Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Wednesday morning. This is your town. This is your station. This is Waitley. Good morning. We're going to have to change our favourite game of what would the WWE do to what would Essendon do? Because I'm not sure that even the world leader in sports entertainment would have been quite so bold as to script last night's television.
The first hint of this peculiar and unique Bombers scenario was the fact the ex-coach from more than a decade ago was more anticipated than the coach sacked 12 hours earlier.
Chapter 2: What led to the speculation about James Hird's return to Essendon?
Brad Scott did his bit to build the tension. The coach was blindsided by his dismissal. He believed the club was eyes wide open about the course they'd chosen and the vulnerabilities contained within. But the change in president and chief executive did him in. He wasn't their man and this wasn't their blueprint. Shared custody dissolved and a scapegoat taken.
The red flag was the decision to keep then-Captain Zach Merritt against his will. The coach believed he should have been traded. The president wasn't letting him walk. Even yesterday, declaring the club wouldn't be pushed around. So it was a vanity decision rather than a football decision that won out. But it was all preamble to the moment James Heard stepped through the curtain.
From the moment Scott's sacking had been revealed, the narrative hurtled to the return of Heard, with more than a gentle hint that he'd been preparing not only himself, but a posse to sweep into town. Welsh had a carefully scripted answer about unapologetically bringing great Essendon people back to the club.
The godfather figure that is Kevin Chidi had offered his rousing endorsement of Heard's credentials and his love of the club. Even Merritt, at a beer promotion no less, suggested things might be different if Heard was installed as coach given their strong personal bond.
Chapter 3: How did Brad Scott's dismissal impact the coaching narrative?
So when Heard took the mic, the crowd was in a virtual frenzy and the bomber legend didn't disappear. A disappoint. He wasn't aloof or evasive. He was bold and ambitious. He wants to coach the bombers again and he's ready to beat anyone who stands in his way. And so begins the Essendon Royal Rumble. It will inflame passions on both sides of the debate.
It's not hard to imagine placards and banners echoing those days of standby heard in the terraces. Everyone will have an opinion. Many will hark back to the supplements saga with grave lectures and warnings about going back to the past. But it doesn't matter what anyone on the outside thinks. All that matters is what Essendon thinks can restore this shell of a club. You do you, Bombers.
Heard isn't demanding the job. He's prepared to win it. And he's not above a process. He craves it. The complicated question now, though, will be whether anyone of any standing is prepared to enter the ring opposed to this man, given his standing and place within bomber hearts. Who from the outside will risk their reputation if there's a hint this is a carefully orchestrated outcome?
From this moment in time, amid the euphoria of last night, and that might dim, It would frankly be surprising if Heard wasn't the Bombers' next coach, with the mantra, and this without a hint of irony, to make Essendon great again. It's going to be mega.
I hear a lot around Old Essendon, New Essendon, Boys Club. I look at other clubs that, you know, respectfully, Sam Mitchell's gone back to Hawthorne, doing an amazing job. I look at Longmuir over in Fremantle. Carr's gone back to Port Adelaide. So I think there's some really good history around players going back to clubs and the right people for those groups going to those clubs.
So I don't shy away from Essendon people being great people. And I want... great people, Essendon people, continuing to be involved in the footy club. To coach Essendon, you've got to love Essendon, and I think he does, and I think he'll do anything to make sure he gets this right. If he got a chance, he wouldn't make this one up. I can only go off our relationship. It's very strong.
He's been a great mentor of mine and someone I can always confide in, so from that perspective, I really get on well with him. I think he's got a great viewpoint of the game.
So the most important thing for me as an Essendon person and what I want to see that football club doing is for them to go through the most exhaustive process possible to find the best person to be the coach of the Essendon Football Club. If the club came to me and said, would you be part of that process? I would definitely say yes. That is something I'd love to be part of.
Pit my wares against the other coaches and see enough of the best man for the job. And if I'm the best man for the job, yes, I would love to do that job.
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