Watching the finals from the sidelines has become a familiar experience for Essendon players in recent seasons, the Bombers last making the top eight in 2004 and the grand final in 2001.

It’s been a drought Welsh has found tough to take and arriving at the MCG for last year’s Geelong-Hawthorn premiership decider reinforced how much he and his teammates have been missing out on.

“I hadn’t been to any finals games in recent years but I had tickets to last year’s grand final,” Welsh says.

“I went but I just couldn’t stay there. I felt sick not being out there, so I packed up my stuff and took off home and went around to a mate’s joint to watch the game.

“You play footy to be in the finals and when you’re not there it’s tough.”

Welsh’s angst at missing the finals for the past four seasons is understandable.

When he was drafted by Essendon in the 2001 NAB AFL Draft, the club was a powerhouse of the competition.

The Bombers had played in the past two Grand Finals – only a shock loss in a 1999 preliminary final against Carlton had stopped it from playing in three in a row – winning the 2000 premiership before losing its crown to the Brisbane Lions in 2001.

With a star-studded line-up that included James Hird, Matthew Lloyd, Scott Lucas, Dustin Fletcher and Mark Mercuri, Essendon did not just aim to play finals every year, it expected to.

In the first three seasons of Welsh’s career it did. And, after debuting in round seven, 2002, he quickly cemented a position on the Bombers’ half-back line and played all six of the finals they played in from 2002-04.

Now the Bombers are again on the precipice of finals action.

After their round-15 win against the Sydney Swans, the Bombers consolidated eighth place on the ladder, moving a game and percentage clear of Port Adelaide.

With their fast, free-flowing playing style and mix of seasoned pros like skipper Lloyd, Lucas and Fletcher, speedsters Andrew Lovett and Alwyn Davey, and emerging young talents like Patrick Ryder, Tayte Pears, and David Zaharakis, the Bomber look every chance to end their September exile.

Not that Welsh is taking anything for granted. Now one of Essendon’s most senior players and a member of its leadership group, he admits he is excited by the pace and dare Davey and Lovett have brought to the Bombers and the progression of the 19-year-old Pears as a key defender.

Speaking to the AFL Record over the phone last week, Welsh’s passion for football and his club was clear.

Articulate and talkative, he spoke openly about coaches, injury, his new run-with role and his life outside of footy.  

Read the full story in the round 16 edition of the AFL Record, available at all grounds.