THE CHANCE to inspire.
When the Blues heading to Bendigo for their 2024 AFL Community Camp, it was hard for Brodie Kemp not to cast his mind back to when his football journey was starting.
The Echuca local played at underage level for the Bendigo Pioneers, playing 14 games across three seasons - combined with school and representative football - before being drafted to Carlton in the 2019 AFL Draft.
He returned to the ground of the Pioneers on Tuesday, joining Sam Docherty, Tom De Koning and Matthew Cottrell in speaking to the next generation of football hopefuls.
“It was a bit surreal going back there, to where it all started. It’s good to get around and see all the kids and the smiles on their faces,” Kemp told media on Wednesday morning.
“I remember when I was in primary school back in Echuca and you get AFL guys come down, you’re so excited to ask questions and be inspired to be like them one day.
“It’s cool to have a full-circle moment, when you’re one of those guys coming back and trying to inspire the next generation to want to play footy and go for the elite level.”
Kemp has often spoken of the surge in belief he had throughout the 2023 season in what was clearly a breakthrough campaign for the young defender.
As he approaches his fifth year at IKON Park, he and his teammates have no shortage of inspiration after the way in which their years transpired.
“As a footy club, we’ve been starved of success, so to have the year we did in getting to a preliminary final, it’s given us all a taste. It’s made us hungrier and makes us want to get back there and go a few steps further.
“Getting another pre-season under my belt has been really good, I think that’s two full pre-seasons now. It’s about doubling down on [what worked] and making sure I can still contribute.
“Right now, selection is the hardest it has ever been — it’s the old adage of a ‘good problem to have’. That’s the positive of it being so hard to get in the team and it being tight for spots: it makes the group and the standards at a high level.
“You’re training harder, you’re making each other better.”
Kemp’s also of the belief that the capacity crowds the Blues have frequently played in front of in recent seasons is only going to help them go to the next level.
“With a big club, there’s always going to be expectation, but we embrace that. We know what we focused on last year was contest and pressure, and that’s what allowed us to stay internal and keep the focus narrow each week.
“Expectation brings excitement, which brings crowds, and I think that’s something we relished in the back half of last year.”
