Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd has categorically denied he was part of a clandestine campaign to undermine former Bombers coach Brad Scott and push for James Hird to return to the helm of the club.
Last week, The Age revealed the plot to reinstall Hird at Tullamarine – or the “redemption campaign”, as club leaders called it – turned serious in March last year with a telephone message from former Essendon chairman Paul Little to David Barham, who held the title at the time.
Lloyd confirmed on Monday night that he contacted football pundit Kane Cornes, who had said on SEN that the former champion goal-kicker was among Essendon figures behind the campaign to return Hird as coach.
“I don’t how I got dragged into that at all,” Lloyd said on Nine’s Footy Classified.
“I did text Kane today and let him know that I wasn’t happy with that.”
In discussions on SEN about the vacant Essendon coaching position and the political machinations of the job chase after Hird publicly confirmed his strong interest in the job, reporter Tom Morris and Cornes both named Lloyd as a central ally of his former teammate.
In response to a question from Adam Simpson about the members of “Team Hird”, Morris said:
“The team behind him? Well, Paul Little is very much part of it.
“There’s other people around the outskirts – well, Matthew Lloyd.”
Separately, Cornes said: “I read this morning in the [Australian] Financial Review of all places that Paul Little’s push for James Hird is back on.
“That is absolute rubbish that James Hird had no knowledge that Paul Little was pushing as well as others, like [Matthew] Lloyd and like [Adrian] Dodoro … there were secret coffees going on left, right and centre.”
Lloyd said that in his long career in football media, he had had to regularly discuss the plight of his former club.
“You know what, the most tiring thing I’ve done in my media is talk about Essendon’s failings, year after year, time after time,” Lloyd said.
“I want the best coach, and I don’t care who it is.”
Asked specifically about being a member of a “clandestine cabal”, Lloyd said: “I’ve never met Paul Little in my life.
“I’ve never [even] had a drink of coffee in my life. I don’t drink coffee.
“I’m the least political person – because I’m not interested. I’m not interested in politics.
“It is categorically wrong.
“To Tom Morris and to Kane Cornes who put that out there, that’s factually incorrect.”
Lloyd confirmed that he wanted 253-gamer Hird to be an option for Essendon, who are languishing in bottom spot with a 1-11 record and last week sacked fourth-year coach Scott.
“I’m not pro-James [Hird], I’m not against James. I just want James to be part of the process,” Lloyd said.
“If they decide he’s not part of the process, so be it because at the end of the day, I want Essendon to pick the best coach.
“If it’s the next Adam Kingsley or the next Craig McRae – whoever it is – that’s what I want for the club.”
Former Geelong champion Jimmy Bartel encouraged experienced and successful coaches to “have the confidence” to chase the Essendon coaching job, regardless of whether Hird was a preferred candidate.
“I might be on a little bit of an island … when I hear coaches back out of it [the process] because they’re afraid to compete,” Bartel said on Footy Classified.
“But if we keep hearing time and time again, ‘James Hird hasn’t been a coach for 10 years. He hasn’t been in the hunt week to week’ …”
West Coast premiership coach Simpson last week cast doubt on Essendon’s selection process, while former Sydney counterpart John Longmire was keeping an open mind after Hird’s public declaration for the job.
Simpson was backing up the thoughts of former Port Adelaide coach Ken Hinkley, who had said he would not apply for the Essendon job while it appeared Hird was the frontrunner.
“What are you fearful for?” Bartel said on Monday night.
“Because your head coach, wherever you appoint your head coach, has got to be the strongest personality in your group.
“You’ve got to get the whole entire club to believe your philosophy, your direction – on recruiting, list management, development – and if you’ve all these concerns that everyone keeps highlighting, shouldn’t you have the confidence to be able to beat someone [else for the job]?”
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