Tom Bellchambers: Hird was fighting for us more than anyone

Tasmanian-born Tom Bellchambers played 132 games for the Essendon Bombers over a 12-year AFL career. It was filled with drama from the get-go, arriving at the conclusion of Kevin Sheedy’s legendary run at the club.In his first ever AFL game, first-year Bombers coach Matthew Knights asked Tom Bellchambers to defend Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin, who welcomed Bellchambers to the league with a nine-goal haul. As a ruckman, Bellchambers was instrumental in Essendon’s revival, helping Jobe Watson to his 2012 Brownlow medal victory.In Bellchambers’ third AFL season, James Hird took over. He describes the support staff around Hird as “truly special” and laments the club didn’t win more finals during that period. Unfortunately, the highly controversial drugs saga ensured it wasn’t to be.Bellchambers and 33 other Essendon player were handed a one-year doping ban in 2016, and in this raw interview he recounts the heartbreaking moment the decision was handed down.Bellchambers’ story didn’t end there though. In the 2017 season, the Bombers marched back into the finals. Physically, his body got the better of him and he proudly retired at the end of the 2020 season. He also talks about his fiancee Olympia Valance’s recent run on Dancing with the Stars.