Essendon president Andrew Welsh’s public endorsement of new coach Mark McVeigh has immediately raised eyebrows, with Kane Cornes believing the announcement included a “subtle dig” at James Hird.
McVeigh’s confirmation as coach came a day after a narrow loss to Port Adelaide meant the Bombers finished last and completed the worst season in their history.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Essendon announce McVeigh as coach with pointed statement
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McVeigh, a former Essendon player and current Sydney assistant coach, won the role ahead of Bombers playing great and ex-coach Hird, as well as Jaymie Graham and Murray Davis.
Brad Scott was sacked on May 25, with Dean Solomon interim coach for the rest of the season.
The search for a new coach has involved a tumultuous selection process, with opinion sharply divided on whether Hird should win another tenure in the role.
Welsh, who played at Essendon alongside McVeigh and Hird, said the appointment was a unanimous board decision.
“Mark was clearly the best candidate for what this role demands,” Welsh said on the club website.
“We weighed every candidate against what this role actually demands, and Mark was the clear standout.”
Welsh was understandably strong in backing McVeigh, but some of the comments appeared highlight Hird’s lack of coaching experience in the past 10 years.
“He’s coached at multiple high-performing clubs and played and coached under high-performing coaches, so he knows exactly what it takes to build a winning environment,” Welsh continued.
“Everything he presented to us aligned with the strategy this board has already set. We weighed every candidate against what this role actually demands, and Mark was the clear standout.”
Those comments in particular were interpreted as dig at Hird, according to Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes.
“It’s clearly a little dig, a subtle one, at James Hird, isn’t it?” Cornes said on The Agenda Setters.
“Clearly the best candidate, goes on to speak about the roles that he’s had in football, which James hasn’t.”
McVeigh, 45, played 232 games for Essendon and returns to the club on a three-year contract after nearly 14 years away, which also included working as an assistant coach at GWS.
He also acted as caretaker coach at the Giants in 2022.
Hird had thrown his hat in the ring despite not having any roles in the AFL, aside from a part-time assistant role under McVeigh at GWS, since he departed as Essendon coach in 2015.
Cornes wondered why Essendon even included Hird in the process given his lack of coaching over the past 10 years.
“But it begs the question, why did they allow James to be part of the process? He was never, ever getting this job. You could never have given the job to someone who hasn’t coached for 10 years,” he said.
“He was never getting it. So why did they allow him to be a part of this process and make it as disruptive?”
Channel 7’s Caroline Wilson said Hird presented well and “legitimately” made it through to the final four, and argued it would have been worse for the club had they not interviewed him.
“I just want to say about James Hird, a bit of a rock and a hard place,” she said.
“I mean, the campaign was rabid. It was rabid. And it came from everywhere.
“I even heard on your radio station, Craig, some member saying he was going to spill the board if James Hird didn’t get the job.
“What do they do if they say, we’re not going to interview you? It would have been worse.
“And we’re also being told that James Hird presented pretty well. Like, he legitimately made it down to the last four.”
Hird said he was disappointed to miss out after putting his “heart and soul” into it.
He added that he has been contacted by rival AFL clubs and may consider that in a move that Wilson described as the “penny dropping”.
“He previously ruled out that he wanted to coach at another club, but now perhaps the penny has finally dropped, if you do want to coach then it’s not good enough to say you put your heart and soul into it when you didn’t,” she said.
“Because you didn’t go back and work in the footy environment … he didn’t put his heart and soul into it, he wasn’t prepared to do the work so I don’t actually understand why he would be surprised.”
Cornes added: “It’s a three-year contract for McVeigh so in three years’ time if James goes into a proper apprenticeship that he should have done years ago then he will be in a better position if the club doesn’t turn things around (under McVeigh).”
