Bombers behind Hird call says Myers

Essendon midfielder David Myers says the players back the AFL club’s decision to delay James Hird’s return to the coaches box until next season.

Hird’s suspension expires next month but won’t return to a hands-on match day role until next season.

Myers said, while the players looked forward to Hird’s return, they felt it was the best plan.

“The main thing with that is that we didn’t want any distractions heading into the finals,” Myers told the AFL website.

“As players we’re looking forward to having Hirdy coming back and we want him back.

“But I think the board decided it would be in the best interests of us that there would be no distractions leading into September.”

Sitting seventh on the ladder on the back of three successive wins, Myers said the Bombers needed to retain the rage against the Swans at the SCG on Friday night.

“It’s pretty tight down the bottom end of the eight, so we’ve got to keep winning games because you could easily drop out if you have a bad couple of weeks,” Myers said.

The 25-year-old is signed to the Bombers until the end of the 2016 season.

While it won’t be an issue for him until then, Myers said he thought free agency was a good thing for the players.

“You can be out of the game quite quickly if things go badly, so to have the flexibility to be able to move and have a bit more control over your destiny is not a bad thing for a player,” Myers said.

“But you don’t want it to get to where the NRL is, where you have guys saying they’re leaving mid-season. I think that’s a bad look.”

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