Jake Melksham shares support for James Hird amid club’s ongoing struggles
Oliver Caffrey
Jake Melksham, Essendon’s last active AFL player of the reinforcement period, has backed James Hird’s bid to return as Bombers’ coach.
Currently playing a key 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 chairman Andrew Welsh, who chaired the panel to select the club’s next senior coach.
Hird met with Bombers officials this week and revealed he was “all in” about wanting to coach Essendon again.
“Andrew Welsh is a good friend and a former teammate. I know he’ll make the right decision on who he thinks is the right person and probably won’t give in to outside noise,” Melksham said.
“But if Hirdy and Hirdy want to do it, then yes, I support it.”
Melksham revealed that he faced Hird for the first time in over a decade when Melbourne’s VFL team played Port Melbourne, where Hird is director of coaching, on 5 July.
“I actually saw Hirdy… I hadn’t seen him in 11 years, since the press conference. [when he left Essendon]said Melksham.
“It was really nice to see him and hug him and see how he was going.
“It was a bit weird and weird but we had a little chat and he’s on the positive side. If he wants to do it and they think he’s the guy, then do it.”
Melksham moved to the Demons ahead of the 2016 season but was among 34 former and current Essendon players sidelined for 12 months when the Tribunal of Arbitration for Sport overturned the AFL anti-doping tribunal’s not guilty verdict.
Hird accepted a one-year coaching ban for the 2014 season for his actions in Essendon’s reinforcements program in 2012.
The Bombers are heading for their first wooden spoon since 2016, having lost 29 of their last 30 games.
Essendon, the club with the most VFL/AFL titles, have not won a final match since 2004.
“I haven’t been at the club for 11 years, as a former player and now as a spectator,” Melksham said.
“I just want them to start doing good things and have some kind of positive outlook and some hope.”
