{"id":802742,"date":"2026-07-15T22:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802742\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T22:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T22:56:12","slug":"essendon-coaching-search-jake-melksham-shares-support-for-james-hird-amid-clubs-ongoing-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/802742\/","title":{"rendered":"Essendon coaching search: Jake Melksham shares support for James Hird amid club’s ongoing struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Oliver Caffrey<\/p>\n

July 16, 2026 \u2014 7:45am<\/p>\n

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Jake Melksham, the last active AFL player from Essendon\u2019s supplements era, has supported James Hird\u2019s bid to return as coach of the Bombers.<\/p>\n

Now playing an important role as an experienced member of Melbourne\u2019s forward line, Melksham made 114 appearances for the Bombers \u2013 including four seasons under Hird \u2013 between 2010 and 2015.<\/p>\n

\"ThatThat winning feeling: James Hird in 2015, with Jake Melksham (right) and Tom Bellchambers.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old also played alongside current Bombers president Andrew Welsh<\/a>, who heads the panel to pick the club\u2019s next senior coach.<\/p>\n

Hird this week met with Bombers officials<\/a>, declaring he is \u201call in\u201d on wanting to coach Essendon again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAndrew Welsh is a good friend and an old teammate, I know he\u2019ll make the right call on who he thinks is the right person, and he probably won\u2019t succumb to external noise,\u201d Melksham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut if it\u2019s Hirdy and Hirdy wants to do it, then yeah, I support that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Melksham revealed he ran into Hird for the first time in more than a decade when Melbourne\u2019s VFL team played Port Melbourne, where Hird is director of coaching, on July 5.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually saw Hirdy … I hadn\u2019t seen him for 11 years since his press conference [when he left Essendon],\u201d Melksham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really good to see him, give him a hug and see how he\u2019s going.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a little bit strange and a bit bizarre, but we had a chat, and he\u2019s in a positive space. If he wants to do it, and they think he\u2019s the man, then go for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Melksham moved to the Demons ahead of the 2016 season, but was among 34 past and present Essendon players sidelined for 12 months<\/a> when the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the AFL anti-doping tribunal\u2019s not guilty verdict.<\/p>\n

Hird accepted a one-year suspension, served during the 2014 season, from coaching for his actions in Essendon\u2019s supplements program in 2012.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Zach<\/a><\/p>\n

The Bombers are headed for their first wooden spoon since 2016, having lost 29 of their past 30 games.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cAs a past player and an onlooker now, I haven\u2019t been at the club for 11 years,\u201d Melksham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want them to start to do well and have some sort of positive outlook and some hope.\u201d<\/p>\n

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