KADE Chandler hasn't taken the easy route to becoming one of Melbourne's most important players. When you grow up where he did, getting anywhere involves the path less travelled.

Chandler is in his eighth season at Melbourne, in the form of his career, and a key contributor to the Demons becoming the league's feel-good story during their 5-3 start to 2026.

It's all happening a long, long way from home.

Chandler grew up at Charra, eight-and-a-half hours west of Adelaide on the Eyre Peninsula, significantly closer to the border with Western Australia than the South Australian capital.

His family farms cereal crops and runs 5,000 merinos on a 45,000-acre property that makes the MCG look like a postage stamp.

Chandler and his three brothers relished the freedom it offered; he was driving a manual car at six, a tractor at seven and an automatic car at eight. Life on the land doesn't let you sit back and wait for things to come your way.

As teenagers, the boys would work night shifts, all to help the farm tick over. At times, they'd go weeks without seeing their dad Milton, who at times would take the family caravan into the paddocks for days to get the crops in.

"It's not just your family, all the farmers are doing it. You could sit on a hill there at 2am at certain times of year and see all the tractor lights off in the distance. You grow up with that being the standard," Chandler tells AFL.com.au.

Places like Charra define the phrase 'off the beaten track'. Chandler says its population is three families, including his.

There's a hall – where Chandler's aunty got married – the remnants of a train station and the former football ground, although these days that's just another paddock. The nearest major town is Ceduna, 40 minutes away.

The Chandlers' relationship with one neighbouring family, the Polkinghornes, helps quantify the immense size of their properties; they share some fences, but their homesteads are 12 or 13 kilometres apart.

Remarkably, the Polkinghornes have their own AFL story to tell in the form of second-year Geelong forward Jay, who was drafted in 2024 at Pick No.44.

The Chandlers and three Polkinghorne kids played together for the Penong-based Western United Tigers. But with Jay yet to debut, Kade is the only VFL/AFL player in the Tigers' 52-year history.

After his early years taking the one-and-a-half-hour bus ride from Charra to Ceduna Area School, Chandler was offered a scholarship to Prince Alfred College in Adelaide.

Much of the Eyre Peninsula is in SANFL club Norwood's recruiting zone, so Chandler landed at The Parade under the tutelage of three-time Magarey Medal winner and SA Football Hall of Famer, Jimmy Allan.

He finished school while he was still under-18 eligible, and again proved he's not one to stand still.

"I needed something to do, so I worked at a window cleaning company. Not the abseiling stuff though, I'm not great with heights," the 173cm forward says.

"You had to be in early before the businesses opened, so most days it was a 4am wake-up, head to work, go home after lunch and try to have a sleep before footy training."

In his draft year, Chandler didn't have a manager, met with only two clubs – Melbourne and Fremantle – and had less interest than many of his Norwood and South Australia teammates. But Allan, who had been rookie drafted to Geelong in 2004, always told him he only needed one club to like him.

Chandler remembers watching round one of the 2018 national draft. Sam Walsh went at pick No.1 and his SA under-18 teammates Jack Lukosius, Izak Rankine and Connor Rozee also went in the top five, but there was no news for him. The remaining rounds were held the next morning. Still, nothing.

The rookie draft was to be held later that day at 5pm but Chandler, living in Adelaide, didn't factor in the time difference with Melbourne.

"I hadn't heard anything, and because I got the time wrong, I had no idea it was happening," he remembers.

"I got a phone call from Michael Doughty, who's now my manager, saying congratulations, you've been drafted by the Dees. I had no idea what he was talking about.

"The rookie draft wasn't televised so we jumped on the AFL website and saw my name. Then I missed a phone call from (then-Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin). I didn't have any idea what was going on."

Things didn't move as rapidly once Chandler got to the Demons, who were then a genuine premiership contender. His first four years returned 10 senior games, and he didn't even step onto the field in five of them as an unused substitute. Instead of getting caught up in that, he resolved to enjoy his footy more, helped by a 2022 VFL premiership with Casey.

"That year we had a fantastic VFL side, it was off the charts. We only lost one game for the season," he says.

"The AFL team was going well and I just shifted my mentality to having as much fun as possible. Whether I got picked to play AFL or VFL I just wanted to play the same way and enjoy my footy."

Then in 2023, after a strong pre-season, things clicked. Chandler played in round one, held his spot until round 16, had a dip in form but worked his way back to play in two finals.

Then in 2024, he played every game. The same in 2025. And this year, just like the Demons as a team, he's hit bold new heights.

Chandler is ranked by Champion Data as one of the top-10 forwards in the competition, booting 10 goals in eight games with career highs in disposals (15), ground ball gets (5.1) and score involvements (5.6).

There are just 14 players in the AFL this year to have kicked 10 or more goals and average 15 or more disposals, with Chandler's name in that group amongst a who's who of AFL superstars like Christian Petracca, Isaac Heeney and Marcus Bontempelli.

He's been involved in 21.8 per cent of Melbourne's scores this season, behind only Max Gawn, Kysaiah Pickett, Jack Steele and Harry Sharp among Demons to play more than two games.

And life off the field is going well, too. He and partner Amy welcomed son Albie nine weeks ago, leading to Chandler's rock-the-baby goal celebration against St Kilda in round one.

Sunday will be Amy's first Mother's Day and the plan is she and Albie will be at Marvel Stadium to watch Kade's Demons play West Coast, with young Albie already holding an impressive record.

"He's undefeated actually, 3-0. He was there for Carlton, Brisbane and Gold Coast," Chandler says. "Hopefully he's the lucky charm at a few more games this year."

Whether Amy and Albie are in the stands or not, family is never far from Chandler's mind. From Charra to Penong via Adelaide and now playing for the oldest club in the land, he has never lost sight of where it all started.

"It's fairly removed from waving at Nanna as you run out of the change rooms at Penong. A bit has changed since then," he says.

"The feeling is still the same in a way. It's the same ball, the boundaries are the same, you've still got 18 players.

"The stakes are higher but at the end of the day we all play footy for fun and enjoying it with your mates. The reason why you play doesn't change.

"I'm glad I haven't lost that feeling."