Local clubs circle former Essendon player Nick Hind as ex-AFL players, social media identity look for new homes

Just hours after being cut from the Bombers, Nick Hind was planning his next move — and there has been no shortage of offers. Plus, two other ex-AFL players and a social media identity are assessing their options.

Nick Hind was delisted by the Bombers earlier this week. Picture: Albert Perez/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Former Essendon utility Nick Hind is assessing the local footy market as eager clubs clamour for his services.

The 30-year-old was a surprisingly axed from the Bombers on Monday despite playing 15 games this season, including a promising month from round nine to round 12 where he averaged 23 disposals and a goal per game.

Hind was spotted on local footy recruiting site Trainstop hours after he was delisted and has since been flooded with offers from keen local sides — including clubs from the Goulburn Valley league.

It comes as 2017 first-round draft pick Jarrod Brander and former Brisbane and Essendon forward Josh Green and local footy identity Tom Baulch — known as ‘Prime Train’ — are also open to moving clubs.

It is unclear whether AFL clubs have shown interest in Hind but it is understood the 95-game speedster is happy to return to local footy, where his ascent to the AFL began.

Hind’s Trainstop profile says he is “excited for the next opportunity to help local footballers get the best out of themselves and looking to play some good footy myself”.

Nick Hind played 15 games this season. Picture: Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

Hind originates from Clunes near Ballarat, where he played for the now defunct Maryborough before crossing to Clunes in 2011.

After two outings for the Greater Western Victoria Rebels, he then played senior footy at East Point and Clunes before joining Essendon’s VFL program in 2017.

Hind was picked up as a 24-year-old by St Kilda with pick 53 in the 2018 national draft and spent two seasons at the Saints before moving to Essendon via a trade.

The playmaker managed a further 74 games at the Bombers in four seasons, 43 of those coming in 2021-22.

Brander, 25, played 27 games for West Coast and GWS across five seasons and was delisted at the end of 2022.

Since then he has dominated in the Sunraysia league for Wentworth, kicking 137 goals in just 31 games over the past two seasons.

Green has also been a goalkicking machine in Tasmanian local footy, bagging 41 goals in 12 matches this year for Clarence.

Baulch, a local footy mercenary who brings fans through the gates at a rate of knots, has 304,000 followers on TikTok and 125,000 on Instagram.