Essendon manager: What Tim Watson ‘surely’ knows about James Hird’s offer to coach Bombers

Channel 7 presenter and Essendon legend Tim Watson says James Hird is “very, very keen” to coach the Bombers next year.

Interviewed for the job last week, Hird confirmed the ongoing speculation that he would throw his hat in the ring and try to make a sensational comeback at the club, having resigned in 2015 following the infamous Supplement saga which impacted the club just had shaken off.

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Watson, who is still close to some key figures at the Bombers, told SEN what he had heard about the situation.

“What I do know is that James Hird is very, very interested in being the manager of Essendon Football Club, I know that for a fact,” he said.

Watson isn’t exactly keen on Hird being reappointed as Bombers manager, but he does support the club doing a great job raising their hands.

“I support him to throw his hat in the ring and do his job as hard as he wants,” said Watson.

“There were others who withdrew. We found out over the weekend that (Don) Pyke will not be there.

“I still hear from those on the fringes of all this that Brad Scott might still be interested in applying for the job, but that would only be at the extreme end of interviews I would think.

“I read somewhere over the weekend that Lloydo (essendon great Matthew Lloyd) … was pushing for James to become Essendon’s next manager. That’s how I read it”.

Dean Solomon, Adam Yze, Brendon Lade and Hird were all interviewed for the job, but Watson revealed a fifth name that has been seriously spoken of and is being considered.

“(Daniel) Giansiracusa chose the job, so he was interviewed,” Watson said.

“Blake Caracella was not approached to be interviewed for the job.”

Giansiracusa was on Carlton’s last three-name shortlist last year before Michael Voss won the role.

Axed Bombers coach Rutten is moving to Tigers

Meanwhile, sacked Essendon manager Ben Rutten has made it his goal to help Richmond return to being a Premiership squad after being brought up to the Tigers’ coaching ranks.

Rutten was axed as manager of the Bombers last month, shortly after the club’s clumsy attempt to lure Alastair Clarkson failed.

Clarkson joined North Melbourne on a five-year deal and Rutten then received the inevitable message from Essendon that his services were no longer wanted.

Richmond confirmed last week that Rutten had joined the Tigers’ coaching department.

Rutten was an assistant at Richmond from 2015 to 2018 and played a key role as defensive coach in the club’s drought-breaking 2017 Premier League.

He then joined Essendon as an assistant before taking over as head coach from John Worsfold ahead of the 2021 season.

Rutten led Essendon to the Finals in his first season in charge, but the Bombers batted poorly this year, finishing a low 15th with a 7-15 record.

The 39-year-old now has a chance to reignite his coaching career at Richmond, who missed the finals in 2021 and were knocked out at Brisbane’s first hurdle this year.

The Tigers were a force with flags in the years before that in 2017, 2019 and 2020.

“Richmond is a great club and I’m still very familiar with much of the roster and staff, which makes me excited for 2023 already,” Rutten said in a statement.

“I look forward to this new opportunity and the challenge of helping the club get back to the top.”

– With AAP