Bradley Hill on his road trip to Melbourne and being reunited with family and friends at St Kilda

It was a long and arduous journey for Bradley Hill across the Nullarbor but he’s loving life at the Saints and has been reunited with friends and even has a family connection in the red, white and black.

The journey took exactly 36 hours.

Three thousand, four hundred and twenty-one kilometres.

Two mates, a van, a French Bulldog named Cooper and a Great Dane named Harry.

It sounds like something out of a comedy – a couple of blokes and the unlikeliest of pooch pals hitting the road, stopping only for toilet breaks and to avoid the ‘roos as they crossed the Nullarbor with a new footy home awaiting on the other side.

For new Saint Bradley Hill and his co-pilot Aidan, it was a test of mettle at the wheel that would easily test any friendship.

“It was awesome. We’d stop every three or four hours just to go to the toilet, and take the dogs for a little walk,” Hill recalled.

“We just kept driving. We stopped at a caravan park every night, because you sort of can’t drive after 5pm, because you get lots of kangaroos and whatnot. We’d drive about 10 hours a day and then park up, make dinner and go to sleep and hit the road early in the morning and go again.

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New Saint Bradley Hill in his new colours. Picture: Micheal Klein

“We actually had one day when we were going through Adelaide – from the time we left to the time we stopped it was 15 hours. We just tried to get here as quickly as possible.

“We didn’t (kill each other). It was good, actually. We were either driving or sleeping. There was probably a few silly chats and talking a bit of rubbish.”

Oh, and Saints dietitian Alison Miles – if you’re reading this, look away now.

Devoid of options on the lengthy journey from Perth to Melbourne, roadhouses were often the boys’ – and the dogs’ – only option, meaning a few dim sims and chocolate milks were consumed along the way.

“If we saw a Macca’s, it was a massive treat,” Hill laughed.

The speedster has taken the long road to Moorabbin. From Perth to Hawthorn – where he played 95 games including three premierships – he was traded to Fremantle at the end of 2016 to play alongside brother Stephen.

That’s 6800-odd kilometres covered before this latest trip alone.

He played 54 games in purple with only 26 of those with his sibling, as Stephen battled injury.

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At the end of the 2019 season, Hill requested a move back to Melbourne.

He had moved for family, having dreamt as a kid of playing AFL with his brother, but he and girlfriend Samantha – who hails from Berwick – have plans to settle in Melbourne, hopefully on the Mornington Peninsula.

“I think my brother’s going pretty well now – I might have been the bad luck for him,” Hill joked.

There were a few familiar faces waiting for Hill after his lengthy journey – his former midfield coach turned new Saints senior coach Brett Ratten and the familiar sledges of former teammate Jarryd Roughead, who now works in a wide-ranging list, leadership and match-day role at the club.

Second cousin Paddy Ryder was also traded to the Saints from Port Adelaide.

That helped to further ease the move.

“It was sort of easy, coming into a club where the senior coach you had coach you for three years at Hawthorn as a midfield coach. That made it really easy,” he said.

“Having Roughy here as well … he can get a little bit annoying at times, but it’s good having him here. He sledges everyone.”

Hill in action during a St Kilda training session. Picture: Michael Klein

Hill played under Ratten’s watchful eye in Hawthorn’s three-peat, and while he is only a few weeks into life under the now-senior coach, he said that Ratten “hasn’t changed at all”.

“That’s the good thing actually,” he said.

“His personality and the relationships he builds with players – that’s why everyone loves him so much. You can have those honest conversations with him. He can have a joke all the time, but when you have to get to work, he’ll be serious. It’s awesome having him.”

Ryder – who is five years older than Hill, at 31 – and Hill’s grandmothers were sisters, with the family living close by just north of Joondalup, north of Perth, when Hill was a kid.

“I grew up with Paddy’s family, really,” Hill said.

“The first time I came to Melbourne, I was 15 and stayed at Paddy’s house. I came with his younger brother.

“When I was about 13, his brother lived around the corner from me, so I pretty much lived with them for a long time. We’re so close. There’s five brothers, and three of them a similar age to me. They probably got annoyed at me for always staying around there. We’re second cousins, so it’s awesome having him around.”

When he was drafted to Hawthorn, Hill admits he would spend most weekends at Ryder’s place, and took the opportunity to get in his ear in the recent trade period to ensure a family reunion at Moorabbin.

Hill is enjoying being reunited with former Hawthorn assistant, now St Kilda senior coach Brett Ratten. Picture: Michael Klein

As well as three-time premiership teammate Jarryd Roughead. Picture: Michael Klein

Soon after the deals were done, Hill didn’t waste time in hitting the phone to sort living arrangements on his arrival, quickly organising for new teammate Ben Long to move into he and girlfriend Sam’s Bentleigh East home.

The pair have known each other for years, through Hill’s former Hawthorn teammate Cyril Rioli, which he said “made it pretty easy”.

“He was living by himself when we got the deal done, so I told him just to come and move in with me. We were both talking and I said ‘if you want to move in, you’re more than welcome’,” he said.

“He’s actually good – he’s clean, which is a good thing. That makes it easy. He’s been awesome. It’s only been a few weeks and I’m not annoyed with him yet.”

Hill’s bubbly and infectious personality almost matches his playing style.

He concedes “people feel pretty comfortable around me right away” and says he generally fits in quickly.

But football wasn’t always his fit.

He is eyeing a career in helping indigenous youth once his career ends, admitting there was once a time where the “right path” might have eluded him.

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“I want to be a role model for young indigenous kids and help them try and get on the right path,” Hill said.

“We know sometimes it can be a struggle. That’s something I enjoy and I want to do something where I can help people and I’m enjoying what I’m doing.

“Definitely (there was a time where things could have been different). Even as a youngster, I wasn’t really into my footy as much as Stephen. I played at West Perth when I was 18, but other than that I didn’t play any development squads or those sort of things.

“I did probably hang around the wrong people for a little bit, and then I could have easily gone down the wrong path. I ended up pulling my head in when I was about 16, which was a good thing. I’ve seen a lot of people go down the wrong path, too, so that’s something I’m passionate about.”

Originally published as Bradley Hill on his road trip to Melbourne and being reunited with family and friends at St Kilda