A simple rostering quirk will be the catalyst for James Hird’s return to the AFL.

Hird has indicated he is keen to accept the league’s invitation and present the Norm Smith Medal to the player judged best afield in this year’s grand final.

The league has invited Hird because, as the 2000 winner, it is his turn.

Since 2004, the AFL has used the order of the Norm Smith medallists to determine who should be the presenter.

An AFL spokesman said in that time, 1989 winner Gary Ablett Snr is the only former winner to decline the invitation.

North Melbourne’s Shannon Grant, the 1999 Norm Smith winner, presented the medal at last year’s grand final to Western Bulldogs defender Jason Johannisen.

Hird was quoted on Thursday night as saying he would love to present the medal, one of the game’s most coveted individual awards.

He is in Europe and is yet to see the league’s official invitation.

Hird has had no official involvement with the game since he left his job as Essendon coach during the 2015 season.

The ongoing fallout from the Bombers’ supplements debacle means his grand final involvement will be controversial, regardless of how routine it is.

He was a key figure in the supplements saga and it took a heavy toll on his health.

The AFL suspended him for 12 months towards the end of the 2013 season.

Despite the ugly controversy, Hird remains revered at Essendon as one of the greatest players in the club’s history.

The 1996 Brownlow Medallist captained the Bombers to the 2000 premiership, their most recent flag.

It was Hird’s second premiership and he was clearly best afield in the convincing grand final win over Melbourne.

While Hird has stayed out of the spotlight since leaving Essendon, it emerged earlier this month that Hird had started to re-establish ties with the club.

He travelled to Hobart in June for a local club coterie function.