Former GWS coach Leon Cameron says he “didn’t get a sense” James Hird wanted to return to senior coaching while working with him at the Giants.
Hird took up a part-time role at the club earlier this year, before moving to an assistant coaching role to support current interim coach Mark McVeigh following Cameron’s exit.
As the turmoil continues at Essendon, Hird’s name has been linked as a possible candidate to return to the senior coaching role at the club if current coach Ben Rutten is moved on.
Hird departed as senior coach at Essendon in 2015 amid the infamous drug saga, having coached the club on two separate occasions before and after.
After working with Hird for several months earlier in 2022 at GWS, Cameron didn’t believe Hird was aiming to return as a senior coach.
“I got the feeling he (Hird) was just happy to be back in footy in the short time (I worked with him) at the Giants,” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“He was looking for some more fulfillment in his life... I didn’t get the sense he wanted to jump in as senior coach.
“I just don’t think he wants to get back into that part of his life right now, that might’ve changed in three months after working with Mark McVeigh and Dean Solomon at the Giants.
“Whether they talk to James (or someone else), they need to go through the review process first to look at the past before they move forward and that is the big thing.
“If you have a quick fix after a terrible week or a year, they’re jumping into things in a non-methodical way leading into the next 10 years.”
Essendon has called a board meeting on Sunday where it will be decided whether Rutten coaches the club in 2023.