Essendon’s Nick Hind talks finals footy, current form, contract status and his career thus far

While he admits the club doesn’t talk about the subject a lot, this Don isn’t shy in bringing up September footy. Especially given a quick chicken stop-off cost him a finals spot a few years ago.

Nick Hind celebrates a goal with teammate Mason Redman. (Photo by Dylan Burns/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

It was the two-minute supermarket chicken stop-off that cost Essendon’s Nick Hind the chance to play his first final.

But that frustrating near-miss September moment three years ago has morphed into a fierce determination that still drives the versatile, if sometimes unfairly maligned, Bomber to this day.

While Hind insists finals are far from a discussion point inside The Hangar, despite the club sitting inside the top four after 11 rounds, he makes no secret of the fact he is desperate to take part in September action alongside his Essendon teammates.

“I really want to play some finals footy,” Hind said as Essendon prepared to take on Gold Coast up north on Sunday.

“We don’t talk about that a lot (the goal to play finals) inside the club, but that’s my internal goal – to play finals. It always has been and hopefully we get that opportunity.”

Nick Hind wants a taste of finals footy. Picture: Getty Images

Hind, 29, has got every reason to be frank about his ambitions, given a maiden finals appearance was wrenched from him in bizarre circumstances back in the Covid-interrupted 2021 season.

He had played a career-best 22 games in that first season with Essendon, but it would have been 23 if not for an innocent decision to briefly call into Altona Gate shopping centre to buy a chicken for lunch in the lead-up to the Bombers’ elimination final against Western Bulldogs.

That match was scheduled for Launceston, given Melbourne’s Covid lockdown, which made the fixture problematic for an unsuspecting Hind, who had done nothing untoward with his brief supermarket visit other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He was in and out of the centre in the space of two minutes, but it was enough time to have his finals dream ripped from him.

In keeping with the strange times during those Covid years, Hind followed all the QR code requirements. But the supermarket was listed as a tier-two exposure site, and although he never tested positive to the virus, Tasmania’s restrictive conditions of entry at the time meant Hind was ruled out of the state – and the game.

As tough as it was, he had the perspective to realise others were doing it a lot tougher than he was in missing a game of football.

The Bombers were overwhelmed by the Bulldogs in the second half of that 2021 final, ending their season and proving they were not yet ready to make a mark in September.

Almost three years on, Hind’s desire to make up for that lost opportunity has driven through some tough times.

Hind after Essendon’s AFL Dreamtime win. Picture: Getty Images

And Brad Scott’s refashioned Essendon outfit looks as if it is finally ready for the challenge that could follow the home and away season.

“Scotty’s a very intelligent coach, he talks to us as a group mostly, without a lot of individual stuff,” Hind said. “I actually like that.

“I feel like the way he coaches, and the coaches he has around him like ‘Gia’ (Daniel Giansiracusa), ‘Stants’ (Brent Stanton) and Benny Jacobs, just has everyone on the same page.

“The message is always very clear. We are working together in the right direction.

“We don’t really talk too much about the wins and losses, the process stuff is the most important thing for us.”

The speedy Bomber has never had the luxury of playing with a safety net underneath him.

He’s self-effacing enough to concede he has spent so long playing on footy’s precipice that he no longer worries about what’s underneath.

Instead, he’s turned it into a strength, determined to make the most of every opportunity – and every game – that he can.

He says playing on the edge brings out the best in him. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I have had that sort of chip on my shoulder for my whole career,” a candid Hind explained.

“I got drafted later (than most of his contemporaries), so I have felt as if I have had to work for everything that I have got.

“I’m not saying that others haven’t worked hard too – they have! But I’ve been on the edge for so long now that I actually don’t mind it.

“I don’t like feeling comfortable. I like being able to feel as if I have got something to prove every single time I play. It’s the only way I know.”

Even after producing his best game of the season in last week’s Dreamtime clash against Richmond, in which he kicked two crucial goals, he still doesn’t feel comfortable.

Hind was superb against Richmond last Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

He’s in the final year of his current deal, and realises that having started as the sub four times this season and being subbed out once, he needs to keep performing to keep his spot in a side that suddenly has depth.

He is edging towards a 100-game milestone which looked unlikely at stages of his career, with Sunday’s clash against Gold Coast his 90th outing.

It has been some sort of ride for the one-time plumber from Clunes, in the Victorian central goldfields.

After being overlooked in drafts as far back as 2012, Hind played country footy for Clunes and East Point, before being coaxed down to Essendon’s VFL side.

He was drafted to St Kilda, as pick 54, in the 2018 national draft, but even then he was forced to wait.

He was an emergency in seven games for the Saints, including one when he had to fly (business class, at least) to a clash against Port Adelaide in China in 2019, before finally making his debut in Townsville, of all places, in the next match against Gold Coast.

But after two seasons and 21 games with the Saints, mainly as a forward, he was traded to Essendon and recast as a hard-running defender.

It hasn’t been easy for Hind, who has moved around in positions, depending on the team’s needs, and who has sometimes been a whipping boy for Bombers fans when things have gone wrong.

It is not something that especially worries him, but he doesn’t mind proving people wrong.

“In a way, it’s not about proving people wrong, but about proving myself right,” he said. “I always thought I could make it.

“I’m 29 now and I know realistically I might not play every week, but I am determined to set myself up to be ready to play every week.”

Part of that is remaining flexible to whatever role the coach wants him to play. He knows his versatility, his energy and his speed are the keys to staying in the selection mix.

“Something I am trying to pride myself on is being flexible,” he said. “I have got attributes to be able to play anywhere, so long as I focus on the pressure I have to bring and the role I have to play.”

Hind played his best game of 2024 in last week’s Dreamtime clash with Richmond. His two-goal, 25-disposal and 657-metres-gained performance played a big role in the Bombers’ narrow, and important, win.

Hind celebrates one of his two goals in Dreamtime. Picture: Michael Klein

With Jordan Ridley returning to defence, Hind was released forward, playing more than 85 per cent of the game in attack.

“I planned to play forward with ‘Rids’ coming back, even though I played the majority of time down back (the week before),” he said.

“You enjoy a win for about 30 minutes after the game but then you move quickly into the review and into planning for the next game that you don’t really have the time to enjoy it much more than that.

“We didn’t play our best footy (against Richmond), but we will just keep grinding away and working hard.”

He said the strong bonds within the Bombers’ playing group has played a part in the club’s great start to 2024.

His longest connection within the team – a childhood friendship with Jake Stringer – brings a big smile to his face.

“He’s a superstar, Jake,” Hind said. “He has been through a lot over the years, but he is such a loyal friend.

“I am so proud of what he has been able to achieve. I’m stoked that I was able to play up forward with him (in his 200th game against Richmond), like when we were young.”

Hind’s father, John, played alongside Stringer’s father, John, in several country footy premierships, while the two Essendon teammates first became friends when they attended Maryborough Primary School together.

“I grew up with Jake,” Hind said. “We went to primary school together and our families have always been close.

“We’ve been best mates for so long now.

“Our dads played in some premierships together in local footy and so did Cam Rayner’s old man. There’s some good footy pedigrees up there.”

Hind and Stringer have something else in common. Both are out of contract at the end of this season and Stringer is already looking to ink a two-year extension.

Hind knows he will have to wait a little longer to know his fate, but performances like the one he produced against Richmond will surely win him a new deal.

“We haven’t really spoken about it (contract),” he said. “We are trying to live in the moment. We know how much footy can change in a moment.

“I’m out (of contract) at the end of this year. I just want to keep playing and keep enjoying my footy, and hopefully that will take care of itself.”

Originally published as Essendon’s Nick Hind talks finals footy, current form, contract status and his career thus far