Former Essendon star and coach James Hird is joining Channel Nine’s football coverage as the shake-up of the AFL media landscape continues apace.
Hird will join the Sunday night program Footy Furnace, hosted by Nine’s AFL chief reporter, Tom Morris, and featuring Cats great Jimmy Bartel. Hird is replacing Leigh Matthews, who will not return to the show in 2025.
James Hird will join Nine in 2025.Credit: AFL Photos
“I missed the game,” Hird told Nine. “The game is a great game, but certainly I have not missed the publicity. The time feels right.
“The scrutiny is on every player and every coach the whole time. It’s the biggest thing in town, and it is good to be back and part of it.”
Nine, the owner of this masthead, is also reshaping its Footy Classified panel as part of major change prompted by Seven and Foxtel, which are rejuvenating their line-ups for the start of a fresh seven-year, $4.5 billion contract with the league.
The upheaval started when Seven – under new network chief Anthony De Ceglie and head of sport Chris Jones – poached Kane Cornes, Age journalist Caroline Wilson and businessman Craig Hutchison from Nine.
Hird, who won two premierships with the Bombers and was the 1996 Brownlow medallist, captained the Bombers from 1998 to 2005.
He was coach of Essendon from the end of 2010, but was suspended for the 2014 season over the Essendon drugs saga. Hird returned to his role but resigned late in the 2015 season.
He also interviewed for the vacant Essendon job after the club sacked Ben Rutten at the end of 2022, but the Bombers decided to appoint Brad Scott rather than returning to one of their most famous names.
In 2022, he joined GWS as an assistant coach under former teammate Mark McVeigh, who was then interim coach, but Hird left the Giants before the 2023 season.
Hird is currently the managing director of Euree Asset Management, which manages about $150 million of investor funds. He was approached by VFL club Port Melbourne to take on a senior coaching role, but declined. He instead joined the club as a director of coaching.
Nine’s Wednesday night Classified panel of host Eddie McGuire, Bartel, Essendon great Matthew Lloyd and journalist Damian Barrett could remain in place.
Morris has been mentioned in industry circles as a potential Classified news-breaker for the Monday night show. Former Adelaide captain Rory Sloane has emerged as a contender to replace Cornes on Classified.
Seven has also brought in St Kilda champion Nick Riewoldt, who is returning from the United States and will be a part of the network’s game-day and talk shows.
Retired Geelong great Tom Hawkins has finalised a deal to join the likes of Garry Lyon, Nathan Buckley and Jonathan Brown at Fox Footy, having been an ambassador for the network while playing for Geelong.
Former Port Adelaide and Hawthorn great Shaun Burgoyne has left Seven to join Fox Footy.
Meanwhile, Seven announced on Monday night that another Essendon great, Tim Watson, would retire from his television role.
Watson has been the sports presenter on Seven’s nightly news and a commentator for Seven’s footy coverage.
“I have enjoyed the best job in the world at a network that has been incredibly supportive,” Watson said.
“Surrounded by dedicated and talented people who work hard every day to produce the best news bulletins, it’s been a privilege and a pleasure to be invited into people’s homes to deliver the sporting news.”
Seven’s Melbourne news director Chris Salter said: “He was a legend on the field, and he leaves Seven as a legend of the media.
“We thank Tim for his professionalism and many years of loyal service. Viewers will miss him, and the newsroom will too.”
With Jon Pierik and Claire Siracusa
