Essendon coach Mark Thompson believes the arrangements made for James Hird’s return to the club next month will give the team its best chance of playing finals this season.
Hird will focus purely on the 2015 season upon the conclusion of his suspension on August 25 as he works on preparation for the upcoming pre-season, list management and recruiting.
Thompson said he looked forward to welcoming Hird back to the club next month to prepare for the 2015 season.
“We want him to come back and he is going to come back no problems at all,” Thompson said.
“We haven’t put him on the outer, we haven’t isolated him, he is going to be doing a lot of work. He will be around and talk (to players) once he is allowed to come back in because he is their coach.
“We have supported him I don’t think we have isolated him. He will be involved doing lots of work this year.”
Thompson said the decision was made to ensure as little distraction as possible to give players the best opportunity of playing in this year’s finals series.
“We feel that if he does get seen out on the oval and at games then the story would be about him and not the footballers,” Thompson said.
“He is back, they (the players) are going to be coached by him and they have enjoyed being coached by him and there is no reason why it is an issue.
“We said it wasn’t going to be a distraction and it is the last thing we wanted (for it to be a distraction).
“The players missed out on the finals last year and to go through another final series with the show being about James Hird or Mark Thompson isn’t what people want.
“That is what we are going to try and do so we feel like we have done the right thing on this issue.”
Thompson said he was fully understanding of the situation with Hird to return as senior coach once the club’s 2014 season finished.
“We are all happy that he is back, he is going to be the coach and we all knew that was the deal.”
“I was a one year coach and we all knew that was the deal.
“I won’t make a decision on (my future) until the end of the year.”
