ESSENDON coach John Worsfold says he hopes James Hird can return to the club this year.

The former Bombers star resigned as senior coach in late 2015 after taking on the role in 2011 and leading the club through the drugs saga. He has been out of football since then.

In early January Hird was taken to a private hospital following a drug overdose and subsequently underwent recovery in a psychiatric facility.

Hird later wrote in a column for the Herald Sun that he reached his “breaking point” after “years of continual stress”.

Round 18

Asked whether he thinks Hird will return to Essendon in 2017, Worsfold told Fox Footy’s On the Couch he “would hope so”.

“I don’t know James personally very well but he is a massive part of the history and success of the Essendon footy club through his playing days. Everyone acknowledges that,” Worsfold said.

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“The old time members, they tell me he’s in the two best players every at the footy club. He’s a special person around the club.

“I know (Dons chairman) Lindsay Tanner has said we’ll make sure that happens.”

Tanner, a former federal parliamentarian, spoke of his desire to bring Hird back into the fold at the Bombers as early as late 2015.

Worsfold was also full of praise for young Bombers star Zach Merrett, who won his first club best and fairest award in 2016 — a season in which he played as a 20-year-old.

The Bombers coach believes in a few years’ time Merrett will be one of the best players in the AFL.

“He’s worked his way up there very quickly,” Worsfold told On the Couch.

“And he is one of those young men who is doing everything he can to get the best out of himself and make sure he actually does maximise his potential going forward.”

“He’s a quality young man, his head is switched on right and he’s ready to go.”