St Kilda recruit Brad Hill preparing for mega roadtrip before tackling pre-season
A French Bulldog, a Great Dane and an old schoolmate will accompany Brad Hill for an epic road-trip across the Nullabor in coming weeks as the St Kilda recruit moves his life — again.
AFL News
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL News. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A French Bulldog, a Great Dane and an old schoolmate will accompany Brad Hill for an epic road-trip across the Nullabor in coming weeks as the St Kilda recruit moves his life from one side of the country to another for a third time in eight years.
Hill flew into Melbourne with his long-term partner Samantha on Friday for the first time since being signed by the Saints on the final day of trade period last week.
However, the pair left their two dogs — Harry and Cooper — back in Perth, not wanting the Instagram-famous duo (seen below) to endure a flight in the cargo-hold.
Stream over 50 sports Live & On-Demand with KAYO SPORTS on your TV, computer, mobile or tablet. Just $25/month, no lock-in contract. Get your 14-day free trial and start streaming instantly >
Samantha will remain in Melbourne and settle into a new house on Monday, with Hill to return to Perth and drive a campervan across the country with his close friend Aidan and the two dogs before pre-season begins.
“It’s got a couple of beds in there so it should be all right,” Hill told the Herald Sun.
“We’ll do it over four or five days. I just didn’t really want to chuck the dogs on a plane so I thought I’d drive over with them. It should be a pretty fun trip.”
Hill revealed St Kilda was the first club he spoke to after advising Fremantle mid-season of his desire to return to Melbourne for family reasons just three years into a five-year contract.
A West Australian, the three-time Hawthorn premiership player had requested a return home to Perth at the end of 2016 to join his brother Stephen at the Dockers.
However, the brothers featured in just 26 games together across their three years due to unlucky runs with injury.
“He was fully supportive,” Hill said of his brother’s reaction to his move.
“I said to him, ‘You might have some better luck now that I’m gone’. We were there for three years and didn’t play too much footy with each other so hopefully he can get back to his best and help Freo out.”
Hill described the Saints as a “perfect fit” for him and said he was excited to play more football on the “fast deck” of Marvel Stadium, reuniting with former Hawthorn assistant coach Brett Ratten a bonus.
A medical with St Kilda before the trade went through found some meniscus damage to Hill’s knee, but the speedy wingman said he did not expect that to have a significant impact on his pre-season.
“I can still run,” Hill said.
“I played all last year, didn’t miss any games, and I’ll start pre-season Day 1. There will be a little bit of load management but I’m not too sure exactly.”
Originally published as St Kilda recruit Brad Hill preparing for mega roadtrip before tackling pre-season