HE was born just one kilometre from Essendon’s old home ground of Windy Hill. 

His famous father Ken played 264 games for the Bombers from 1967 to ’80.

But for all the footy in his blood, a young Dustin Fletcher didn’t dream of donning the sash and standing on the premiership dias in the middle of the MCG. 

Instead, his thoughts revolved around another sports mecca: Wimbledon, and emulating the feats of his childhood hero Stefan Edberg. 

An elite junior tennis player, Fletcher fondly remembers how his days on the court began.

“It probably started when we moved out to Greenvale,” he says.

“Dad bought a block of land that was a reasonable size, but back then we didn’t have the money to build a full tennis court, so we had a full-size net and one side full of grass, dips and hills where you could volley, while the other side was concrete. You could feed balls from one end, and the other person could play his ground strokes from the other end. 

“This started at about nine or 10. Being out in Greenvale, the courts also weren’t far away. Sometimes I’d have a kick of the footy, but 90 per cent of the time I’d have a hit of tennis.” 

Tennis consumed Fletcher, who soon found himself competing all over Melbourne, starting on a Friday night and going all weekend.

His commitment even stretched to family holidays, rising at 7am to enter local tournaments in regional cities Mildura, Shepparton and Albury-Wodonga. 

“There was no real talk of footy. It was more just for fun, while tennis became serious.

“I’d do tennis lessons during the week, and on weekends there was pennant or grade tennis and junior competitions. My two weeks of school holidays were also taken up by tennis tournaments.”


Dustin Fletcher during his junior tennis days. (Photo: Fletcher family)

Fletcher’s hard work led to selection in the Shell Squad – the pinnacle for Victorian junior tennis at the time – joined by Mark Philippoussis, Joe Sirianni, Andrew Ilie and Chris Anstey.

Such was the brightness of Fletcher’s burgeoning career that even giant tennis brand Prince jumped on board as his sponsor.

“We had quite a good Shell Squad when I was there. There were guys who ended up playing Australian Opens like Andrew Ilie and obviously Mark Philippoussis, who was from Williamstown.

“Joe Sirianni was from Ascot Vale. He played three Australian Opens and we’re good friends now.”

But it was with Anstey, who would become an Australian basketball great, that Fletcher formed arguably the country’s best junior doubles team.

“I leant a little bit towards doubles with Chris. With singles you have to be absolutely outstanding, but in doubles you can get away with a good serve and obviously with our height, we could serve and volley a lot.

“We won a lot of tournaments around Victoria and Australia playing doubles. We had some good times and won the Victorian Schoolboys championships for three years in a row.”

Despite his doubles domination, Fletcher realised he wasn’t going to make the grade in the singles format. It was at this point that a subtle shift towards footy began.

Though he’d never played for a junior football club, he’d alternated between tennis and footy from Year 7 at Essendon Grammar.

It wasn’t until the age of 16, however, that the tennis-footy balance was truly tipped on its head.

“From 16 going into 17, tennis just stopped. I was playing Teal Cup, as it was back then. Western Jets had just come in, so I started training there as well.

“Things were going well with footy at the time, and I remember Essendon saying to me, ‘If you keep improving, we might take you in the draft’.

“In the end, it was probably not a really hard decision to switch. In tennis, you have to be in the top 150 in the world to make it. In footy, you only have to be in the top 600 in Australia. It came pretty quickly – finishing tennis and starting footy.”

Drafted by the Bombers as a father-son selection in 1992, few would have predicted the then 17-year-old to go on to play in two premierships and become just the third man in League history to play 400 games.

After all, here was a lanky, unconventional 17-year-old who only had roughly 60 games of competitive footy to his name – most of those in school competition.

But for all his quirks, Fletcher built a mighty reputation for his longevity, agility and game sense – hallmarks that he credits to his tennis days.

“I learnt a fair bit from tennis, from little things like chasing balls down. I was that type of tennis player who wasn’t the most skillful, but I could get by. I could grind out points and fought until the end.

“I think agility and reading the play were big ones, like guessing where opponents were going to serve and the angles you could cut. The smarter the tennis player you are, the easier it is, and it was no different with footy.

“The fitness staff and people at the footy club used to laugh at my GPS results. They may not have been the best, but I reckon I knew every shortcut across the MCG or Etihad or wherever we were playing because of my tennis background.”

While Fletcher still dabbles in the odd game of tennis, he doesn’t attack the court with the same vigour he used to. Most of those competitive juices were “totally used up in footy”, he jokes.

These days, the 43-year-old is just happy to make his mark from the sidelines, coaching tennis every Wednesday at Geelong Grammar and supporting sons Mason, 18, and Max, 16, in their sporting journeys.

“I still have a hit with mates and enjoy playing with the kids, but they never really gave tennis much.

“They love footy and soccer, and also play a bit of basketball. I couldn’t get them across the line in tennis – they said it was boring.

“It’s just great though to see the kids active and having a run around, and I’ll support them in whatever they choose to do.”