Former GWS coach Leon Cameron has questioned whether James Hird is prepared to return to a senior coaching role as soon as next season.
Hird reportedly put his hand up for the vacant Essendon coaching position earlier this week, looking to return to the club and role he departed in 2015.
The Essendon great made a return to the coaching space this season, joining GWS staff in a part time role, however former coach of the club Cameron isn’t sure that is enough to prepare Hird for a return to the top job.
“I think he can coach again… the hardest thing I’m trying to get my head around, is it next year?” he said on SEN’s Crunch Time.
“Does he need a tester; does he need to test himself for a couple of years beforehand?
“There’s no way you can test yourself unless you maybe have a couple of years as a senior assistant somewhere before testing yourself again, as bullet-proofing yourself for readiness for that.”
Despite being uncertain whether it should come next season, Cameron does believe Hird has what it takes to return to the senior position.
“I can see James Hird coaching again because we sat here three or four weeks ago, you talked about senior coaches, there’s a level of confidence and quirkiness (he has),” he said.
“He is that passionate about his football club and he’s sitting there going ‘what has happened to the football club I know, I want to be a part of that, I want my football club to get back to where it wants to get to.’
“You’ve seen it, James there’s a mystique about him, unbelievable superstar player, steps straight into coaching and then we know what happened three or four years later, but there’s this level of confidence, I think he can coach again.”
On the other hand, five-time premiership Hawk Dermott Brereton believes Hird is “better placed” for the top job than he was in the past.
“He’s done his time for the indiscretions, I think he’s learning of life skills, he right now is a better placed human being than he was several years ago when he was right in the thick of the action for the wrong reasons,” he said.
“I can understand people saying ‘we don’t want to step backwards’ but coaching now is so much about man-management, great coaches end up with an aura, James Hird has that aura, he has that charisma about him.
“I think James could be a very good coach again, is he doing the right thing by himself, that’s crept into my mindset in the last 48 hours.
“I believe he’s better placed to be a head senior coach.”
Essendon are currently in the midst of determining their next senior coach, with Hird believed to have been interviewed by the Bombers’ selection committee on Wednesday.