A conversation with Keilor coach Mick McGuane led new Richmond recruit Campbell Gray on the right path to achieving his AFL dream.
Gray, a Keilor premiership player, was picked up by the Tigers in the mid-season draft after a stunning six months with Essendon’s Victorian Football League side.
Like many footballers, Gray was keen to test himself at VFL level at the end of the 2022 season.
“After that first full season I had a conversation with Mick about going down that path and he didn’t think I was ready,” he said.
“He didn’t think I had played enough senior football and that he didn’t think the time was right and that I would be shooting myself in the foot.”
While he didn’t agree, Gray decided to follow McGuane’s advice.
He pushed hard last season with the Blues and played a key role in their Essendon District Football League premier division premiership.
He then gave it a crack to get on a VFL list in the off season and the rest is now history.
Gray enters the AFL having never played Coates Talent League or in the Victorian Football League.
He had spoken to the Tigers in the lead up to the draft, but they had given nothing away.
“There’s still a lot to process,” he said. “It’s pretty amazing to be honest as not many people get to do that.
“It’s been six months [in the VFL] and I’ve been learning so much and I wasn’t really focusing on how well I’ve done.
“It’s pretty crazy, I’m now on an AFL list. Eight months ago I was playing with Keilor.
Gray started his football career with Pascoe Vale and played most of his junior career there.
He made the switch to Keilor to play with his schoolmates from Overnewton College.
His Blues debut came in 2021 with Gray saying he was a long way from where he needed to be.
“It was a bit of a culture shock,” he said. “I got the opportunity to play one game in the seniors which was an experience.
“As Mick likes to say, he likes to rattle the cage a bit [by giving opportunities] and I learned a lot.
“I went back to the 18s and took those tricks I learned about how to use my body.”
Gray said he was fond of McGuane and the way he went about things.
He said a lot of McGuane’s values and saying have helped get him to this point of his career.
McGuane isn’t the only one he has taken advice from at Keilor, picking the brains of the likes of Corey Ellis and Nick O’Kearney about being in an AFL system,
“Those types of players have experienced it,” he said. “They know better than moos guys as they’ve been there and know what this is.”
Gray didn’t have long to settle in, playing in the Tigers VFL match on the weekend.
He said he’s trying to find his feet.
“I’m loving the opportunity and trying to gain as much knowledge as possible,” he said. ‘I’m coming in every day to use the facilities and certain aspects and have meetings about what is next.”
While he would love to make his AFL debut, it isn’t his main focus just yet.
“Being able to get there would be off the back of hard work and learning the systems and learning what AFL is and what it’s about.
“I want to get better over the next six months and take the opportunity and learning off some of the stars.”
