‘Bizarre’ reunion fuels former teammate’s support for Hird’s coaching bid

Jake Melksham, the last active AFL player from Essendon’s supplements era, has supported James Hird’s bid to return as coach of the Bombers.

Now playing an important role as an experienced member of Melbourne’s forward line, Melksham made 114 appearances for the Bombers – including four seasons under Hird – between 2010 and 2015.

The 34-year-old also played alongside current Bombers president Andrew Welsh, who heads the panel to pick the club’s next senior coach.

Hird this week met with Bombers officials, declaring he is “all in” on wanting to coach Essendon again.

“Andrew Welsh is a good friend and an old teammate, I know he’ll make the right call on who he thinks is the right person, and he probably won’t succumb to external noise,” Melksham said.

“But if it’s Hirdy and Hirdy wants to do it, then yeah, I support that.”

Melksham revealed he ran into Hird for the first time in more than a decade when Melbourne’s VFL team played Port Melbourne, where Hird is director of coaching, on July 5.

“I actually saw Hirdy … I hadn’t seen him for 11 years since his press conference [when he left Essendon],” Melksham said.

“It was really good to see him, give him a hug and see how he’s going.

“It was a little bit strange and a bit bizarre, but we had a chat, and he’s in a positive space. If he wants to do it, and they think he’s the man, then go for it.”

Melksham moved to the Demons ahead of the 2016 season, but was among 34 past and present Essendon players sidelined for 12 months when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the AFL anti-doping tribunal’s not guilty verdict.

Hird accepted a one-year suspension, served during the 2014 season, from coaching for his actions in Essendon’s supplements program in 2012.

The Bombers are headed for their first wooden spoon since 2016, having lost 29 of their past 30 games.

The club with the equal most VFL/AFL premierships, Essendon have infamously not won a finals game since 2004.

“As a past player and an onlooker now, I haven’t been at the club for 11 years,” Melksham said.

“I just want them to start to do well and have some sort of positive outlook and some hope.”