ON THE eve of his 200th match for Melbourne, vice-captain and 2008 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winner Cameron Bruce talks to melbournefc.com.au about his journey in the red and blue in the first of a two-part series.

Take us back to how you arrived at Melbourne?
I went to Melbourne High School and didn't play in the under-18s (TAC Cup). I concentrated on my schooling and never thought I was good enough to make it at the top level, which is why I avoided the under 18s. I knew the time and commitment required may not have allowed me to combine football and studies. I was really keen to get into commerce at Melbourne Uni and I knew I had to do reasonably well, so I opted to play school footy and Melbourne High Old Boys in the amateurs. I had a pretty good year in the seniors, finishing runner-up in the B&F for the old boys as a 17-year-old. I also played school footy and we won the Herald Sun Shield, a curtain-raiser before Essendon and Geelong at the MCG, so I got a bit of exposure in that game. Brent Grgic was also at Melbourne High School, while playing at Melbourne, so they were keeping an eye on him.

And then Melbourne kept an eye on you.
The day after exams I got a call from [then football manager] Danny Corcoran and apparently [then recruiting manager] Craig Cameron had been keeping an eye on me. Danny then asked if I wanted to try out for pre-season at the end of 1997, trying out for the 1998 season. I was honoured to try out, initially for a spot on the rookie list. I did the training and pre-season, but was really raw and had never done any weights. Come rookie draft time, they said: 'We're not going to go with you, but there are a couple of spots on the supplementary list as a top up player in the Melbourne reserves'. So, I got into the uni course I wanted and playing on the supp list wasn't going to affect my ability to go to uni full-time, so I was able to combine both. In 1998, I played under Chris Fagan and got some great experience.

But you weren't drafted straight away.
Come the end of 1998, they saw some development, but not enough to be drafted. They wanted me to do another pre-season, with the hope of getting on the rookie list. I trained pretty hard, but come rookie draft time, I didn't get picked up again. I was pretty disappointed and wondered if I was going to make it. They asked if I wanted to play on the supp list again and after speaking to a few people, I decided I'd try again. I started developing even more and was given plenty of roles during games and playing on some pretty good players from the AFL, whether they were dropped or coming back from injury. I had a pretty good year and they were happy with the way I performed and they said they were going to draft me, so that was a huge shock.

So did you definitely know you would be selected by Melbourne on draft day?
They never guaranteed it, but they were more than confident they would select me with their fourth pick at 51. But come draft day, I was watching it on TV and they called out Matthew Whelan. I wondered ‘what's happened here?' They had two more picks left at 63 and 64. Pick 63 came out and it was a guy called Shannon O'Brien and then 64 they picked me. The story goes that they weren't expecting 'Greeny' [Brad Green] and Paul Wheatley to be in the draft at 19 and 20, so that pushed a few back. Thankfully, there weren't a few others in mind, because it might have pushed me out completely.

Do you know if any other clubs were interested in you?
I knew a few clubs were interested, but nothing was communicated. I was told scouts were watching, but that's standard. No other club said they were going to draft me. I tried out with the Western Bulldogs in '97 in my last year of school, but that was early on.

Come round one, 2000, you made your AFL debut against Richmond at the MCG.
Yeah, I kicked a goal with my first kick and played 11 games before I got dropped and then played in the latter part of the season and played in the finals.

Unfortunately, you missed out on playing in the 2000 grand final because of injury. There was a lot of intrigue in terms of whether you would play or not.
I tore my quad in the preliminary final, so that’s a three or four-week injury. I did everything that was asked of me in the lead-up to the grand final. I had two physios, two hyperbaric chambers and two beach sessions a day to try to play. After completing the main session on Thursday night – when I was kicking 50 metres on my right leg heavily strapped – 'Danners' [former coach Neale Daniher] came to me at the start of the grand final parade and said: 'The ball's in your court. If you're 100 per cent, then you're playing'. And he said: 'Let me know after the parade'. So I had to think about it through the parade. People were asking me: 'Are you going to play?' Anyway, I couldn't commit to be 100 per cent. I was probably 85 or 90 per cent, so all of that work had helped, but there was a fair bit of doubt and it could've quite easily torn off the bone in the first five minutes and the team would've been one player short.

How difficult was that decision?
My longevity in the game would've been affected. If 'Danners' had come to me the next year and said: 'Are you right to play?' and I said: 'Yes'. He still would've doubted me, so I thought being honest and upfront was the best for all involved. It was a big decision to make, because it was my first season. Ben Beams then got the call up, after playing in the premiership for Sandringham, so it was great for him to get a chance. But I stand by my decision to do it. And I'm very determined to get back there.

That's a selfless decision to make.
More would've been made of it had we won the game, but the Essendon side of 2000 was one of the greatest of all-time. I had doubts that I would've got through the game and you don't want to be going into the biggest match of all with any doubts.

To be continued…