James Hird wants Mark Thompson to take over at Essendon during his 12-month AFL coaching suspension, but Thompson says he’ll need time to think it over.
Hird, whose ban ends on August 25 2014, in time for next season’s finals, is adamant he wants to then return to the job.
Hird’s former team-mate and friend Matthew Lloyd has said the Bombers and Hird have already agreed on a two-year contract extension for him to coach the club in 2015 and 2016.
Hird hopes his assistant Thompson, who was fined $30,000 for his role in last year’s supplements scandal, will fill the breach in the meantime.
“We’d all like to see Mark Thompson do it – he’s the obvious choice,” Hird told reporters on Wednesday.
“That will be a decision for the club and Mark.”
The Bombers board is understood to also want Thompson in charge.
But Thompson, who coached Geelong to the 2007 and 2009 premierships before dramatically quitting the Cats to join the Bombers at the end of the 2010 season, said he was still coming to terms with the events of recent days.
“It’s hard for me to say anything,” Thompson told the Nine Network’s Footy Classified on Tuesday night.
“After the two days I’ve had it’s hard to think what I really want to do. It’s been a pretty intense two days.”
Despite accepting his ban for bringing the game into disrepute and agreeing to drop Supreme Court action against the AFL, a defiant Hird was still unwilling on Wednesday to admit to breaking any AFL rules.
But he did admit he didn’t do enough keep the supplement program under control.
“There were things that went on at our football club last year that shouldn’t have happened and as senior coach I have to take some responsibility for what happened and not doing more to stop it,” he said.
The greatest scandal in AFL history came to a head on Tuesday night when the league announced massive penalties for the Bombers.
Along with Hird’s ban and Thompson’s fine, Essendon were kicked out of this year’s finals, fined $2 million and will lose draft picks.
Football manager Danny Corcoran was suspended for four months.
Club doctor Bruce Reid will face the AFL Commission on Thursday.
The Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (ASADA) investigation is ongoing and could still result in players being charged with anti-doping breaches.
In issuing the Bombers’ penalty, the AFL found Essendon were unable to determine whether players were given some banned substances.
Hird said he felt the club had been unfairly treated during the six months of the investigation, but that continuing with his court action would have only hurt the Bombers further.
He said players were disappointed at the level of sanctions imposed and he was disappointed to be banned, but it was time to move on.
Hird told the commission on Tuesday night that he was deeply sorry for what happened at the club last year and that he took a level of responsibility for what happened.
“I should’ve known what was going on. I should’ve done more and I’m very disappointed that I didn’t,” he said.
Hird added he would eventually say more about how the saga unfolded.
“I would definitely tell my side of the story,” he said.
“You need to give me a few days just to catch my breath and work through that.”