The Bombers cast aside the first-quarter losses of Jason Winderlich and Courtenay Dempsey to likely season-ending knee injuries and then a sustained period of midfield dominance by the Blues to grind out a thrilling draw.
""To come back after half time and hang on for a draw shows the character of the players we do have,"" he said after the match,"" Hird said.
""The players have been known as a group that are very flashy and offensive and today they showed they are a real footy club that grinds out results, even though it wasn’t a win for us.""
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Hird admitted he ""put it on"" his players at the final change, as they clung to a one-point lead.
""We just asked them what sort of footy club they want to be part of. Did they want to be part of one that packs it up when it gets a bit hard? Or did they want to be part of one that fights out some sort of result?""
""We all wanted a win and we didn’t get that, but we didn’t lose either. I’m pretty proud of the effort that we put in. We made some mistakes and we didn’t do some of things we wanted to, but I’m proud of the effort.
""It was half way towards winning.""
Hird described it as a ""landmark day"" for the Bombers.
The first was the loss of Winderlich and Dempsey in the manner he did - ""Never seen that happen in my years in footy"" - but also because the fight that he witnessed in the pre-season was also on show in ""the real season"".
""With the rotations in football you lose one player it hurts you, when you lose two, you’re behind the eight-ball.""
Hird wasn’t writing off the loss of the pair until the results of scans in the next few days, but said both Winderlich and Dempsey would be major losses for the club because of their run and carry and because both had worked so hard through the pre-season.
He nominated Kyle Reimers, Alwyn Davey and Travis Colyer as the leading candidates to replace the injured duo and said a solid VFL hit out by Hille on Sunday in the VFL would leave him firmly in the frame to take on Collingwood on Anzac Day.
Hird said the effort against the Blues was even more meritorious given they had just six days to recover from the St Kilda game last Sunday.
But after playing in front of 78,000 fans on Saturday, he is looking forward to playing in front of more than 90,000 on Monday week against Collingwood.
""The good thing about having a large supporter base and with Carlton having a large supporter base, is that a lot of people come to watch. If you perform well, there are positives. If you don’t, everyone sees it as well.""
""When you play the big games you’re front and centre and everyone knows if you’re playing well,"" he said.
Hird admitted he ""put it on"" his players at the final change, as they clung to a one-point lead.
""We just asked them what sort of footy club they want to be part of. Did they want to be part of one that packs it up when it gets a bit hard? Or did they want to be part of one that fights out some sort of result?""
""We all wanted a win and we didn’t get that, but we didn’t lose either. I’m pretty proud of the effort that we put in. We made some mistakes and we didn’t do some of things we wanted to, but I’m proud of the effort.
""It was half way towards winning.""
Hird described it as a ""landmark day"" for the Bombers.
The first was the loss of Winderlich and Dempsey in the manner he did - ""Never seen that happen in my years in footy"" - but also because the fight that he witnessed in the pre-season was also on show in ""the real season"".
""With the rotations in football you lose one player it hurts you, when you lose two, you’re behind the eight-ball.""
Hird wasn’t writing off the loss of the pair until the results of scans in the next few days, but said both Winderlich and Dempsey would be major losses for the club because of their run and carry and because both had worked so hard through the pre-season.
He nominated Kyle Reimers, Alwyn Davey and Travis Colyer as the leading candidates to replace the injured duo and said a solid VFL hit out by Hille on Sunday in the VFL would leave him firmly in the frame to take on Collingwood on Anzac Day.
Hird said the effort against the Blues was even more meritorious given they had just six days to recover from the St Kilda game last Sunday.
But after playing in front of 78,000 fans on Saturday, he is looking forward to playing in front of more than 90,000 on Monday week against Collingwood.
""The good thing about having a large supporter base and with Carlton having a large supporter base, is that a lot of people come to watch. If you perform well, there are positives. If you don’t, everyone sees it as well.""
""When you play the big games you’re front and centre and everyone knows if you’re playing well,"" he said.
