All Australian smoky
He was in ripping nick before he copped that hit from Hurley and then he faded.
Was vintage Fletch in the first half though.
Will get rested for the WA game
LOL at the guy who thought he could run off Fletch.
Hurley should front the MRP for his contact on Fletch.
Hurley should front the MRP for his contact on Fletch.
Nah knowing the MRP they’ll somehow do Fletch in for tripping
All Australian smoky
■■■■. Imagine that!
Would be awesome.
Will get rested for the WA game
But then he’s 400th will be an away game!
Played like a young bloke. Should start contract negotiations immediately.
Was terrific.
Will get rested for both WA away games. Will get to 400 in the dream time game, will go past KB against Melbourne, will play against North in round 16 when Harvey makes it to 400 and Fletch is playing in number 405. Predicting epic battle of the old guys and Fletch to chase down Harvey and get him pinged outside the goal square in one play.
Why does Fletch have to wear a silly jumper every time he kicks a long goal? First there was the one he kicked with the massively wide sash vs the Saints and now last week's one!
Plus that first 90 yard place kick he kicked, where he was wearing a lace-up, a large moustache and a pocketwatch.
Loved him again yesterday. Feel like he’s one of very few who isn’t a completely regimented robot when he’s got the footy as well.
Loved the kick that set Hurley up for that great run down the wing. For a moment looked too much, but I’ll take that over a forced stop and prop every day.
“Plus that first 90 yard place kick he kicked, where he was wearing a lace-up, a large moustache and a pocketwatch”.
Fletch did the hipster thing long before it became ■■■■■.
Evergreen Bomber Dustin Fletcher is 40 years young
This story was published: 1 hour ago May 05, 2015 7:30PM
WHAT did you do on your 40th birthday? Did you head out for dinner? Throw a massive party or perhaps even head overseas on that once-in-a-lifetime holiday you’ve always promised yourself?
I can guarantee that you didn’t wake early in the morning, throw on some club-issued gear and head out the door for a two-hour training session ahead of your 398th AFL game.
That of course is what awaits Dustin Fletcher tomorrow when he hits the big 4-oh and walks through the same routine he first stepped into 23 seasons ago as a schoolboy from Penleigh and Essendon Grammar.
Think about it.
This bloke started playing when Paul Keating won the ‘unwinnable election’, after John Hewson gifted him a bumbling interview on the cost of a birthday cake, and Lynn Arnold handed over the reins of our state to Dean Brown and his Libs.
SA delivered her first Collins Class Submarine as Fletcher delivered his first AFL spoil and while we were finding out that the winner was Sid-eh-nee and setting our sights on an Australian-hosted Olympics, he was setting his sights on an AFL flag.
It was the year Warnie delivered the ball of the century and we were going to the movies to see The Fugitive, Mrs Doubtfire and Jurassic Park.
Little could anyone know, that the 17-year-old anchoring the Bomber backline would, in AFL terms, out last the dinosaurs.
In that first game he played in front of just under 50, 000 in a 132 point draw with Carlton.
On the last weekend of September he suited up in front of almost double that number as the Baby Bombers claimed an unlikely AFL premiership.
There are blokes who have gone an entire career and never tasted that victory and here was this lanky redhead with the go-go-Gadget arms nailing it on his first try.
When you consider a premiership is the ultimate motivator for some, he could have been forgiven for walking away a lot sooner with the realisation it wasn’t going to get any better than that.
But then it did of course in 2000 with another flag to even up his figures.
It’s a hard game and the toll it can take on one’s body is enormous and I, literally and figuratively, shudder to think about how many ice-baths the big man has suffered through.
By his 21st game he had played in front of 1 million people and is currently sitting at around the 19 million, making him the most watched AFL footballer of all time.
If only a company had been allowed to be his personal shirt sponsor for that entire time.
Fletcher is so much more than a bloke who has ground out two decades of football.
This is a story of dedication, luck, persistence and belief and it’s one that stands out in this age of instant gratification and Mayweather-esque hyperbole.
The fact that Fletcher was one of his club’s best by half-time of last weekend’s match against the Saints with 15 disposals and leading his team in metres gained, is a genuine indication that for the very few, age is only a number.
He says he’s only lasted because he has the ability to switch off and get away from the game we all love.
Considering the age of his much younger team mates, this could perhaps be his best fatherly advice.
Plenty more will be written about the unassuming man as he becomes only the third VFL/AFL player to reach 400 games in the coming weeks.
But I wanted to get in early, because if you can’t stop to smell the roses on your 40th birthday, when can you?
She left out when the Romans invaded England, lol. Never mind, it’s a good read.
HAPPY 40th BIRTHDAY for tomorrow Dustin. Hope you have a wonderful day.
Watched by tallies, first and second place:
Dustin Fletcher: 19,133,411
Kevin Bartlett: 13,948,510
Watched by tallies, first and second place:Dustin Fletcher: 19,133,411
Kevin Bartlett: 13,948,510
Brent Harvey: 1,457
I don’t see the issue with Fletcher playing his 400th away at the dreamtime game. I think it’d be awesome.
A big occasion deserves a big crowd, and we’d probably get more Essendon fans in away at the G than at home at Etihad.
I don't see the issue with Fletcher playing his 400th away at the dreamtime game. I think it'd be awesome.A big occasion deserves a big crowd, and we’d probably get more Essendon fans in away at the G than at home at Etihad.
We always seem to lose those big occasion games anyway.
We’re guaranteed to lose fletchers 400th if it’s at the G v Richmond.
Be fitting if it is at the G though, it deserves to be there.
if it’s at Etihad v Brisbane it will be lucky to get over 30k.