James Hird says he plans on coaching Essendon for a long time despite suggestions he should follow chief executive Ian Robson in resigning from the AFL club.
Robson quit on Thursday, saying while he didn’t know of the irregular practices taking place with the Bombers supplement program last year, his position made him accountable for them.
That has prompted the question of whether football department officials, such as Hird, who had a more direct responsibility for what happened to players, should also go.
Hird said he didn’t want to comment on the issue while the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation into the club continues.
But asked if he felt his position was under greater pressure given Robson’s resignation, he indicated he wouldn’t be following suit.
“I’m the coach of the Essendon Football Club, I love coaching the club, I intend to coach them for a long time and coach them for the supporters, the players and everyone involved,” Hird told reporters on Friday.
“We’ve got a very important game tomorrow night and let’s move on to the game and talk about what’s going to be 90,000 people (watching) Essendon and Richmond, who are fierce rivals and both trying to get somewhere.”
Hird admitted his players’ interviews with ASADA over the past fortnight had been a distraction.
“It has been,” he said.
“This is not a normal (part of) your weekly routine for football.
“But the majority of those interviews are now done, the players have now got through that part of the process, ASADA will go away and contemplate their report, but for us now it’s about playing football.
“I keep talking about we’ve got an amazing game to play tomorrow night, Dreamtime at the ‘G, against an opposition who are of the highest quality, so we’re looking forward to that.”
The Bombers recalled indigenous pair Courtenay Dempsey and Leroy Jetta.
Dempsey is back after missing last round’s loss to Brisbane for disciplinary reasons.
Hird said Jetta’s call-up was not related to the indigenous theme of Saturday night’s match, but was because he had improved the defensive side of his game in the VFL.
The coach guaranteed star forward Michael Hurley would play, despite being subbed out against the Lions with concussion.
