James Hird

From Free net encyclopedia

Current revision

Template:Infobox afl player James Hird (born February 4, 1973) is an Australian rules footballer, formerly the captain of the Essendon Football Club. A versatile player who can play in a key forward position, a midfielder or as a sweeper in defence, he is widely admired as one of the most fearless and best modern players in the game of Australian Rules Football.

Family history

The Hird family has a long history at Essendon, with James' father, Allan, playing with the side in the 1960s, and his grandfather, also Allan, a distinguished player with Hawthorn, Essendon and St Kilda.

Early career

James Hird was recruited from the Ainslie football club in Canberra, in the 1990 AFL draft. Due to injury problems in his junior football career, he was not selected until pick number 79, one of the last in the draft.

James Hird made his debut in 1992, but it was in the 1993 season he first began to make his mark on the game. 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 and Joe Misiti) that played a key role in the side winning the premiership that year.

Early honours

In 1994, Hird won the first of three consecutive best and fairests, culminating in his 1996 season, where he was jointly award the Brownlow Medal for the League's fairest and best player.

Injuries

A series of injuries restricted Hird's appearances during the remainder of the 90s. He could manage 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. An even worse year followed in 1999, when stress fractures in his foot kept him to only two games.

2000 premiership success

2000 was a much better year for Hird. Injury free, he won a number of honours, including selection and captaincy of the All Australian Team, and the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground in the grand final. The Essendon team also won the Ansett Cup pre-season competition, and the regular season premiership. The team only lost one game for the entire season, making it the most successful year for any team in the history of the competition.

Unfortunately, injuries have again plagued Hird since then, the worst being a horrific facial injury during the 2002 season, when he collided with teammate Mark McVeigh's knee. Hird was in hospital for a week and missed several months of the season.

2004: Umpiring Comments

After Round 2, 2004, Hird put the first and only dent into his highly respected reputation, when he made one of his regular panel appearances on The Footy Show. Hird launched a scathing, and clearly premeditated, attack upon the umpiring his team received in the previous round, raising questions about the professionalism and fairness of the performance. He stated that they had had trouble with one particular umpire in several games in the past; initially, it seemed that he wanted to leave the umpire anonymous, but when asked which one, he felt that he had no choice but to name Scott McLaren, whom he later described as "disgraceful."

Host Eddie McGuire and the other panelists were clearly shocked by Hird's outburst; no player had made such harsh comments about umpiring for years, and it was a surprise to all that they were coming from a man held in such high esteem among the football world. As they probed him further to determine his rationale for the outburst, Hird began to realise the trouble he had created for himself, and his comments became increasingly softer; by the end of the discussion, Hird's position had changed. Essendon had no longer "had trouble with McLaren in the past;" instead, it was just "some decisions in this particular game." His cover-up, however, was unable to mask his initial statements.

The matter bypassed the AFL Tribunal, and the punishment Hird would receive would be determined directly by a meeting of the AFL Commission. The Footy Show airs on Thursdays, and the AFL Commission were not meeting until the following week. As such, Hird was allowed to play in the Round 3 game against the West Coast Eagles. Meanwhile, the media and public debated how Hird should be treated: most agreed that a hefty fine would be imposed, some believing a suspension should also have been levied. For others, the debate centered around whether or not players should be allowed to criticize umpires.

With his impending penalty in the back of his mind, Hird took part in the Round 3 game against West Coast two nights later. It was a close, high scoring game, remembered best for its final quarter, in which eleven goals were scored, including five in the final five minutes. Hird played an excellent game, amassing 34 disposals and scoring 3.1. The moment immortalised in history occurred at the 31 minute mark, with scores level on 131. The ball was bounced in Essendon's forward pocket; the ball was tapped to the boundary line side, roved, and neatly handpassed to a goalward running Hird, who slotted it through from 30m on an acute angle. In the emotion of the moment, he ran to the fence and hugged the first fan he saw, a young teenage Essendon fan. Essendon went on to win the game 22.5.137-20.11.131. Controversially, Hird received no Brownlow Medal votes from the umpires for his 34 disposals, media speculation being that the umpires deliberately snubbed him because of his comments. The votes went to Matthew Lloyd (three votes, seven marks, eight goals), Ben Cousins (thirty disposals, three goals), and eventual winner Chris Judd (twenty-three disposals).

On the following Wednesday, April 15, the AFL Commission handed down its penalty to Hird. He was fined $20,000, and forced to contribute to a 3-year umpiring development program; the Commission decided against suspension. In further controversy, Scott McLaren was one of the umpires rostÂered for the Essendon vs Carlton game the following Friday night. The pair shook hands at the commencement of the game, but Carlton fans were particularly hostile to any free kicks given by McLaren to Essendon.

Hird's image in the football world took a beating through this scandal, but he has recouped some of his losses by his maturity in atoning. He remains a figurehead in AFL media, and has a clear understanding of why he was wrong to react as he did. It is likely, however, that history will not judge him upon this incident due to the immense level of skill and courage displayed throughout his career, he may be cited as one of the game's greats.

Recent career

In 2003, despite again missing eight games through various injuries, Hird tied in the Essendon best and fairest with Scott Lucas. He also narrowly missed out on a second Brownlow Medal, finishing only 3 votes behind the winners. However, he was rewarded with a place in 2003's All-Australian side.

Further emphasising Hird's status as one of the game's great players, in 2002 the Essendon Football Club named him as number three on their list of the clubs 25 best ever players.

In 2005, he recreated his game-winning goal against West Coast for Toyota's AFL advertisements. In it, the fan he hugged is replaced by a random groundskeeper.

On September 27, 2005 he handed the captaincy of the club to Matthew Lloyd, but will remain as a player in 2006 after earlier signing a one year contract.

Hird completed a degree as a civil engineer, but aside from football-related media work he has also spent time working for a stockbroking firm<ref name="bombers">Essendon Football club website, http://bombersfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=news&spg=display&articleid=66943. Accessed 11 January, 2006</ref>

Template:Start box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box Template:Succession box

References

<references/>