When Mark Thompson called Hird’s sacking ‘inevitable’ last weekend, it was as if we were experiencing an echo. Wind the clock back a few years to the final two months of the doomed Matthew Knights’ tenure. As a mediocre Bombers outfit was winding down a middling season, the calls for Knights’ head grew louder.
On Fox Sports’ ‘On the Couch’ sat James Hird. Any speculation of interest in the senior coaching gig he palmed off with non-answers. The white-anting was subtle and deliberate.
This is not calling out Hird’s sin here - all industries with public prestige are set up in a way in which the ruthless thrive. This is about a flawed club legend who is staring down the barrel of the same fate as his predecessor.
But while Knights was driven out by Essendon factions too readily, these same factions have dug-in to protect Hird leaving the Bombers paralysed and floundering.
In both cases it’s the club that’s suffered from the actions of self-interested parties putting themselves above the greater collective. And it’s damage more self-inflicted than anyone could imagine. Essendon people have done more damage to Essendon than anyone who hates them with the heat of a thousand suns ever could.
All that said, Hird’s tenure has a different kind of threat facing it than Knights’ did. Knights’ tenure ended in a similar manner to which former Prime Minister Julia Gillard removed Kevin Rudd; the project had gone off the reservation and the only solution in the eyes of the parties of change was to blow it all and begin again. It may not have been the right move, but there was an action and a follow through. The bubble was allowed to burst.
In contrast, Hird’s position echoes the Coalition government’s failed leadership spill at the start of the year. A unit had gone wayward with the leader to blame, but there was no official challenger and therefore no resolution, all the while a rabid minority remains steadfast in their support.
Thompson stood up at the 2014 Critchton Medal and declared his ambitions in the same way Malcolm Turnbull handled leadership speculation, signalling intent without stating head on what the course of action was going to be. He didn’t want to count the numbers. Like Turnbull, Thompson’s movements have left the Hird issue unresolved, all while stirring the Essendon supporter base into a deep state of division.
It’s a parlous position for a club that was once a picture of stability. Club legend Kevin Sheedy wasn’t just successful on field, he was master of uniting Essendon’s large and diverse supporter base off it. He was the grandfather figure who curbed the powers behind the scenes and kept the various coterie groups at bay. The contrast to Essendon under Hird could not be more stark.
The absence of top-down control has been the source of most of their issues, even to an extent the environment that allowed the ASADA saga to manifest, was created by an absence of checks and balances.
Sadly, there is no figure at the club in the right position to call off the factionalism or to help its countless wounds heal. And this is what Essendon supporters are frustrated at - the incompetence, indecision and incoherence. A plight that feels hopeless and inescapable, just see today’s listless performance against the Saints. At present there’s limited vision of where the team goes next. Are they rebuilding? Are they challenging? What exactly are they doing?
Where the next red and black stalking horse comes from is anyone’s guess, but it’s likely the current cycle will repeat itself, if the club’s broken inner workings aren’t addressed. And if they aren’t, wilderness awaits.
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