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James Hird lifts lid on AFL's first free agency deal
Jaiden Sciberras • October 3rd, 2025 9:24 pm
Essendon legend and former coach James Hird has lifted the lid on the AFL’s first ever free agency deal.
The AFL announced the introduction of free agency in early 2010, permitting another vehicle for player movement around the competition commencing at the end of the 2012 season.
Following the confirmation of the player movement avenue, Hird’s Essendon got to work, eyeing off a star Saint who would inevitably join the club ahead of 2013.
“The first ever free agency deal done in the AFL was actually done by the Essendon Football club, when we recruited Brendon Goddard in 2013,” Hird told Trade Radio.
“Adrian Dodoro had been talking to Dan Richardson, his manager, back as early as halfway through 2011, when we knew this rule was coming in.
“We had a pretty good midfield; Jobe (Watson) was playing some outstanding footy, we had some space at half back and we wanted to recruit some high-end talent into that midfield/half back line.
“Brendon was the obvious player for us. When you go after a free agent, you’ve got to go after a player who – yes, is the best player for the club, but is maybe a little bit underpaid.
“We identified that Brendon was keen to get out and put a lot of work into him. I know David Evans, the president at the time was a keen golfer. I don’t know if they played golf, but he sold the golf dream. I think Brendon still gets a free membership at David’s course 10 or 15 years later.
“We had him over to my place mid-way through 2012, and then towards the end of 2012, we sold him the dream. The first day of free agency at the end of the 2012 season, we did the deal. It was an interesting deal in the way that we’d done it, because nobody had ever done it before.
“We really had to sell him the vision of where we were going. Obviously, it didn’t work out as we would have liked. Excellent player, and a real addition to the football club.”
Raising the curtains on the behind-the-scenes, Hird revealed that he, alongside former list boss Adrian Dodoro, were driving the move prior to contacting St Kilda.
“We were speaking to him individually,” Hird said.
“Adrian Dodoro was speaking to his manager, and we met probably mid 2012 at my place. We got him over; we had a big chat. It was just a sit-down coffee on the couch.
“We didn’t want to waste too much money on a feed. Ian Robson, the CEO (at the time), came over probably towards the end of the season. We sat down and had a really good chat about what we’re trying to do and presented a plan.”
In 2012, St Kilda fell out of the top eight following a superb run at the pinnacle of the AFL. The Saints, led by coach Ross Lyon, featured in back-to-back Grand Finals in 2009 and 2010, losing out against both Geelong and Collingwood in heartbreaking fashion.
The Bombers hovered around the eight-mark for several seasons’ prior, fielding a younger side anchored by superstar Jobe Watson and under-25 core of Brent Stanton, Michael Hurley, Dyson Heppell and David Zaharakis.
With St Kilda forward Nick Riewoldt demanding the limelight in Moorabbin, Hird believes that allowing Goddard to step into his own air at the Bombers was a driving force behind the ultimate decision.
“I don’t think it was about him being underpaid but we were obviously going to pay him a lot more,” he revealed.
“I think it was about coming out of the shadow of Nick Riewoldt to a certain extent. Nick was the big name there, but also, we thought we had a team that was building towards being a successful team, and the Saints were on the decline.
“He was very disciplined and professional about it. (He committed to joining the club) once the year had finished, maybe a couple of weeks after both our seasons had finished.
“We didn’t make the finals, and I don’t think St Kilda did either. About a week after the season finished, he committed, and we kept it quiet. It was pretty much day one, Monday at nine o’clock, free agency opened and we went bang.”
Since Goddard's shift to The Hangar, free agency has developed into a major shaker in the AFL's trade space, with the likes of Buddy Franklin, Isaac Smith and Joe Daniher leading the line as the biggest movers since the initiative's introduction.
