They may have been coaching two very different types of football, but former Essendon coach James Hird has revealed how useful it was to shadow Jose Mourinho.
Hird, a former AFL player turned coach, was lucky enough to study Mourinho closely when The Special One was still at Real Madrid.
While impressed by the former Manchester United manager's tactics, it was Mourinho's interpersonal skills that really blew Hird away.
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"When I was coach of Essendon I was fortunate enough to have some contacts into Real Madrid when he (Mourinho) was there," Hird said on Santo, Sam and Ed's 2 on 1.