Fletcher was recruited by the
Essendon Football Club in the
1992 National Draft. He played his first senior game against
Carlton in his senior year of high school at
Penleigh and Essendon Grammar School. Right from the get-go, Fletcher proved to be a highly impactful player. At 18 years old, he won a Longest Kick competition, a highly desirable trait that would serve him well for the next 22 years. He was a key member of the
1993 premiership team in his first AFL season, a team which is often referred to as the "
Baby Bombers". Fletcher also played in the
2000 premiership team, a year in which he also won the
Crichton Medal as Essendon's best and fairest and was selected in the
All-Australian team. congratulating Fletcher in 2010 Noted for his longevity in the game, Fletcher played a total of 400 senior VFL/AFL games, which stands as the fifth-highest number of games by any player as of 2023. His AFL career length of 22 years and 58 days is an all-time league record (edging out
Vic Cumberland, whose former record was five days shy of 22 years). Fletcher played his 400th game in Round 9, 2015, becoming the third player in VFL/AFL history to reach the milestone (after
Michael Tuck and
Kevin Bartlett); it would end up being his final game, as he was unable to recover from a groin injury sustained during the match. He holds the outright Essendon games record, having overtaken the previous record of 378 games held by
Simon Madden in Round 1,
2014. He is the second-oldest player to play a VFL/AFL game, aged 40 years and 23 days at the time of his final game, behind only the aforementioned Vic Cumberland (who played the
1920 season at the age of 43). With his father,
Ken, the Fletchers hold the record for the most VFL/AFL career games played by a father and son, with 664 games between them. On 12 January 2016, during the summer after his retirement, Fletcher was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their
use of illegal supplements during the
2012 AFL season. As a result, Fletcher was suspended from playing at all levels for 24 months, which with backdating and provisional suspension served resulted in suspension until November 2016. However, Fletcher had already retired the previous year, so the suspension was moot. After serving his suspension, Fletcher returned in 2017 to play suburban football for
Essendon Doutta Stars. ==Kicking style==