Dustin Fletcher: I'd love to see James Hird back

Essendon Bombers legend Dustin Fletcher had the most charmed rookie season a 17-year-old schoolboy has ever experienced at AFL level; debuting in round three, solidifying his place in Kevin Sheedy’s side soon after, and capturing a flag with the “Baby Bombers” in September. His career, which stretched another 383 games after that point to 400 in total, was just as mind-boggling.Fletcher compares that flag with the near-invincible Bombers side of seven years later, where they waltzed to the premiership conceding only a single defeat to the Western Bulldogs. It came a season after the Bombers’ shock one-point loss to the Carlton Blues the year prior, which led to Sheedy forcing the entire team to watch on in-person at the MCG as the North Melbourne Kangaroos defeated Carlton in the Grand Final. It was a unique experience, Fletcher says. Fletcher was coached by Sheedy, Matthew Knights, Mark Thompson, and finally his former teammate James Hird, who nominates as the greatest player he ever played with.Fletcher’s sons Mason and Max are forging their own sporting careers, both in college football as punters at some of the biggest universities in the US. Later this year, the “Fletcher Bowl” between the pair, who play for Cincinnati and Arkansas respectively, looms as one of the proudest moments of his life.