James Hird's Bidding to Coach Essendon: Key Details Emerge

James Hird met with Essendon's coaching panel, led by Andrew Welsh, on Tuesday, in his bid to regain the coaching job he last held more than a decade ago. Hird has declared his candidacy for the Essendon post since May and confirmed his meeting with the club earlier this month.

The Essendon hierarchy will consider about 10 prospective coaches over a two-week period. While the club has not ruled out a first-time coach, they have not indicated a preference for a candidate with experience as an assistant or someone who has already held the reins of a club. Former Sydney coach John Longmire and former Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley are among other candidates being considered.

Hird's meeting with the coaching panel comes shortly after Brad Scott lost the coaching job and Dean Solomon was appointed the club's interim coach. Former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, who is also a candidate to be the inaugural coach of the Tasmania Devils in 2028, has said the Bombers need to decide whether they want to hire Hird before he will entertain the position.

In other news, Collingwood's Billy Frampton was cleared to play against Carlton on Saturday night after a rough conduct charge. The tribunal found Frampton guilty but reclassified the impact from medium to low, resulting in a fine instead of suspension.

Corey Enright, a senior assistant under Ross Lyon at St Kilda, is expected to be among those who speak to the Bombers. Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham and Sydney assistant Mark McVeigh, a popular ex-Bombers player and interim coach for Greater Western Sydney, are also reportedly in the running.

Frampton's successful defense of the charge was backed by Collingwood, who drew on multiple comparable cases of rough conduct to argue that the impact was low. Tribunal chair Renee Embom, KC, said that while Whitlock's head did hit the ground, the force was reduced by his knee and shoulder first making contact with the ground.

Collingwood's advocate, Nicholas Baum, argued that a reasonable player would not have attempted to release an arm any earlier than Frampton did. Frampton maintained that he thought his tackle would result in a holding the ball call and had no choice but to tackle Whitlock in a way that restricted both his arms.

Other members on Essendon's panel charged with selecting the club's next coach are director Ted Richards, who played with the Bombers and won a premiership at Sydney, and people and culture executive Caroline Monzon.

Collingwood coach Craig McRae said he had no idea what the outcome of Frampton's hearing would be after seeing Collingwood's Jack Crisp cleared by the MRO over a separate incident. Solomon has said he has not decided whether he will seek the coaching role at Essendon, but was contracted for 2027 and would be willing to serve the club in other roles next year.