Demonland

Try it now and let me know how it goes. I've repaired the database and that appears to have fixed the problem. The thing is I did that earlier today and it was only a temp fix and then reverted back. I need feedback from users so I can know when there is a problem.

Please report any issues you have with the site here as we try to iron out the bugs.

What are you putting into the address bar? This has never happened to me on Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, Google Chrome or the iPhone or on many computers and different ISPs.

Also we are on the new server now so it should be smooth sailing from here on.

As some of you are aware Demonland had a catastrophic failure of it's members database and all member profiles were removed. We were able to semi restore the member database but whilst it retained all previous posts up to today's date it did not link those posts to your usernames. In addition all PMs, avatars and some other info was lost and was irretrievable. Our only alternative to get the site back to the way it was was to revert to a previous backup which was unfortunately 2 weeks ago. If the latest backup had been last night then this wouldn't be an issue. Long story short this was the best way we could get all your post history, profiles, PMs and avatar all together as it was. Going forward on the new server there will of course be more regular backups but as we have been on a temporary server that hasn't been able to cope these necessary backups were not done. I apologise for any inconvenience caused. The last 2 weeks has been erased. There is nothing we can do about that now and if anyone wants to have a bitch about it your profile can easily be erased like the last 2 weeks . Anyone who registered in the 2 weeks will have to register again. At least this didn't happen during the year.

Hi Guys, At midnight tonight we will be migrating the Demonland server to a new server. At this time we will be temporarily shutting down the message board and you will not be able to post. Once this is done your ISP might still be pointing to the old server and I will leave a message on there letting you know that you are at the old server. There is nothing you can do but wait until the change propagates to your ISP. The time this takes for different ISPs varies but should be more than a day or so. Many will automatically be rerouted to the new one but others may have to wait. You will know if you are at the new server because you will be able to see the message boards and be able to post. We apologise for any inconvenience. Cheers, Andy You can be kept up to date via http://twitter.com/demonland

One of the threads contained misleading and incorrect statements about Jim's health which would cause additional, unnecessary distress to Jim, his family, close friends and many supporters. Let's all respect the privacy of Jim and his family and look forward to enjoying 2011 with him as our President. In the meantime, this thread is closed.

INDIGENE - PART FOUR by Whispering Jack Legendary Melbourne administrator Jim Cardwell was a major force in building the club's successful premiership-winning teams of the 1950s and '60s. He spent close to three decades at the helm of the club and in that time was responsible for luring numerous young potential champions to throw in their lot with the Demons. However, in the early 1970s he missed out on a couple of gems. Seven years had passed since Melbourne had won its most recent premiership and the club was desperate to bolster its playing stocks and rebuild for the future under new coach Ian Ridley but Cardwell's plan to snare not one but two outstanding young Croweaters went awry. He missed out in his quest to convince diminutive Sturt small man Michael Graham to cross the state border in 1971 and also failed to convince his teammate in ruckman Dean Ottens to make the switch. Both stayed at home and went on to forge magnificent careers in the SANFL. Michael Graham went on to play 282 games over fifteen seasons (for premierships in 1974 and 1976). He represented South Australia at interstate football on eleven occasions and was named on the interchange bench in the official Indigenous Team of the Century as well as making Sturt's "Team of the Twentieth Century". Dean Ottens became one of SA's great big men and fathered Geelong premiership player Brad and another son Luke who had a brief injury-plagued career with the Demons. Ironically, the honour of being the third Indigenous Australian to play at Melbourne remained in the Graham family when Colin, a nephew to Michael, joined the club in 1975 from the Demons' country zone club Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley League after spending his early days at Penola near the South Australian border. Colin Graham made his debut for the Demons as a 17 year-old in round 15, 1975 against Essendon at the MCG. Like his uncle, he was a lively small forward who was good near goal but his career at Melbourne was short-lived and he crossed to Woodville at the end of 1978 after just 35 games (32 goals). Four years after Graham's departure another indigenous youngster arrived at the club from its Goulburn Valley zone. I first saw Les "Lelly" Bamblett play in Melbourne's Under 19s under the legendary junior coach Ray "Slug" Jordan. He came down from Lemnos and I swear that he was every bit as exciting as any of the club's many talented indigenous players going round today. Yes, you can roll Aaron Davey, Liam Jurrah, Jamie Bennell and the others into one and that was Lelly in 1982 when he won the Morrish medal (best and fairest in the VFL Under 19s). I still remember 178cm tall Bamblett in an Under 19 final. He was cramped up on a half forward flank with four or five Tiger defenders descending and he simply weaved his body around all of them as he slotted the ball through the goals. To suggest that I held high hopes for him and the football club as its finals drought neared two decades in duration would be an understatement. Season 1983 promised much as the Ron Barassi-coached Demons signed high paid Brownlow Medal winners Peter Moore and Kelvin Templeton, adding to a stable that included Robert Flower, Brian Wilson and a host of young up and coming talent from the Under 19s that included Chris Connolly and young Bamblett. Lelly made his debut for the club in Round 1, 1983 on the same day as Moore and Templeton but it proved to be another false dawn for the Demons. Moore won a second Brownlow, Templeton kicked 8 goals once against the Cats and Les had a couple of good early games before his form faded. By the beginning of 1984 he was out of the club at 20 years of age and on his way to the Bulldogs where he had one great year and the Doggies almost made it all the way in 1985. He played 11 games and kicked 12 goals at Melbourne and added 37 more games (59 goals) at Footscray until it all ended far too soon in 1988. That he left the club at 20 and that he had such a short career is testament to his own erratic nature and witnesses the enormous difference in our understanding of the culture of our indigenous people from then till now. I don't know anything about what went on inside the club in those days. The club had such an eclectic bunch of players and, even with a club legend back at the coaching helm, it wasn't taken seriously in AFL ranks. There were whispers that Bamblett wasn't popular at the club and that the feeling was mutual. There were hushed suggestions of racism and unsubstantiated stories that he was susceptible to alcohol but in the end, he switched quietly to the Bulldogs where he had brief moments before ending his career all too young; overweight in his mid twenties, his speed and his sparkle having deserted him. I often wondered how and why we lost Les "Lelly" Bamblett or whether it was a case of him losing himself - not just at Melbourne but at the Bulldogs too. Then I came across an interview with him conducted on Whitten Oval Online Forum in July 2009, excerpts of which I would like to share here because, among other things, they tell Lelly's story from his perspective*:- Hi Les & thank you so much for your time. One of our moderators on the site will be beside himself. No worries. Firstly, where did the nickname Lally come from? It's actually Lelly. When I was little one of my cousins couldn't say Leslie and used to pronounce it Lelly. It just stuck. Where did you grow up and who did you barrack for as a kid? I grew up in Shepparton and was a mad Richmond supporter. I loved Royce Hart, KB, Francis Bourke, Dick Clay etc. Who did you start playing footy for? Chris Connolly's dad, Barry owned the local milk bar. He got me to play with Nathalia in one of the junior competitions that were played on Sunday's. I then played school footy and when I was older I played thirds for Lemnos in the Goulburn Valley Football League. I was only 17 at the time but also played seniors that year for Lemnos. How did you get to Melbourne? I was invited to come down to the Norm Smith Scholarship Squad, but I didn't want to leave home, so I stayed in Shepparton. One day in the main street I bumped into Ron Barassi who was in Shepparton. He made it very clear to me that I should be in Melbourne and not Shepparton. I missed the first few games of the 1982 season before finally coming down. How did you go that season? Well, I missed about 5 or 6 games as I was late getting down and I played a few games for the reserves. I won the Morrish Medal that year too as the best player in the Under 19's comp. These days, the Brownlow is a huge TV event, how were you notified that you had won the Morrish Medal? A Melbourne Football Club official came to my house to tell me. Can you remember your first game? It was round 1, 1983. We played Collingwood at the MCG and there was over 70,000 people there. We lost by 10 points, but a lot of the game is vague as David Cloke run through me and cleaned me up. All my family came down for the game, there were heaps of them there that day. So what happened after the 1983 season? I got homesick and mucked around a bit. I didn't like it at Melbourne and didn't want to go back. Richmond had Maurice Rioli and Phil Egan there so I went to Punt Road and did a pre season. Melbourne wanted a transfer fee and Richmond didn't want to pay it, so I ended up going to WA. Graham Moss came to see me and got me over to play with Claremont, but with clearance wrangles I didn't end up playing. How did you become a Bulldog then? Just before the clearance deadline at the end of June Shane O'Sullivan came to WA and asked if I wanted to return to Victoria and play for Footscray? I jumped at the chance and in return Steven O'Dwyer was cleared to Melbourne. You arrived mid 1984, but made a huge impact in 1985. Why was that? I just loved being there, loved the blokes like Doug Hawkins, Steve McPherson, Peter Foster, Magic McLean, Jim Edmond and Rod McPherson. I just couldn't wait to get to training. I was so happy. It was a special time to be around the place. I remember a game against Essendon at Windy Hill where you came in as a late replacement after having your appendix removed. Do you recall that? Yeah, we had played Geelong at Kardinia Park one Saturday and afterwards I felt a pain in my stomach and was in hospital that night. I had an appendicitis and missed out on playing for Victoria and against Melbourne the following week. When we played Essendon it was like espionage as someone else took in my bag with all my gear in it. It certainly fooled Essendon, but didn't help as we went down by 4 goals anyway. Who were some of the better players you played with? * Robert Flower - A sensational footballer for his build. * Doug Hawkins - A great guy who could just play football. * Stephen McPherson - Hard, tough, a larrikin! * Jim Edmond - A great mark for his size, top bloke too. * Michael McLean - The best trainer I ever saw. I'm still great mates with Magic. * Brian Royal - A real good rover. What about some of the players you played against? * Ken Hunter - Very hard on his attack at the ball. * Tom Alvin - Never gave you a moment's peace, always at you. * Robert Dipierdomenico - Hard & rugged, skilful & quick for his size. * Gary Ayres - A real backman who never gave up, was disciplined continually punched from behind and always ran off. * Keith Greig - Easy to see why he won 2 Brownlow Medals. I played on him late in his career but he was silky smooth. Now, in 1986, 87 & 88 you managed 3 games each year. What happened? Injuries. We were playing at Waverley in 1986 & I turned and my Achilles snapped. It felt like I had been shot in the heel. In 1987 I did my knee and had a total reconstruction. It was never the same after that though. I called it a day at the end of 1988. I tried a few games with my mates playing for Maldon, but didn't last long. Now, it's fair to say that the 3 men who coached you when you came to Melbourne would have left an impression upon you. Oh yeah! * Slug Jordan - He was very intimidating. A great junior coach and I reckon if Melbourne would have allowed him to go to Sydney he would have been a great senior coach. Slug had some funny sayings and swore a lot too. * Ron Barassi - Great knowledge of the game and really knew how to get his point across. * Mick Malthouse - Like Barassi, Mick had a great knowledge of the game and knew how to get the best out of each player. I'm still friends with Mick. Do you still follow the footy? Yes, I'm an Assistant Coach with Fitzroy Stars in the Northern Football League so I can't get to AFL games on a Saturday. I get to about half a dozen games a year. Who do you watch? The Bulldogs of course! Also watch Essendon as my nephew, Andrew Lovett plays there, but I'm a Bulldog. Any particular Bulldog players catch your eye? Lindsay Gilbee goes alright, so too does Robert Murphy. I know Jarrod Harbrow's family from Shepparton so I like him and Josh Hill. Married/Children? Not married although my partner and I have been together forever! We have 6 children, 5 girls aged 27, 26, 25, 19 and 16 and a boy aged 22. What do you do work wise? I'm a youth worker and work for a youth hostel. Les, thank you so much for your time and for those of us who were fortunate to see you at your scintillating best it was a privilege. Thanks for that, you're welcome. * changes made for minor corrections. I learned a few things about Lelly's past from this interview, among them the connection with the Connolly family, that he was swapped for Strawbs, that he's related to Andrew Lovett and that he's not the father of 2010 draft hopeful Richard Bamblett (who inspired my search for the article in the first place but wasn't drafted) and, above all, that football clubs provide a much different environment these days in the way they understand and make our indigenous players welcome. TO BE CONTINUED This series is written in honour of the late Matthew Wonaeamirri, father of current Melbourne player Austin. Our hearts go out to all of the family.

INDIGENE - PART FOUR by Whispering Jack Legendary Melbourne administrator Jim Cardwell was a major force in building the club's successful premiership-winning teams of the 1950s and '60s. He spent close to three decades at the helm of the club and in that time was responsible for luring numerous young potential champions to throw in their lot with the Demons. However, in the early 1970s he missed out on a couple of gems. Seven years had passed since Melbourne had won its most recent premiership and the club was desperate to bolster its playing stocks and rebuild for the future under new coach Ian Ridley but Cardwell's plan to snare not one but two outstanding young Croweaters went awry. He missed out in his quest to convince diminutive Sturt small man Michael Graham to cross the state border in 1971 and also failed to convince his teammate in ruckman Dean Ottens to make the switch. Both stayed at home and went on to forge magnificent careers in the SANFL. Michael Graham went on to play 282 games over fifteen seasons (for premierships in 1974 and 1976). He represented South Australia at interstate football on eleven occasions and was named on the interchange bench in the official Indigenous Team of the Century as well as making Sturt's "Team of the Twentieth Century". Dean Ottens became one of SA's great big men and fathered Geelong premiership player Brad and another son Luke who had a brief injury-plagued career with the Demons. Ironically, the honour of being the third Indigenous Australian to play at Melbourne remained in the Graham family when Colin, a nephew to Michael, joined the club in 1975 from the Demons' country zone club Kyabram in the Goulburn Valley League after spending his early days at Penola near the South Australian border. Colin Graham made his debut for the Demons as a 17 year-old in round 15, 1975 against Essendon at the MCG. Like his uncle, he was a lively small forward who was good near goal but his career at Melbourne was short-lived and he crossed to Woodville at the end of 1978 after just 35 games (32 goals). Four years after Graham's departure another indigenous youngster arrived at the club from its Goulburn Valley zone. I first saw Les "Lelly" Bamblett play in Melbourne's Under 19s under the legendary junior coach Ray "Slug" Jordan. He came down from Lemnos and I swear that he was every bit as exciting as any of the club's many talented indigenous players going round today. Yes, you can roll Aaron Davey, Liam Jurrah, Jamie Bennell and the others into one and that was Lelly in 1982 when he won the Morrish medal (best and fairest in the VFL Under 19s). I still remember 178cm tall Bamblett in an Under 19 final. He was cramped up on a half forward flank with four or five Tiger defenders descending and he simply weaved his body around all of them as he slotted the ball through the goals. To suggest that I held high hopes for him and the football club as its finals drought neared two decades in duration would be an understatement. Season 1983 promised much as the Ron Barassi-coached Demons signed high paid Brownlow Medal winners Peter Moore and Kelvin Templeton, adding to a stable that included Robert Flower, Brian Wilson and a host of young up and coming talent from the Under 19s that included Chris Connolly and young Bamblett. Lelly made his debut for the club in Round 1, 1983 on the same day as Moore and Templeton but it proved to be another false dawn for the Demons. Moore won a second Brownlow, Templeton kicked 8 goals once against the Cats and Les had a couple of good early games before his form faded. By the beginning of 1984 he was out of the club at 20 years of age and on his way to the Bulldogs where he had one great year and the Doggies almost made it all the way in 1985. He played 11 games and kicked 12 goals at Melbourne and added 37 more games (59 goals) at Footscray until it all ended far too soon in 1988. That he left the club at 20 and that he had such a short career is testament to his own erratic nature and witnesses the enormous difference in our understanding of the culture of our indigenous people from then till now. I don't know anything about what went on inside the club in those days. The club had such an eclectic bunch of players and, even with a club legend back at the coaching helm, it wasn't taken seriously in AFL ranks. There were whispers that Bamblett wasn't popular at the club and that the feeling was mutual. There were hushed suggestions of racism and unsubstantiated stories that he was susceptible to alcohol but in the end, he switched quietly to the Bulldogs where he had brief moments before ending his career all too young; overweight in his mid twenties, his speed and his sparkle having deserted him. I often wondered how and why we lost Les "Lelly" Bamblett or whether it was a case of him losing himself - not just at Melbourne but at the Bulldogs too. Then I came across an interview with him conducted on Whitten Oval Online Forum in July 2009, excerpts of which I would like to share here because, among other things, they tell Lelly's story from his perspective*:- Hi Les & thank you so much for your time. One of our moderators on the site will be beside himself. No worries. Firstly, where did the nickname Lally come from? It's actually Lelly. When I was little one of my cousins couldn't say Leslie and used to pronounce it Lelly. It just stuck. Where did you grow up and who did you barrack for as a kid? I grew up in Shepparton and was a mad Richmond supporter. I loved Royce Hart, KB, Francis Bourke, Dick Clay etc. Who did you start playing footy for? Chris Connolly's dad, Barry owned the local milk bar. He got me to play with Nathalia in one of the junior competitions that were played on Sunday's. I then played school footy and when I was older I played thirds for Lemnos in the Goulburn Valley Football League. I was only 17 at the time but also played seniors that year for Lemnos. How did you get to Melbourne? I was invited to come down to the Norm Smith Scholarship Squad, but I didn't want to leave home, so I stayed in Shepparton. One day in the main street I bumped into Ron Barassi who was in Shepparton. He made it very clear to me that I should be in Melbourne and not Shepparton. I missed the first few games of the 1982 season before finally coming down. How did you go that season? Well, I missed about 5 or 6 games as I was late getting down and I played a few games for the reserves. I won the Morrish Medal that year too as the best player in the Under 19's comp. These days, the Brownlow is a huge TV event, how were you notified that you had won the Morrish Medal? A Melbourne Football Club official came to my house to tell me. Can you remember your first game? It was round 1, 1983. We played Collingwood at the MCG and there was over 70,000 people there. We lost by 10 points, but a lot of the game is vague as David Cloke run through me and cleaned me up. All my family came down for the game, there were heaps of them there that day. So what happened after the 1983 season? I got homesick and mucked around a bit. I didn't like it at Melbourne and didn't want to go back. Richmond had Maurice Rioli and Phil Egan there so I went to Punt Road and did a pre season. Melbourne wanted a transfer fee and Richmond didn't want to pay it, so I ended up going to WA. Graham Moss came to see me and got me over to play with Claremont, but with clearance wrangles I didn't end up playing. How did you become a Bulldog then? Just before the clearance deadline at the end of June Shane O'Sullivan came to WA and asked if I wanted to return to Victoria and play for Footscray? I jumped at the chance and in return Steven O'Dwyer was cleared to Melbourne. You arrived mid 1984, but made a huge impact in 1985. Why was that? I just loved being there, loved the blokes like Doug Hawkins, Steve McPherson, Peter Foster, Magic McLean, Jim Edmond and Rod McPherson. I just couldn't wait to get to training. I was so happy. It was a special time to be around the place. I remember a game against Essendon at Windy Hill where you came in as a late replacement after having your appendix removed. Do you recall that? Yeah, we had played Geelong at Kardinia Park one Saturday and afterwards I felt a pain in my stomach and was in hospital that night. I had an appendicitis and missed out on playing for Victoria and against Melbourne the following week. When we played Essendon it was like espionage as someone else took in my bag with all my gear in it. It certainly fooled Essendon, but didn't help as we went down by 4 goals anyway. Who were some of the better players you played with? * Robert Flower - A sensational footballer for his build. * Doug Hawkins - A great guy who could just play football. * Stephen McPherson - Hard, tough, a larrikin! * Jim Edmond - A great mark for his size, top bloke too. * Michael McLean - The best trainer I ever saw. I'm still great mates with Magic. * Brian Royal - A real good rover. What about some of the players you played against? * Ken Hunter - Very hard on his attack at the ball. * Tom Alvin - Never gave you a moment's peace, always at you. * Robert Dipierdomenico - Hard & rugged, skilful & quick for his size. * Gary Ayres - A real backman who never gave up, was disciplined continually punched from behind and always ran off. * Keith Greig - Easy to see why he won 2 Brownlow Medals. I played on him late in his career but he was silky smooth. Now, in 1986, 87 & 88 you managed 3 games each year. What happened? Injuries. We were playing at Waverley in 1986 & I turned and my Achilles snapped. It felt like I had been shot in the heel. In 1987 I did my knee and had a total reconstruction. It was never the same after that though. I called it a day at the end of 1988. I tried a few games with my mates playing for Maldon, but didn't last long. Now, it's fair to say that the 3 men who coached you when you came to Melbourne would have left an impression upon you. Oh yeah! * Slug Jordan - He was very intimidating. A great junior coach and I reckon if Melbourne would have allowed him to go to Sydney he would have been a great senior coach. Slug had some funny sayings and swore a lot too. * Ron Barassi - Great knowledge of the game and really knew how to get his point across. * Mick Malthouse - Like Barassi, Mick had a great knowledge of the game and knew how to get the best out of each player. I'm still friends with Mick. Do you still follow the footy? Yes, I'm an Assistant Coach with Fitzroy Stars in the Northern Football League so I can't get to AFL games on a Saturday. I get to about half a dozen games a year. Who do you watch? The Bulldogs of course! Also watch Essendon as my nephew, Andrew Lovett plays there, but I'm a Bulldog. Any particular Bulldog players catch your eye? Lindsay Gilbee goes alright, so too does Robert Murphy. I know Jarrod Harbrow's family from Shepparton so I like him and Josh Hill. Married/Children? Not married although my partner and I have been together forever! We have 6 children, 5 girls aged 27, 26, 25, 19 and 16 and a boy aged 22. What do you do work wise? I'm a youth worker and work for a youth hostel. Les, thank you so much for your time and for those of us who were fortunate to see you at your scintillating best it was a privilege. Thanks for that, you're welcome. * changes made for minor corrections. I learned a few things about Lelly's past from this interview, among them the connection with the Connolly family, that he was swapped for Strawbs, that he's related to Andrew Lovett and that he's not the father of 2010 draft hopeful Richard Bamblett (who inspired my search for the article in the first place but wasn't drafted) and, above all, that football clubs provide a much different environment these days in the way they understand and make our indigenous players welcome. TO BE CONTINUED This series is written in honour of the late Matthew Wonaeamirri, father of current Melbourne player Austin. Our hearts go out to all of the family.

Troy Broadbridge spent six years at the Melbourne Football Club. He started as a rookie, worked his way onto the senior squad and by the end of his sixth season, he was on the brink of a promising career. His personal life was blossoming and he married Trish just before Christmas 2004 and they left for their honeymoon on an idyllic island in Thailand. Tomorrow will mark the passing of another six years since he died, a victim of the tsunami that rocked the lands bordering on the Indian Ocean and killed hundreds of thousands. We ask Demonlanders to pass their respects to Troy on this day. Unless it's big news we prefer that new threads are not opened in this section except those in honour of Troy. Whispering Jack wrote this tribute to Troy after his funeral:- OUT OF THE SHADOWS - A TRIBUTE TO BROADY by Whispering Jack It's early morning and a honeymoon couple strolls along the beach. The wind stops. The waters thud over the shoreline and, in an instant, the waves cast giant shadows on the sand as it suddenly disappears below them. The tiny droplet of time left is barely enough for him to guide her to the relative safety of a balcony before the tide turns again. The roar of the ocean has become a shrill scream that echoes across the Bay of Bengal and beyond leaving tragedy and death in its wake. He is one of the many who are lost to us forever … Troy and Trisha Broadbridge were on their honeymoon in the Thai resort of Phi Phi Island when the Indian Ocean tsunami struck on Boxing Day 2004. A little over a week earlier they were married and a few days before that Troy had wound up an intensive pre-season training period with his teammates at the Melbourne Football Club. He had just completed his best season since coming to club as a rookie-listed player in 1999. After six years as a Demon, Troy's career and his life were just starting to take shape. A little over a month after the wedding Trish is repeating the vows she declared on their wedding day. As the mourners stand teary eyed in the shadows of a packed St James' Catholic Church in Gardenvale she recites them softly. "Troy, you are my best friend. I promise I'm going to love you no matter what happens, I will always stand by you like you have stood by me. I love you so much because of everything you've done for me, for the person that you are, for the heart that you have." For my part, I remember meeting Broady for the first time when he worked behind the bar at The Bentleigh Club in his first year as a rookie. He was friendly but appeared shy. Former Melbourne Football Manager Danny Corcoran had been confident from the beginning that he would blossom as player and was delighted to snaffle the services of the red headed youngster from South Australia. The pedigree was good (his father Wayne, was a star player with Port Adelaide), he was tall, fast, athletic and willing to learn. In time, he would recover from the serious injuries that were dogging his career and more lately he was overcoming the doubts he seemed to have in his own ability. They said that Troy Broadbridge was in awe of the fact that he played the game as some of footy's heroes and that he never saw himself at their level but by the end of 2004 Troy Broadbridge was moving out of the shadows. Troy played most of his first season with the Melbourne reserves and was beset by shoulder problems in his rookie year. He came back through the Sandringham reserves and played in the Zebras 2000 winning grand final side in the last football match played at VFL Park. After gaining promotion to the senior list, he made his AFL debut in 2001 when the Demons went down to Essendon by a solitary goal in round 8. He snagged a major with his first kick in the red and blue. Then followed a serious knee injury in 2002 and more shoulder problems in 2003 but Broady came back to play regularly for Melbourne and his 40th and last AFL game, also against the Bombers in the 2004 Elimination Final, was among his best. Eligible for the VFL finals, Troy went on to star in the Zebra defence a fortnight later in his second premiership with Sandringham. Now we are going through a difficult process of overcoming the grief. The process involves accepting the reality of the loss, working through to the pain of grief and adjusting to an environment in which he is no longer there. After that, we move on with life but always remember that his spirit lives on. Melbourne Chairman Paul Gardner summed up the feeling of many of the 700 who attended the funeral - "Today, we farewelled our friend Troy Broadbridge. Sadly, these ceremonies are occurring all around the world. It is our great hope that generosity of spirit that has been shown regardless of creed and colour and race and religion will continue on and some of the lives have not been lost in vain," he said. "The Broadbridges and Trisha have been consoled by their family, their friends and their faith, and now it is time for the Melbourne Football Club to move on. "It's time for the club to show the confidence, the ambition, the factors Troy had as a footballer. I want to thank everybody for their support. It's been overwhelming. I urge every Melbourne supporter to get behind the club right now, to encourage the players and make 2005 the best it can possibly be." Former Demon champion and good friend Jim Stynes said of Broady - "Troy had a huge leap, he could take a great mark, he ran like a greyhound, he could match up on talls or smalls. He was quietly confident, with a wicked sense of humour. But above all, he was the most selfless footballer to play at Melbourne that I can remember..." "Some will remember the way he died, but I'll remember the way he lived, the way he played, and most of all the way he loved." Still, you can't forget the way Troy died. A guiding principle of one of the world's ancient religions says that he who fulfills his duty to save a life is considered as if he has saved the entire world. Broady's fateful last moments embodied exactly that. When he pushed his beloved wife Trisha out of the shadows of death and to safety, he demonstrated for all time that he was more than the equal of any of the heroes he played with and against in his short career. Troy Broadbridge will always be remembered in life and in death as a champion person and a true hero.

As the year draws to a close, I would like to again extend to all Demonlanders our best wishes for a joyous and peaceful season. A particular thank you to everyone for their contributions to the site; to our writing team headed by Whispering Jack, thanks for keeping us at the top of the tree despite and to the moderators who keep things level and on board thanks for all your work. Thanks to the Board, the staff, the coaches and the players at the MFC. As usual, we're looking forward to bigger, brighter and better things in 2011 and beyond. And again to all posters and readers thanks for sticking with us (even the few who we've banned and have come back!) Wishing you all a Happy Christmas and a Safe New Year ... and Special Wishes to those who are unwell ... we're with you all the way, especially to Jimmy our hero who this year achieved a debt free club. It's onwards and upwards in every respect ...

Ponting fracture confirmed by X-rays. What now for the captaincy?

Just a reminder that next week on Boxing Day 26 December we commemorate Troy Broadbridge, the Demon player who passed away in the tsunami on Boxing Day 2004. On that day we usually put aside all other discussion and pay our tributes to Troy.

Now that the last of the drafts have passed by, we've merged the Trading and Drafting Message Board back with the Footy Message Board. The articles are still all there for you to visit but some are already a good few pages back. You can use the search function to find any ones you were looking for. It will return post season 2011. Thanks for your support of the Gold Coast Suns v The Rest Trading and Drafting Message Board - we hope you enjoyed it. No doubt the Greater Western Sydney Giants will be the object of our derision next year. You may start the campaign for forum naming right now.

Demonland started in 2000 and in our first full year (2001) we instituted a Player of the Week. I've just been able to access our archives and found that our very first POTW was ... (drum roll) ... a young Cameron Bruce

INDIGENE - PART THREE by Whispering Jack The life of Thomas Wentworth Wills (1835 - 1880), one of the Australian football's founding fathers and the country's indigenous people are closely intertwined. Their narratives are steeped in tragedy and despair and, in a way, it appears that fate conspired to bring them together in a dance of hopelessness and death. Edward Wills, convicted at Kingston-on-Thames Surrey of highway robbery was spared the death penalty and arrived in the colonies on the notorious convict death ship Hillsborough. He died before his son Horatio Spencer Howe Wills was born in the fledging colony of New South Wales. Horatio's son Tom Wills was born on a sheep run at Molonglo Plains, but he grew up near the town of Moyston in the Western District of Victoria among shepherds and tribal Aborigines where he learnt to speak their language. Tom Wills became a celebrated sportsman in colonial Victoria but this did not please his father, a leading pastoralist and parliamentarian, who made what appears to have been a concerted effort to remove his son from the Melbourne sporting world by taking him to Cullin-La-Ringo, Central Queensland. This proved disastrous because, once there, Wills Senior was soon killed by Aboriginals at an encampment with 18 other settlers in the biggest massacre of Europeans in a single battle with Aboriginals in Australian history. Twenty-six year old Tom was lucky enough to be absent from the camp at the time buying supplies. The Europeans together with some black policemen sought retribution and retaliated by indiscriminately killing hundreds of Aboriginals, the innocent and the guilty. Wills remained for a time at Cullin-La-Ringo and despite the tragedy of his father's death which hurt him deeply, he went on to captain a team of Aboriginal cricketers from Western Victoria. They played together in a game played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day 1866 before 10,000 spectators and the team created great excitement. This was the forerunner of the first Australian cricket team to tour England but by that time Wills had fallen out of favour with the organisers and consequently, he did not accompany the team. Although once called "the Grace of Australia" and "a model of muscular Christianity", Wills succumbed to an indulgence in alcohol and finally drowned in the illness of depression when on 2 May 1880 at his Heidelberg home he stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. The inquest returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind caused by excessive drinking. Educated in Melbourne until 1852, Tom Wills went to Rugby School where he played football and captained the cricket team. He was in the Cambridge XI against Oxford in 1856 before returning to play for Victoria which he later captained. His cricketing career spanned almost two decades of inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, scoring 319 runs at an average of 21.27 and taking 72 wickets at 10.23. He also played for several local teams including Richmond and the Melbourne Cricket Club, of which he was secretary in 1857-58. On 10 July, 1858 Wills wrote a letter to Bell's Life in Victoria in which he called for cricketers to take up a winter sport for fitness' sake. This correspondence led to the first game of Australian football between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College in August 1858 at Richmond Park. Wills was one of the umpires. With his brother-in-law H. C. A. Harrison and others, they codified the first rules of the game and the Melbourne Football Club was born. Wills played over 210 games mostly for Geelong, the second club formed, until he retired in 1876. There has been conjecture as to whether the rules of the game stemmed from Wills' association as a child with Aboriginals in Western Districts of Victoria. Most historians say the rules of the game were based on those played at Rugby and other English public schools but this view is not accepted by all. Indigenous Australians played what is called "marngrook" which literally means "game ball" and is the name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations. Although not enough known by anthropologists about the prehistoric customs of Aboriginal people to determine how long the game had been played in Victoria or elsewhere in Australia, there is evidence of games featuring punt kicking and catching a stuffed "ball" by the Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people and other tribes in the Wimmera, Mallee and Millewa regions of western Victoria. There are suggestions that such games also extended to the Wurundjeri in the Yarra Valley, the Gunai people of Gippsland region in Victoria and the Riverina in south western New South Wales. The Walpiri tribe of Central Australia, of which current Melbourne player Liam Jurrah is a member, played a similar kicking and catching game with possum skins known as Pultja. Despite the views of the historians, there are still those who believe that marngrook had a significant role in the origins of Australian football. Dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans wrote on the AFL site in 2008: "I do know we were playing a similar game for the joy and excitement of it, before the said founders of the game, Tom Wills and James Thompson and William Hammersley and Thomas Smith (or James Cook, for that matter) came along. People argue that we didn't have goals, but we did: kick it higher or longer; goals in and of themselves." The debate on the game's origins continues but these goals have become so important culturally to our Indigenous Australians both inside and outside a game that forms a link with their past and co-incidentally with the tragic life of the man who founded the modern game. For another look at Wills, his early home town of Moyston and the football club that grew from his inspiration see WATCH THEM GROW TO BE CONTINUED This series is written in honour of the late Matthew Wonaeamirri, father of current Melbourne player Austin. Our hearts go out to all of the family.

INDIGENE - PART THREE by Whispering Jack The life of Thomas Wentworth Wills (1835 - 1880), one of the Australian football's founding fathers and the country's indigenous people are closely intertwined. Their narratives are steeped in tragedy and despair and, in a way, it appears that fate conspired to bring them together in a dance of hopelessness and death. Edward Wills, convicted at Kingston-on-Thames Surrey of highway robbery was spared the death penalty and arrived in the colonies on the notorious convict death ship Hillsborough. He died before his son Horatio Spencer Howe Wills was born in the fledging colony of New South Wales. Horatio's son Tom Wills was born on a sheep run at Molonglo Plains, but he grew up near the town of Moyston in the Western District of Victoria among shepherds and tribal Aborigines where he learnt to speak their language. Tom Wills became a celebrated sportsman in colonial Victoria but this did not please his father, a leading pastoralist and parliamentarian, who made what appears to have been a concerted effort to remove his son from the Melbourne sporting world by taking him to Cullin-La-Ringo, Central Queensland. This proved disastrous because, once there, Wills Senior was soon killed by Aboriginals at an encampment with 18 other settlers in the biggest massacre of Europeans in a single battle with Aboriginals in Australian history. Twenty-six year old Tom was lucky enough to be absent from the camp at the time buying supplies. The Europeans together with some black policemen sought retribution and retaliated by indiscriminately killing hundreds of Aboriginals, the innocent and the guilty. Wills remained for a time at Cullin-La-Ringo and despite the tragedy of his father's death which hurt him deeply, he went on to captain a team of Aboriginal cricketers from Western Victoria. They played together in a game played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day 1866 before 10,000 spectators and the team created great excitement. This was the forerunner of the first Australian cricket team to tour England but by that time Wills had fallen out of favour with the organisers and consequently, he did not accompany the team. Although once called "the Grace of Australia" and "a model of muscular Christianity", Wills succumbed to an indulgence in alcohol and finally drowned in the illness of depression when on 2 May 1880 at his Heidelberg home he stabbed himself to death with a pair of scissors. The inquest returned a verdict of suicide while of unsound mind caused by excessive drinking. Educated in Melbourne until 1852, Tom Wills went to Rugby School where he played football and captained the cricket team. He was in the Cambridge XI against Oxford in 1856 before returning to play for Victoria which he later captained. His cricketing career spanned almost two decades of inter-colonial matches against New South Wales, scoring 319 runs at an average of 21.27 and taking 72 wickets at 10.23. He also played for several local teams including Richmond and the Melbourne Cricket Club, of which he was secretary in 1857-58. On 10 July, 1858 Wills wrote a letter to Bell's Life in Victoria in which he called for cricketers to take up a winter sport for fitness' sake. This correspondence led to the first game of Australian football between Melbourne Grammar School and Scotch College in August 1858 at Richmond Park. Wills was one of the umpires. With his brother-in-law H. C. A. Harrison and others, they codified the first rules of the game and the Melbourne Football Club was born. Wills played over 210 games mostly for Geelong, the second club formed, until he retired in 1876. There has been conjecture as to whether the rules of the game stemmed from Wills' association as a child with Aboriginals in Western Districts of Victoria. Most historians say the rules of the game were based on those played at Rugby and other English public schools but this view is not accepted by all. Indigenous Australians played what is called "marngrook" which literally means "game ball" and is the name given to a number of traditional Indigenous Australian recreational pastimes believed to have been played at gatherings and celebrations. Although not enough known by anthropologists about the prehistoric customs of Aboriginal people to determine how long the game had been played in Victoria or elsewhere in Australia, there is evidence of games featuring punt kicking and catching a stuffed "ball" by the Djabwurrung and Jardwadjali people and other tribes in the Wimmera, Mallee and Millewa regions of western Victoria. There are suggestions that such games also extended to the Wurundjeri in the Yarra Valley, the Gunai people of Gippsland region in Victoria and the Riverina in south western New South Wales. The Walpiri tribe of Central Australia, of which current Melbourne player Liam Jurrah is a member, played a similar kicking and catching game with possum skins known as Pultja. Despite the views of the historians, there are still those who believe that marngrook had a significant role in the origins of Australian football. Dual Brownlow Medallist Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans wrote on the AFL site in 2008: "I do know we were playing a similar game for the joy and excitement of it, before the said founders of the game, Tom Wills and James Thompson and William Hammersley and Thomas Smith (or James Cook, for that matter) came along. People argue that we didn't have goals, but we did: kick it higher or longer; goals in and of themselves." The debate on the game's origins continues but these goals have become so important culturally to our Indigenous Australians both inside and outside a game that forms a link with their past and co-incidentally with the tragic life of the man who founded the modern game. For another look at Wills, his early home town of Moyston and the football club that grew from his inspiration see WATCH THEM GROW TO BE CONTINUED This series is written in honour of the late Matthew Wonaeamirri, father of current Melbourne player Austin. Our hearts go out to all of the family.

Probably not right away. Waiting for the tech guy to do some testing. We won't do it during the day and I will give warning before it happens.

We had some issues with the new server so we reverted back to the old one again. We will try it again soon.

And we're back!

Same host. Different/newer server.

Hi All, At midnight tonight we will be migrating the Demonland server to a new server. At this time we will be temporarily shutting down the message board and you will not be able to post. Once this is done your ISP might still be pointing to the old server and I will leave a message on there letting you know that you are at the old server. There is nothing you can do but wait until the change propagates to your ISP. The time this takes for different ISPs varies but should be more than a day or so. Many will automatically be rerouted to the new one but others may have to wait. You will know if you are at the new server because you will be able to see the message boards and be able to post. We apologise for any inconvenience. Cheers, Andy You can be kept up to date via http://twitter.com/demonland

I have been meaning to create a Demonland Facebook page for fans of the site to connect. Here is a link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Demonland-Unofficial-Home-of-the-Melbourne-Demons/156314751082181

THE ROOKIE DRAFT - FAIRYTALE OR FOLLY? by Whispering Jack There are too many success stories coming out of the AFL Rookie Draft for us to ignore what was once treated with disdain by many AFL clubs. Of course, Melbourne hit the jackpot from the very start when Craig Cameron snared Daniel Ward, Mathew Bishop, Russell Robertson and James McDonald in the first rookie draft in 1997. The first name he called was Nathan Bassett who was injured before what would almost certainly have been a senior call up and was subsequently traded to Adelaide where he had a stellar career. Many clubs in those days regarded rookies as nothing more significant than young kids coming in for a short period of work experience but all that's changed now. The likes of Dean Cox, Aaron Sandilands and Nick Maxwell have all played significant roles in the modern game. Robert Campbell rose from rookie to premiership ruckman for the Hawks in 2008 while the rise of James McDonald from a humble last pick rookie who was almost not selected at all to the ranks of captain and dual club champion and a career spanning 251 games over 14 seasons is the stuff of fairytales. There are many others. The fruits of the hard work of the various club recruiting departments are now regularly demonstrated by some handy rookie selections and the icing on the cake for the rookie draft has been the introduction of mature age rookies. The most recent successes of James Podsiadly and Michael Barlow are cases in point and while rookies might still be hit or miss propositions, the success stories and their impact on the game means they can no longer be ignored. Melbourne was a major player in last week's 2011 Rookie Draft when the club took six selections - Daniel Nicholson (University Blues VAFA), Michael Evans (Claremont WAFL), Kelvin Lawrence (Peel Thunder WAFL), Cameron Johnston (Geelong Falcons TAC Cup), Robert Campbell (Box Hill Hawks VFL) and Tom McNamara who finds himself back on board. The pen pictures of the Melbourne rookies have been posted on the club website Dees pick Nicholson, Evans, Lawrence, Johnston, Campbell and McNamara and since I know very little about them I'll defer to the wisdom of Matt Burgan and to these You Tube masterpieces of , and (with the usual caveat that they are highlights packages and you can't always judge a player by his You Tube).The first four players selected are all medium sized players who appear to be capable of filling roles in defence and up forward with some midfield capacity thrown in as well. The effect is that the picks seem to form a good counterbalance to the four talls selected in November's national draft. Campbell is the big man the club was chasing while McNamara, previously an All Australian at Under 18 level, has been given another chance at the club after three seasons on the primary list. I confess that I know little of the draftees but Nicholson is most admired for his achievements in his two seasons since coming to Premier Section VAFA club University Blues as an 18 year old from St. Pats College, Ballarat. Last year he won the club's Best First Year player award while this year he gained accolades in representative games and was the competition's rising star award winner amid glowing reports from many movers and shakers in amateur circles. The player who interests me the most is Robert Campbell. Melbourne worked hard over the past two months to get a tall ruckman and was reportedly interested in North Melbourne's David Hale but missed out on getting him after he threw in his lot with Hawthorn. The search continued and ironically, it ended when the Demons selected the injury-prone Campbell with its second last selection (# 75) in the rookie draft. Along the way he had been overlooked by the Hawks and the new Gold Coast franchise which could have taken him under a rule that allowed the Suns to pick up uncontracted players previously with other AFL clubs. Adding to the irony of the situation was the fact that Cameron Bruce was picked up by Hawthorn on the same day in the Pre Season Draft. The vacancy on the Demons' Veterans List created by Bruce's departure had opened up an additional rookie spot from which they can automatically uplift a player onto the primary list and straight into the senior team so Campbell now has a fairytale second chance at the club for which his whole family has always had an affinity. "We all used to be Melbourne supporters so everyone is pleased," Campbell's father, Ian, said after Robert was drafted. Mother, Annette, won the AFL Players' Association Mother of the Year award in 2009. Everyone talks about this terrific family and what a great bloke Robert Campbell is but there's a lot more. Campbell retired a year ago because he felt his body could no longer handle the rigours at the elite level. He was struggling with degenerative knee issues compounded by an infection following an arthroscopic operation. Mentally and physically, his career was over and, in announcing his retirement, he was being honest with his club and honest with himself. He could have taken a contact and perhaps struggled to get a game but he didn't want that. So the Rutherglen raised footballer went about his physical rehabilitation and preparation for what was, in all likelihood, life after football. He applied himself, worked hard and persisted with a fitness program that included running, swimming, boxing and riding and he came out of it weighing less and feeling fitter than ever. Campbell couldn't turn away from football altogether and he tried his hand to coaching and mentoring young ruckmen with the Hawks and their VFL counterpart. Halfway through the first year of his "retirement", he felt it worth trying a comeback of sorts at Box Hill. He ended up playing nine games in the last half of the season, six of them with the seniors including three finals. He didn't set the world on fire but everything was coming together and his ruckwork was more than handy in a team that fought its way into a Preliminary Final against the competition's ultimate premier. His body told him he was ready to return; he just needed to find a new home. Campbell first came to my attention in 2000 when playing for the Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup side alongside Justin Koschitzke who was taken by the St Kilda Football Club in the 2000 AFL Draft at pick number two. I had been alerted about a Murray player named Campbell with links to the Melbourne Football Club. Burly defender Des Campbell had two stints at the club in the 1970s and his son Brad played one game in 1994 before returning home to the bush. Now another son was starring for the Bushrangers. Blake Campbell was taken in late in the second round of the National Draft by Carlton and had a brief AFL career of 11 games as a midfielder/forward so I wasn't too upset at the fact that he wasn't eligible to play as a Demon under the father/son rule. Meanwhile, Robert Campbell (no relation) was taken by the Hawks at 27 in the Rookie Draft of the same year. He made his debut with the Box Hill in 2001 and was a member of their VFL Premiership following which he was elevated to Hawthorn's senior list. He made his AFL debut in 2002 and so began his first fairytale that culminated in his being the senior ruckman in his club's 2008 premiership team. Despite first incurring knee problems in 2005, he was considered the Hawks' best big man and in the prime of his career. His role in the premiership was pivotal but the issues with his knee returned and 12 months later it was almost over. It's been a long journey to the Melbourne Football Club and Campbell says he "feels great". While he looks great too, there's still a question mark as to how far he can go at his new club. What role will he play there? Much of it is open to conjecture and while nothing can be completely ruled out, it's quite possible that he might fulfil a back up ruck role to Mark Jamar. However, could also fill a role for the club in defence or attack and with his premiership experience, he will be invaluable as a mentor to Melbourne's developing young big men in Jake Spencer, Max Gawn and Jack Fitzpatrick. The conventional wisdom being bandied about is that because he kicked only 25 goals in his 116 games with the Hawks he can't fill the big forward role envisaged by those who believe that having such a player is now mandated by the new substitute rule but I'm not so sure that this type of thinking is correct. For starters most of his games were as a ruckman but he was also used in defence where you don't kick too many goals. There are no guarantees when we're dealing with #75 in a rookie draft but the new slim line fit version of Robert Campbell might surprise us all by reinventing himself and becoming the forward that the club sought in Hale. After all, the preparation he has undertaken to get him where he is now has seen a change in body shape that might be suited to that role of changing between forward and ruck while the Russian is resting. And his presence in that young forward line along with the younger, lighter bodies of players like Liam Jurrah and Jack Watts could yet become crucial in Melbourne's future campaigns.

THE ROOKIE DRAFT - FAIRYTALE OR FOLLY? by Whispering Jack There are too many success stories coming out of the AFL Rookie Draft for us to ignore what was once treated with disdain by many AFL clubs. Of course, Melbourne hit the jackpot from the very start when Craig Cameron snared Daniel Ward, Mathew Bishop, Russell Robertson and James McDonald in the first rookie draft in 1997. The first name he called was Nathan Bassett who was injured before what would almost certainly have been a senior call up and was subsequently traded to Adelaide where he had a stellar career. Many clubs in those days regarded rookies as nothing more significant than young kids coming in for a short period of work experience but all that's changed now. The likes of Dean Cox, Aaron Sandilands and Nick Maxwell have all played significant roles in the modern game. Robert Campbell rose from rookie to premiership ruckman for the Hawks in 2008 while the rise of James McDonald from a humble last pick rookie who was almost not selected at all to the ranks of captain and dual club champion and a career spanning 251 games over 14 seasons is the stuff of fairytales. There are many others. The fruits of the hard work of the various club recruiting departments are now regularly demonstrated by some handy rookie selections and the icing on the cake for the rookie draft has been the introduction of mature age rookies. The most recent successes of James Podsiadly and Michael Barlow are cases in point and while rookies might still be hit or miss propositions, the success stories and their impact on the game means they can no longer be ignored. Melbourne was a major player in last week's 2011 Rookie Draft when the club took six selections - Daniel Nicholson (University Blues VAFA), Michael Evans (Claremont WAFL), Kelvin Lawrence (Peel Thunder WAFL), Cameron Johnston (Geelong Falcons TAC Cup), Robert Campbell (Box Hill Hawks VFL) and Tom McNamara who finds himself back on board. The pen pictures of the Melbourne rookies have been posted on the club website Dees pick Nicholson, Evans, Lawrence, Johnston, Campbell and McNamara and since I know very little about them I'll defer to the wisdom of Matt Burgan and to these You Tube masterpieces of , and (with the usual caveat that they are highlights packages and you can't always judge a player by his You Tube).The first four players selected are all medium sized players who appear to be capable of filling roles in defence and up forward with some midfield capacity thrown in as well. The effect is that the picks seem to form a good counterbalance to the four talls selected in November's national draft. Campbell is the big man the club was chasing while McNamara, previously an All Australian at Under 18 level, has been given another chance at the club after three seasons on the primary list. I confess that I know little of the draftees but Nicholson is most admired for his achievements in his two seasons since coming to Premier Section VAFA club University Blues as an 18 year old from St. Pats College, Ballarat. Last year he won the club's Best First Year player award while this year he gained accolades in representative games and was the competition's rising star award winner amid glowing reports from many movers and shakers in amateur circles. The player who interests me the most is Robert Campbell. Melbourne worked hard over the past two months to get a tall ruckman and was reportedly interested in North Melbourne's David Hale but missed out on getting him after he threw in his lot with Hawthorn. The search continued and ironically, it ended when the Demons selected the injury-prone Campbell with its second last selection (# 75) in the rookie draft. Along the way he had been overlooked by the Hawks and the new Gold Coast franchise which could have taken him under a rule that allowed the Suns to pick up uncontracted players previously with other AFL clubs. Adding to the irony of the situation was the fact that Cameron Bruce was picked up by Hawthorn on the same day in the Pre Season Draft. The vacancy on the Demons' Veterans List created by Bruce's departure had opened up an additional rookie spot from which they can automatically uplift a player onto the primary list and straight into the senior team so Campbell now has a fairytale second chance at the club for which his whole family has always had an affinity. "We all used to be Melbourne supporters so everyone is pleased," Campbell's father, Ian, said after Robert was drafted. Mother, Annette, won the AFL Players' Association Mother of the Year award in 2009. Everyone talks about this terrific family and what a great bloke Robert Campbell is but there's a lot more. Campbell retired a year ago because he felt his body could no longer handle the rigours at the elite level. He was struggling with degenerative knee issues compounded by an infection following an arthroscopic operation. Mentally and physically, his career was over and, in announcing his retirement, he was being honest with his club and honest with himself. He could have taken a contact and perhaps struggled to get a game but he didn't want that. So the Rutherglen raised footballer went about his physical rehabilitation and preparation for what was, in all likelihood, life after football. He applied himself, worked hard and persisted with a fitness program that included running, swimming, boxing and riding and he came out of it weighing less and feeling fitter than ever. Campbell couldn't turn away from football altogether and he tried his hand to coaching and mentoring young ruckmen with the Hawks and their VFL counterpart. Halfway through the first year of his "retirement", he felt it worth trying a comeback of sorts at Box Hill. He ended up playing nine games in the last half of the season, six of them with the seniors including three finals. He didn't set the world on fire but everything was coming together and his ruckwork was more than handy in a team that fought its way into a Preliminary Final against the competition's ultimate premier. His body told him he was ready to return; he just needed to find a new home. Campbell first came to my attention in 2000 when playing for the Murray Bushrangers TAC Cup side alongside Justin Koschitzke who was taken by the St Kilda Football Club in the 2000 AFL Draft at pick number two. I had been alerted about a Murray player named Campbell with links to the Melbourne Football Club. Burly defender Des Campbell had two stints at the club in the 1970s and his son Brad played one game in 1994 before returning home to the bush. Now another son was starring for the Bushrangers. Blake Campbell was taken in late in the second round of the National Draft by Carlton and had a brief AFL career of 11 games as a midfielder/forward so I wasn't too upset at the fact that he wasn't eligible to play as a Demon under the father/son rule. Meanwhile, Robert Campbell (no relation) was taken by the Hawks at 27 in the Rookie Draft of the same year. He made his debut with the Box Hill in 2001 and was a member of their VFL Premiership following which he was elevated to Hawthorn's senior list. He made his AFL debut in 2002 and so began his first fairytale that culminated in his being the senior ruckman in his club's 2008 premiership team. Despite first incurring knee problems in 2005, he was considered the Hawks' best big man and in the prime of his career. His role in the premiership was pivotal but the issues with his knee returned and 12 months later it was almost over. It's been a long journey to the Melbourne Football Club and Campbell says he "feels great". While he looks great too, there's still a question mark as to how far he can go at his new club. What role will he play there? Much of it is open to conjecture and while nothing can be completely ruled out, it's quite possible that he might fulfil a back up ruck role to Mark Jamar. However, could also fill a role for the club in defence or attack and with his premiership experience, he will be invaluable as a mentor to Melbourne's developing young big men in Jake Spencer, Max Gawn and Jack Fitzpatrick. The conventional wisdom being bandied about is that because he kicked only 25 goals in his 116 games with the Hawks he can't fill the big forward role envisaged by those who believe that having such a player is now mandated by the new substitute rule but I'm not so sure that this type of thinking is correct. For starters most of his games were as a ruckman but he was also used in defence where you don't kick too many goals. There are no guarantees when we're dealing with #75 in a rookie draft but the new slim line fit version of Robert Campbell might surprise us all by reinventing himself and becoming the forward that the club sought in Hale. After all, the preparation he has undertaken to get him where he is now has seen a change in body shape that might be suited to that role of changing between forward and ruck while the Russian is resting. And his presence in that young forward line along with the younger, lighter bodies of players like Liam Jurrah and Jack Watts could yet become crucial in Melbourne's future campaigns.