- Essendon great and Tania married in October 1997
- Were together through hellish drugs scandal at club
AFL all-time great James Hird has split with his wife of 27 years and moved out of their family home in Melbourne’s most exclusive suburb, it has been reported.
The Essendon legend and his wife Tania were together through his highs as arguably the game’s best player at the height of his on-field career, to the shattering lows brought on by the Bombers drugs scandal, which came to a head in 2013.
Incredibly, the couple – who have four children together – have managed to keep their split a secret for more than a year, according to News Corp.
Tania was not wearing her wedding ring in an Instagram post she made for her design business four weeks ago.
She also appears to have taken a trip to Vietnam with their three sons in October last year, posting an image of them together with no sign of Hird.
However, she was wearing her wedding band in another post for her business last September.
Essendon all-time great James Hird and his wife Tania split more than a year ago
The former Bombers player and coach has moved out of their family home in the exclusive Melbourne suburb of Toorak, it has been reported
Hird has only made rare public appearances lately and has endured a roller-coaster ride when it comes to his career.
Last year it was announced that he’ll be returning to TV on Channel Nine’s Sunday night show Footy Furnace with his fellow AFL great, Jimmy Bartel.
Prior to that he suffered another blow in a career full of them when he applied for the head coaching role at the Bombers after Ben Rutten was moved on in 2022 – only to see chairman David Barham opt for Brad Scott.
He was also poised to take the coaching role at VFL club Port Melbourne, but decided to become the director of coaching due to business commitments.
It is not known whether he will continue in the role now that he has landed the job with Nine.
More to come…
