out. And the bruising has not yet healed.

But this from the coaching candidate whose interview with the Bombers’ selection panel was reported by this masthead in stunning detail. Those details were published by my colleague in The Age on the day McVeigh was unveiled and became public despite all candidates signing privacy declarations. I don’t know who leaked those details, and it’s immaterial who did; the fact is they did leak and Hird has not complained about........

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