IN THE event that Essendon coach James Hirdsits out 12 months in the wash up of the Bombers' supplements scandal, theBombers have plenty of options to keep his seat safe and warm.
The Essendon coaching diaspora is deep andexperienced.
The most logical step forward would be forthe Bombers to install Mark Thompsonas interim senior coach.
Granted, Thompson, like Hird, is alsofacing a charge from the AFL of bringing the game into disrepute, but hisinvolvement is at the minor end of the scale and he is tipped to escape with afine, which would leave him free to assume the senior coaching roleimmediately.
As the senior assistant coach, he has beenat Hird's side for the last three years and was a dual premiership coach in his11 years with Geelong before rejoining the club he captained to a premiership.
The game-plan, the structures and thedisciplines installed by Hird all carry Thompson's DNA, which is why for theBombers this would be a seamless transition.
Thompson stepped away from the Geelong jobpartly because he was tired of the myriad co-curricular activities that seniorcoaching now entails – sponsors, media, management and AFL requirements.
You would have to think that if tapped onthe shoulder by his club Thompson would take it all on again, even just for 12months, particularly in the knowledge he would be handing it all back to Hirdfor 2015.
The trend now is for clubs to have seniorassistants and if Thompson stepped up then the Bombers would need to fill thatbreach. They could decide the time is ripe to elevate former Simon Goodwin to the position, orThompson could flick through his Rolodex and see what a few of his oldteammates are up to.
The intriguing choice could be Neale Daniher. Football manager at WestCoast for the last four years, his future with the club remains unclear as itbecomes increasingly likely that the Eagles are also in for a coaching andfootball reshuffle at the end of the season.
Earlier this year, Hawthorn coach AlastairClarkson said that Daniher, who coached Melbourne for almost 10 seasons, wasthe best credentialed person not working in the AFL in a coaching capacity andperhaps the opportunity to return to Essendon, where he cut his teeth as aplayer and an assistant coach, would have great appeal.
MarkHarvey's name has also surfaced in discussionsabout the Bombers. The former Fremantle coach has been with the Brisbane Lionsfor the past two seasons as senior assistant to Michael Voss and for the pastfortnight, as the interim senior coach.
Harvey has ruled himself out of the seniorjob, and is content to work as a senior assistant somewhere. Given that whoevercoaches the Lions next year will presumably handpick his own team of assistantsHarvey might need to move on. Why not back to Essendon?
There are others with Essendon connectionsthat might be considered for roles with the club. Mark Williams spent two years with the Bombers before joining PortAdelaide when it joined the AFL in 1997. Now head of development at Richmond,he could be pried away from Punt Road if Thompson decides not to coach or issuspended.
BlakeCaracella is an Essendon premiership player from2000, now a highly regarded assistant at Geelong, having earlier worked atCollingwood under Mick Malthouse. Again, if Thompson does not get the seniorposition, could Caracella be tempted by a return to the Bombers? He could backhimself in for 12 months at Essendon and use that to gain a senior role elsewhereafter that.
And what of Kevin Sheedy? He finishes coaching Greater Western Sydney on theweekend and is yet to commit to an off-field role next year with the Giants, theBombers, or anyone else.
But he remains an intricate part of Essendonand is already providing counsel to the coterie groups that wield so much powerat the club.
It is doubtful that Sheedy will be involvedwith the Bombers in a meaningful football capacity in 2014. But with Hird outof the picture for the time being, he might yet be the kingmaker.
