Essendon veteran Dustin Fletcher is once again set to play a key role in sharing his 22 seasons worth of knowledge and experience with the club’s playing and coaching group.

Fletcher will pass the magical 400 games milestone in 2015 after signing on to play in the red and black for a 23^rd season.

Coach James Hird believes Fletcher’s experience will be a vital ingredient to the team’s success next season.

“It is a credit to Fletch that he has come up for another season and I think the 400 games is a fantastic landmark for him,” Hird said.

“In talking to him it wasn’t about that, he thinks he has something to contribute as do we to the side not just on the field but off the field.

“Fletch will play a lot of football next year, particularly hopefully at the end of the year where his experience will really help us.”

Further experience has been added to the Bombers defensive stocks with the addition of St Kilda defender James Gwilt as a free agent.

Gwilt played 126 games for St Kilda mainly as a defender but also showed an ability to move forward when called upon.

“James is a very versatile player who has good leg speed, can cover the ground and played very well in finals over his time at St Kilda with Ross Lyon,” Hird said.

“He is the sort of player that can play on talls and smalls.

“You need versatility in your side and James brings that versatility as well as being a quality person who is a hard worker and will slot into our side very nicely.

 “He will provide our defence and our whole team with the versatility that we need.”

The 28-year-old defender joins former St Kilda teammate Brendon Goddard in the red and black for the 2015 season.