Lee Spurr finally finds his home at Fremantle Dockers

DUAL Central District premiership player Lee Spurr spent years knocking on the door of the AFL before Fremantle finally took notice and drafted him.

Lee Spurr

"NOTHING in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."

The famous quote from former US president Calvin Coolidge sums up Lee Spurr's long, winding and, at times, painful journey to AAMI Stadium today.

The dual Central District premiership defender spent years relentlessly knocking on the door of the AFL only to be continually shunned and left devastated on draft days.

He lost count of how many times a club told him he was "close" to being drafted only to be overlooked.

If not for his remarkable persistence, Spurr would not be representing the "Purple Haze" against the Crows today.

Instead, he would be running around in the local league, his AFL dreams unfulfilled.

"There were many times when I had self doubts," said Spurr.

"I've always dreamed of playing football at the highest level, to play in the AFL, and thought I had the game to do it.

"But after a while and a lot of knockbacks you do start to question whether you are going to get a crack at it.

"It was a bit tough to deal with but that's the nature of the beast. That's why they call the draft a lottery or a bit of a lucky dip I suppose.

"But I guess that's where the persistence came in. I didn't want to die wondering and was always going to give it my best shot.

"I wouldn't go away. I kept pushing myself to get better and to play at the highest level possible and in the end I was rewarded for that persistence."

Queenslander Spurr, 25, was overlooked at seven national drafts.

He couldn't even find a gig at the pre-season and rookie drafts after his Central coach, Roy Laird, declared he was not only one of the best players not in the AFL system but better than plenty who were on AFL lists.

The high-leaping, strong-marking former Morningside youngster moved to Adelaide twice to try to get an AFL gig, breaking his stints at the Bulldogs by returning home for a year in 2008.

Experienced SANFL players Nick Lower, Paul Puopolo and Nick Duigan were all selected as mature-age recruits ahead of Spurr.

But finally, when Spurr was 24 and after discussions with 10 clubs over several years had amounted to nothing, Fremantle took the bait.

After seeing Spurr star in the 2011 SANFL grand final against the Eagles and narrowly miss a late goal which would have won the game for the Dogs, the Dockers punted on him with pick eight at the 2012 rookie draft.

They have been rewarded for their gamble in bucketloads.

The mature-age pick-up forced his way into the side in round six last year and in round 16 was promoted to the senior list.

He played 13 games in his first season, including Fremantle's two finals, and won the Beacon Award as the club's best first-year player.

This season Spurr has played all nine matches and averaged an impressive 17 disposals and six marks.

He posted a career-high 28 possessions and 11 marks in the 90-point pounding of Melbourne at Patersons Stadium on Sunday.

While many of his teammates have gone down with injury, the 182cm Spurr has been a constant in the side, playing a lockdown role on the opposition's best small forwards.

All the years of hard work, discipline and a never-say-die attitude have finally started to pay off.

"Persistence is something that goes a long way," noted Spurr, who was at his computer watching the 2012 rookie draft unfold when his name was listed by the Dockers.

"It is a great quality to have and it's something I pride myself on.

"But you do need a bit of luck as a mature-age player to get drafted because there are plenty of good players running around in state leagues.

"The success I had at Central probably helped me find an AFL home but I also just kept chipping away and letting AFL clubs know I wanted to play at the highest level.

"In the end the door opened for me, so I'm just so pleased I stuck at it."

Spurr, who lives with ace Dockers midfielder Michael Barlow, is still learning his new role under coach Ross Lyon after playing as a free-wheeling playmaker at Central.

"The roles are different but I just do what Ross asks of me," Spurr said.

"My main role is to stop my opponent and if I can get a bit of the ball along the way that's a bonus.

"Ross's teams are built around everyone playing their roles for the team and it's why he he's had a lot of success."

Adelaide list manager David Noble said Spurr had long been on the Crows' recruiting radar but doubts over what position he would take in their team saw them baulk at selecting him.

"We always liked Lee, we rated him highly," Noble said.

"We had him on our (prospective recruiting) lists for years and always thought he could play the game.

"Our question was where he would fit with us.

"We could have taken him to add depth to our list but there were other players we liked in the draft just before him.

"But things have worked out well for him at Fremantle and we're glad he's taken his chance and made the most of it.

"We just hope he doesn't play too well against us."