On Tuesday morning Campbell Lake laid on the massage table at StKilda headquarters and admitted his head was still spinning.
He was still learning the names of many people around him, but you couldn’t wipe the beaming smile off his face.
And understandably so.
Because in 15 days the ex-Southport goalsneak had played with three different teams under three different coaches in three different states.
He’d gone from being an apprentice carpenter on the Gold Coast to an AFL footballer virtually overnight, and enjoyed not just the biggest thrill of his football life but the two biggest thrills.
When Luke was claimed by St Kilda in the Mid-Season AFL Draft on Tuesday 26 May he thought things couldn’t get much better. But when he got to Melbourne the following day there was a bigger and better surprise. He had an 18-month AFL contract.
Under AFL regulations prospective mid-season draftees are required to nominate the length of contract that are willing to accept if they are picked up. It’s six months or 18 months, but most err on the lower side to increase their chances of selection.
Lake did exactly that. But when he arrived in Melbourne he was surprised and delighted to learn that the Saints had given him an 18-month deal through to the end of 2027.
Why? Because they wanted to give him every chance to succeed, said St Kilda Talent Identification and Player Movement Manager Simon Dalrymple.
“Six months is really three months unless you play finals – June-July-August – and when you’ve got to move interstate and learn a completely new game plan that’s not long enough,” Dalrymple said.
“He’s got to get a chance to settle in, do a full pre-season, and then see what he can produce.
“We took him because we think he’s got something a bit special. Everyone could see he had good speed and forward pressure, but when you do dig a little deeper you realise he’s a really high-end athlete and a quality young man. And he’s a real worker who wants to listen and learn.
“We interviewed him up on the coast, and we spoke to his boss. He couldn’t have spoken more glowingly about him and that’s very important to us. We only want players who are good people.
“He was thrilled when we told him about the 18 months – and we are thrilled to have him.”
The Lake fairytale climaxed on Sunday when he made his AFL debut for St Kilda against Sydney at the SCG, when the 12th-placed Saints all but pulled off a miracle upset over the 2nd-placed Swans.
They led at every change and by 10 points seven minutes from the end, and were only beaten by a snap goal from Jai Serong on the buzzer after a brilliant ruck tap from Brodie Grundy and a handball from Isaac Heeney.
But although he was denied the perfect introduction Lake will still beaming on Tuesday.
“I still can’t believe it … everyone has been fantastic since I got down here the day after the draft,” he said.
Lake is staying with Saints players Toby Travaglia, James Barrat and Patrick Said but, with his partner of six years Alyssa set to move to Melbourne, he is looking for a place of his own.
Until his AFL debut on Sunday it’s fair to say 99.9% of AFL followers hadn’t heard of the 21-year-old Gold Coast SUNS Academy graduate turned Southport star. And if they’d watched him play for the Sharks in last year’s VFL grand final they would have been thinking the player in jumper #39 against the Swans was a ring-in.
Because file footage of Lake on YouTube shows him wearing a black helmet, and very normal black and white boots.
On Sunday, as he stepped out in front of 42,143 people at the SCG, not only was he minus the helmet and showing off a peroxide white hairstyle which has been his look at Southport this yar, but he wore soft purple boots. You couldn’t miss him.
Said one St Kilda insider: “He might look like a party boy but he’s actually very quiet and shy, and very respectful. He’s a beauty.”
Lake did something in the early minutes of his debut on Sunday that few – if any – AFL players have done before him. Before he’d had a kick, mark or handball his stats showed one bounce and one free-kick against.
With his first touch he had the courage to bounce it and take on his opponent. That he got caught was immaterial. His endeavour won a big tick from the coaching staff.
Brownlow Medallist Gerard Healy, in commentary on Fox, declared before quarter time “this young fella looks a player – he’s got great speed and explosiveness.”
Lake finished with 11 possessions, two tackles and one clearance from 72% game time, having played more time than Hugo Garcia, Liam Stocker, Jack Macrae and Alix Tauru.
He wore jumper #39 which has been worn by only five St Kilda players this century – Darragh Joyce (now at Brisbane) wore it 13 times, Chris Oliver four times, Alistair Smith two times, Cameron Shenton 24 times and Jason Blake 13 times in 2000 before he switched to #27 for the next 13 years of his career.
The games record-holder in jumper #39 for St Kilda is a player who might not be well known to casual AFL fans but is a household name and a national great in basketball.
Bill Mildenhall, a back pocket specialist, played 77 AFL games in #39 from 1974-82 before hanging up the boots at 29 to concentrate on basketball refereeing. He holds the NBL record for most games officiated at 945, went to the 1992 and 2000 Olympics, and won the NBL Referee of the Year award a stagging 16 times in a row from 1988-2003.
