Spill the board: The Bombers member threatening upheaval if Hird is overlooked

33-year Essendon member Brett Crabtree is threatening to spill the board if his beloved club doesn’t select James Hird to be the next senior coach.

Crabtree, who reports as the spokesperson for a large contingency of Bombers fans, has claimed that the Essendon board’s history of incorrect decisions cannot continue.

With club legend Hird in the mix for the vacant senior coaching role, the passionate Bombers member believes that only he should be considered for the job, threatening a targeted upheaval of several board members if his wish is not granted by the club.

“The crux of it all is this is based on a litany of many years of poor decisions,” Crabtree told SEN Breakfast.

“From the outset, our motivation – speaking on behalf of a group – it’s not about me, this is about Essendon.

“I want to make it clear; it’s not particularly something I want to be doing. I have a business to run and clients to look after. However, this goes back to years of poor decisions.

“When Brad Scott was let go, Essendon had an opportunity there and then.

“The moment James Hird came out and said, ‘I want to be a part of the process, I want to coach Essendon’, they had an opportunity there and then to stamp it on the head there and then, and say, ‘no, you won’t be a candidate for the role’.

“Or, if he was going to be a candidate, ensure the process was far quicker and more seamless than this complete circus that we’ve seen bordering on the last four months.

“This hasn’t been about my love or otherwise of James Hird. I don’t know James Hird and he doesn’t know me. This is about what’s best for Essendon.

“I heard a few comments yesterday that this is more division and disuniting – it’s actually the opposite.

“They can make a decision to unite the club like it’s never been united before and get it back to relevancy like it once had, because we’ve been irrelevant since 2012.”

Crabtree and his fellow Bombers supporters will not look to spill the entire board.

Instead, they have their sights set on specific board members that they will look to forcefully remove if Hird is not granted the role.

“It won’t be a complete challenge to clean out every board member,” he said.

“That’s not what it’s about. It will be a targeted program; there have been people on that board that have sat through multiple terms.

“You only have to look at the trajectory of our club during their terms… their time is up.

“This is very much targeted to certain board members that have sat through this debacle over however many years.

“It’s not a cleanout to Andrew Welsh… that’s not what it’s about.”

So, how far is Crabtree willing to go to receive his wish?

“We are not interested in making upheaval for the sake of it,” he said.

“If Essendon do the right thing and make the right decision, then we will all unite and we move on.

“If push comes to shove, are we going to keep doing what we’ve done for 14, 15 years?

“Sometimes desperate needs call for desperate deeds, and that’s where we are at the moment. We will cause upheaval to make Essendon relevant again.”

Listen to Crabtree's full interview with Garry, Tim and Sam below: