Editing James Hird (section)

====Early career====
He was recruited to the AFL by Essendon from the [[1990 AFL Draft]]; however, due to a serious hip injury along with other injuries in his junior football career, he was not selected until pick number 79, Essendon's seventh pick and one of the last in the draft.<ref name='draft-selection'>{{Cite web|title=Essendon Football Club Draft History|publisher=Essendon Football Club|url=http://www.essendonfc.com.au/team/drafthistory.asp|access-date=16 March 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211163140/http://essendonfc.com.au/team/drafthistory.asp|archive-date=11 February 2009}}</ref> Due to injury, Hird missed out on playing for most of 1991, his first season with the club. At the end of the season, a vote was held on whether to delist him. The majority (4–2) voted in favour of Hird being delisted, but coach [[Kevin Sheedy (Australian footballer)|Kevin Sheedy]], sensing a promising future for the young Hird, voted to keep him. Ultimately, Hird remained with the club. He made his senior debut against [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]] in 1992 at Waverley Park as a late replacement for former captain [[Terry Daniher]]. Hird spent most of the season in the Essendon Reserves, which, under [[Denis Pagan]], won the premiership that season. He achieved regular selection in the Essendon senior team during the 1993 season. In that season, he was a member of what was referred to as the "Baby Bombers", a group of young players (most notably including Hird, [[Mark Mercuri]], [[Gavin Wanganeen]], [[Dustin Fletcher]], [[Ricky Olarenshaw]], [[David Calthorpe]], [[Paul Hills]] and [[Joe Misiti]]) that played a key role in the side [[1993 AFL Grand Final|winning the premiership]] that year. In 1994, Hird won the first of three consecutive [[best and fairest|best-and-fairest]] awards, culminating in his 1996 season that earned him a [[Brownlow Medal]].<ref name="JAMES HIRD">{{cite web|url=https://australianfootball.com/players/player/James%2BHird/13012|title=JAMES HIRD|access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref><ref name="essendonfc.com.au">{{cite web|url=https://www.essendonfc.com.au/club/history/champions-of-essendon/james-hird|title=James Hird|access-date=17 May 2022}}</ref>

A series of injuries restricted Hird's appearances during the remainder of the 1990s. He played only seven games in 1997, and, although he was named captain in 1998 (a position he held until the end of 2005), he was restricted to thirteen games that year due to injury-related issues. An even worse year followed in 1999, with [[stress fracture]]s in his foot keeping him to only two games.<ref name="JAMES HIRD"/><ref name="essendonfc.com.au"/>