Matthew Lloyd hits back at Kane Cornes & Tom Morris over 'incorrect' Hird claim - Footy Classified

Well I talked about a significant week.As we went off air last night there were machinations happening behind the scenes at the Essendon Football Club that would 12 hours later on the Tuesday morning see Brad Scott removed as coach of the Essendon Football Club.It was 12 hours later that night at this very desk that James Heard the former club legend and champion himself, who was of course a coach in 2015 when of course that scandal emerged.He sat here and essentially gave an impassioned plea that he wanted to return to the club where it all started and commence unfinished business.Damo, as we go to you, and you've been covering the Essendon Football Club as closely as anyone for a long time now, but given the six and a half days that it's progressed since that has emerged, have we got any any more answers to those questions?

I don't think there's more confusion, Sam, in the six days that have followed the post -Brad Scott sacking.He is clearly the central piece to what lies ahead for the Essendon Football Club, that being James Hurd.What they are going to do, Sam, now is give themselves a period of two to three weeks to fully thrash out what it is that the board deems to be the type of person they need to run their football club, and then beyond that they will determine a panel to select that person.But I'd imagine, Sam, at the forefront of all their minds as they go down that path, the criteria attached to James Hurd will be the foremost aspect of it because they're getting wrestling in their own minds, they're getting wrestling by the people who are around them at the football club also having a say in how it looks.So you said there's more confusion.Do you have any form of read on it?

He's certainly involved, Sam, and that's not, that may be stating the obvious to so many people.He wants to be involved, there's no one, there's been no communication, as of two hours ago, as we go to air tonight, there's been no communication between Andrew Welsh, the Chair, or the President of the Football Club, and James Hurd, and who blinks first, whether they need to blink and make that call.Is it James making it to Andrew?Andrew to James?Who knows?It may not be a key part of what they ultimately determined to do, but the backdrop to it is, obviously, and has been stated by Ken Hinkley and others around it, while James

Heard's name is still attached to it, they're not going to want to be a part of it.And Ken has actually reiterated that tonight.He has.

In fact, he's not the only coach or would -be coach out there that has given such indications.Lord, I want to bring you in in just a moment, but let's hear some of the reaction of some of those people that could have been involved in the process that spoke in the last few days.

Yeah, it would be a one -man process at the moment.I can't see anyone going for this job.It would be difficult to go for that process when it doesn't feel like it's an even play.

Before anything else, before they ask any other person, they have to decide whether James Hurd is going to be their coach.It looks like, you know, this is somewhat James Hurd's job.

Whether that's they want to go with James Hurd or whether they want to run a proper process, I think they have to work that out first before you can sort of declare yourself an interest in it.

It probably sounds a bit odd that you'd balk or you'd be hesitant, but I just think that's the way it is.An opportunity is an opportunity, but if it doesn't feel real or it doesn't feel authentic, it does make it hard to consider.

So rightly or wrongly, Jimmy, this has become about the spectre of Herd, and we don't even know if he's going to be involved in the process yet.Is that bad for the club?

No, I completely understand those gentlemen's comments and all of them I have a huge amount of respect for and they've sat in a chair and done what I haven't done and they've been a week -to -week matchday coach whether it be assistant or senior coaching job but maybe I might be on a little bit of an island when I hear coaches back out of it because they're afraid to compete.Now, that's a different point of view.Again, I'm not saying their point of view is wrong and mine's right, but if we keep hearing time and time again, well, James Heard hasn't been a coach for 10 years.He hasn't been, I guess, in the hunt week to week.What are you fearful for?Because then your head coach, wherever you appoint your head coach, has got to be the strongest personnel in your group.

You've got to get the whole entire club to believe your philosophy, your direction on recruiting, list management,development, and if you've got all these concerns that everyone keeps highlighting, shouldn't you have the confidence to be able to beat someone out?

situation.

Yeah, look, I understand that, but it was probably a pretty unique situation when Nathan Buckley went to Collingwood or any other past greats of clubs, took up coaching roles at their clubs.If you are a very strong, a very talented coach, and again, this is just my thoughts, and I completely share the thoughts of those other generals or actually understand where they're coming from, but wouldn't you be confident?Well, I mean, that's a fresh take.

I hadn't considered it through that, but you gave an interview with our own Tony Jones for Nine News last week, and I think that the direct quote from the piece was, James will scare a lot of people off.Now, to what we just played there, those accurates ring pretty true, like it's been vindicated.Now, Jimmy said they should be able to compete, but the lure, the spectre of Herd, I reckon at Essendon, is probably bigger than...Any other figure at other clubs?Is that fair?

I think so, yeah.I've got no doubt and I've made the point to some people that say if I wanted to coach Collingwood and suddenly I was up against Scott Pendlebury and Nathan Buckley, I'd feel like I'm up against it because of the history and background they have in the club.So I understand it but I also love Jimmy's point that who's going to be the person out there that is approached by Andrew Welsh or someone within the football club and says I want this job.But they're also conscious, these guys, of not being seen to put their hand up for too many and miss out.Because there are coaches in the past who have been seen, hey, he missed out on that one, he missed out on that one.So a lot of them do protect themselves.

The moment they realise they're not going to get the job or are not in the mix, they say, oh, I wasn't in it anyway.So there is that game that's played by a lot of these coaches.

Speaking of games, you've been dragged into some pretty nasty speculation surrounding the Essendon Football Club in the last few days.

Whose team heard Tom?Oh, the team behind him?Yeah.Well, Paul Little is very much a part of it.Yeah.There's other people that are around the outskirts.

Who are they, Tom?You know who they are.Well, Matthew Lloyd's on his side.

Now I read this morning in the Financial Review of all places that Paul Liddell's push for James Heard is back on.Now at the time Heard said, I've got no knowledge of this.That is absolute rubbish that James Heard had no knowledge that Paul Liddell was pushing as well as others, like Lloyd and like Dodoro, there was secret coffees going on left, right and centre, that there wasn't a push to undermine Brad Scott to get James Heard back.If you believe that, and you believe his word, that is the most ridiculous thing you'll say this year.

What do you make of that?I don't know how I got dragged into that at all, but I did text Kane today and let him know that I wasn't happy with that.

Which part weren't you happy with?

I've just said that I think James should be able to be part of the process, and I'm not pro -James, I'm not against James, I just want James to be part of the process.If they decide he's not part of the process, so be it, because at the end of the day I want Essendon to pick the best coach.The next Adam Kingsler, it's the next Craig McRae, it's whoever it is.That's what I want for the club, because you know what?The most tiring thing I've done in my media is talk about how Essendon's failing year after year, time after time.So I want the best coach and I don't care who it is.

How do you feel though that that sort of implies the fact that you've been trying to pull some strings in the background?

They've essentially accused you of being part of a clandestine cabal to get Brad Scott out and James...

Well I've never met Paul Little in my life.I don't, I've never had a drink of coffee in my life.I don't drink coffee.So I've just never, you know, I'm not the least political person because I'm not interested.I'm not interested in politics of getting involved and trying to get anyone jobs.So it's categorically wrong.

So I didn't listen to the full.I've only just heard those clips, but to Tom Morris and to Cain Corns who put that out there, that's factually incorrect.I can't be any stronger than that because I've never, ever delved in a meeting with anyone from the Essendon football club to pitch for anybody.So that is factually incorrect.

going public with his support for James Heard but Sheedy does feel it does need to be an Essendon person to replace Brett Scott.

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.I think that you go deeper and you dig deeper and you give it your life.I couldn't do any more for Essendon when I coached there.I'm only going back on my own feelings.It's a job.Well, to me it was never a job.

That is a ridiculous statement because once you're involved in a club Like I loved Hawthorne when I played there, I couldn't have loved Collingwood anymore the decade I was there and the decade I was at the Lions.I mean once you're immersed in the club after a few months, it is your club and it's the centre of your existence.

Now what they did, they started winning.And that's what doesn't matter again.I'll come back to the best person.The moment Essendon start winning games, like Justin Longmule's doing for his club, the passion comes.He's won 11 in a row.So that's what happened at Richmond.

They were no good when Hardwick got there.I thought he should go, but they stuck with him.They stuck fat.He won games consistently.The fans started coming again.The passion started coming again.

And that's what I pine for, for the Essendon fans.Club.

game on Sunday.And lastly on the Bombers do you expect Corey Enright to be part of the process because he's certainly spoken of highly internally at the Saints.

I'd be stating he's not a guaranteed part of the Carlton process Sam.I don't claim to know what Essendon wants to do and as I said before they're setting themselves the buy period which is still two matches away to fully bed down what it is that they want out of their next coach and I think only then can we glean what it is that they will go down the path of.