ESSENDON captain Jobe Watson has questioned if assistant coach Mark Thompson has the hunger to be senior coach again in 2014.

Following this week's announcement that Essendon senior coach James Hird will serve a 12-month ban for his part in the club's supplements scandal, Hird has declared Thompson as the obvious choice to fill the role until August 25, 2014.

Thompson has been fined $30,000 for his role in last year's supplements scandal.

"We'd all like to see Mark Thompson do it," Hird says.

Thompson on Thursday received the backing of Watson, fellow senior player Brendon Goddard and ex-Geelong forward Cam Mooney, who played in two premiership sides under Thompson with the Cats.

However Watson added a note of caution.

"'Bomber' (Thompson) left Geelong because he didn't want to be a senior coach any more," Watson told the Nine Network's The Footy Show.

"Now it's his decision to make if he wants to step back into that role. But I think the reason he left Geelong (after the 2010 season) was he didn't feel as if he could invest what he knew was required to be successful as a senior coach.

"If that's changed for him over the last two or three years, I'm not sure.

"That's a decision he's going to have to make."

Essendon's Goddard told Nine: "If he's willing to do that (senior-coaching role) ... then the boys will have him with open arms."

Mooney says Thompson would feel obligated to step in.

"He left Geelong and he's gone there with Hird to guide him through for three or four years, whatever his contract was," Mooney told Fox Footy's AFL 360 program on Thursday night.

"After everything that's happened this year, he would feel a lot of responsibility to make sure this club bounces back over the next 12 months."

Mooney says a short stint in charge would be perfect for Thompson.

"Any longer than that, I don't think he'd want to do it," Mooney said.

"It's all the other stuff that goes, not just coaching, it's all the commitments outside coaching that probably burnt 'Bomber' out a little bit.

"But for 12 months I think he can do it."

Mooney says Thompson or fellow assistant coach Simon Goodwin, who will coach the Bombers in their last-round clash against Richmond on Saturday night, should be at the front of the queue. Getting an outsider would be a waste of time, Mooney says.

"You can't bring a guy in who doesn't know the game plan, doesn't know the direction the club wants to go and doesn't know the players," Mooney said.