Essendon’s Dustin Fletcher must be allowed to play on next year.
The serious finger injury that ended his 2014 season early has left the lanky defender stranded on 393 games and without the chance of playing a farewell match.
After 22 years of service to a club that he literally grew up in, he has surely earned the right to come back next year if he so wishes to chase after the magic milestone of 400 games and give the Bombers fans one last chance to say their goodbyes.
They say there is no room for sentiment in modern football but I say shove it, of course there is.
Besides, Essendon could do with a feel-good story at the moment, and what better way to create one than by announcing that the club’s favourite veteran is going to run around again for one more year?
Of course if that happens there will be cries of derision from some quarters about him taking a spot in the team that could be better utilised developing a younger player, and to some degree that is fair comment.
But, if form is present, does age have to come into it at all?
Fletcher’s form this year has been reasonably good. He managed 15 out of 19 games before the finger injury and on most occasions proved to be as reliable as ever. Furthermore, there is still no one on Essendon’s list, young or otherwise, who can play Fletcher’s role better than the man himself.
So why wouldn’t you let him play on?
Even if he isn’t a senior regular next year, he is a mighty fine insurance policy. Essendon’s defence these days revolves around Cale Hooker and Michael Hurley. Both have had great seasons and should continue to play their part down back as the years progress. But if one of them go down, such as when Hooker did against the Gold Coast last weekend, the defence can be left wanting.
Having that third tall option, without having to rob Jake Carlisle from the forward line, is an enormous advantage and it is the role that Fletcher plays so well.
From a team balance point of view at least, Fletcher’s inclusion continues to make sense.
Of course all this depends on the man himself. He has got to want to continue. One senses that he does, but if pressure comes from within the club to consider hanging up the boots, he may start to second guess himself.
Which is why Mark Thompson and James Hird have to do more than just leave the decision up to Fletcher. They should be wholeheartedly encouraging the laid-back defender to take to the paddock for one last tour of duty.
It may turn out that he only manages a handful of games and doesn’t make the magical 400 club after all, but so what? He deserves the opportunity and he deserves a final game where his legion of adoring fans can appreciate his talents one last time and pay him tribute.
He deserves to be chaired off the ground at the end of his last AFL game.
Is that sentimental? Hell yes, but Fletch is a part of the club’s fabric. There are 20-year-olds out there driving cars and going to university, some even playing alongside the great man, who weren’t even born when Fletcher first ran onto the field for Essendon.
A final season would be just reward for all the years of hard work and loyalty, not to mention the pleasure, he has given the club since his debut in 1993.
It is time, just this once, to let sentiment run its course.
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