Tim Watson has denied that his decision not to endorse James Hird for the vacant Essendon coaching role at the end of 2022 had anything to do with the supplement saga of the previous decade.
A story written by Mark Robinson in the Herald Sun earlier in the year marking the 10-year anniversary of the period that tore the Bombers apart intimated that Watson’s comments revealed the bitterness that still lingered.
The story added that Hird and Watson do not speak, dating back to Jobe Watson being stripped of the 2012 Brownlow Medal.
When asked if their relationship was irreparable, as suggested in the article, Watson said: “That’s not true”.
“I don’t have any ill-feeling towards James Hird. Absolutely none. None,” Watson told SEN’s The Ramble Podcast.
“I’ve been in his company a number of times and we had a 1993 premiership lunch last year and he was there.
“We don’t have a relationship. We’re not best friends and we were friendlier back in the day, but this whole thing happened and I’ve reached out to him, I’ve reached out to 'Bomber' (Mark Thompson) and I understand people are moving through this emotionally and mentally in their own time and in their own way and I respect that.
“I’d be only too happy to sit down and have a conversation with him. In fact, the 1993 premiership reunion will be this year. There will be a function, we’ll cross paths, I hold no ill-will towards James.
“I just, and this is the most difficult thing, when you have been a teammate of somebody and then you have to make a comment around something they might be doing because you hold a position in the media and you’ve got to have an opinion on these things, my opinion about him being the next coach of Essendon had nothing to do with what happened in that ASADA period.
“It had nothing to do with that. I just didn’t think he was the right person for this time and the club needed to move forward and it was as simple as that.”
Speaking during the process on SEN Breakfast, Watson said he was happy for Hird to go through interviews for the Bombers coaching job, and credited his bravery for putting himself back in the spotlight, but added that he would be surprised if Hird was the best candidate for the role.
When asked if he felt like Robinson’s article had incorrectly suggested that Watson’s comments carried ill-will from the supplements saga, the former club captain said: “Yep.”
“It did and I rang the author of it, Mark Robinson, and I spoke to him about it. About the fact that he intimated that I ran some kind of campaign behind the scenes,” Watson added.
“I didn’t ring anybody and voice my opinion about (the coaching search). I didn’t ring David Barham, who is the chairman, I didn’t say to him, ‘David you can’t appoint James Hird’.
“I had other people ringing me trying to campaign on James’ behalf and I said to them that I didn’t think it was the right thing and that they needed to run a process and find the best candidate – which they did, which I thought was the right thing to do.
“I mean, when you read that story about the fact that James and Kevin Sheedy and others were running this as a fait accompli and that that’s what they wanted to do, they wanted to insert James as the coach, to me as an Essendon person, the fans and the players deserve the best person and the best candidate they can possibly find.”
Watson also doesn’t believe his comments in those private phone conversations were any stronger than what he said on SEN radio.
“It wasn’t stronger (than what I said on radio). It was just, ‘this is what I think is the right thing to do’,” he said.
“Essendon had embarked upon this process, they already had the committee established that prospective coaches were going to go through, they wanted somebody experienced, I thought there were a number of candidates out there that had experience that was worth making sure that they interviewed, Brad Scott was one of those.
“In fact, my opinion was, outside Alastair Clarkson, (Brad Scott) was the next best option for Essendon to approach.”
Hird has stepped away from coaching, moving on from his part-time role with GWS.
The Bombers move forward with Scott at the helm and new figures leading the way behind the scenes.
Listen to the first episode of The Ramble Podcast with Tim Watson and Garry Lyon below
