Brett Bewley opens up on his AFL career and helping lift Darley from the doldrums to a Ballarat FNL premiership
Brett Bewley probably could have continued his AFL career when he was delisted by Fremantle. He certainly could have played VFL. But instead, he chose Darley. He opens up on why and leading the Devils to premiership glory.
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Even as he forged an AFL career in the west at Fremantle, Brett Bewley had one eye on Melbourne’s outer west.
About an hour from Melbourne, the club closest to his heart — Darley — plays in the Ballarat Football Netball League.
The Bewley name is synonymous with the Devils.
Brett’s father, Ross, was a premiership player in 1995, when the club played in the Riddell league.
And while Brett was making a name for himself as a Docker, his brother Jack was carrying on the family name at Darley Park.
“The footy journey has taken me in different directions the last 10 years or so (but I) always stayed really close to the club,” Bewley said.
“(Got) down there whenever I could. Mum and dad are invested in the club as well, they’ve been there for my whole life, nearly 30 years.
“My brother (Jack) was starting his journey into senior footy, so I was still keeping a close eye on the club and still had lots of good mates playing.”
Bewley’s AFL career ended in 2021 after three years, 25 games and eight goals as a Docker.
Months earlier, his hometown club had hit one of the lowest ebbs in its history after ending the BFNL campaign winless.
Three years after the Devils made headlines when spectators and an administrator were embroiled in a post-match brawl, the proud club – based about 60km from Melbourne – limped to 0-10 before the season was mercifully cut short due to Covid.
Bewley could only watch on from the other side of the country as he dealt with his own frustration.
Hampered by osteitis pubis, he battled through the 2021 pre-season and never truly hit top gear during what would prove to be his last season at Fremantle.
“I never really entertained anything else (other than returning to Darley),” Bewley said.
“I sort of only had one thought in mind and that was to go home. A couple of chats, a couple of phone calls from people around the club, but my mind was already set on going home and helping the club get back to where we belonged.”
Two years on, Bewley is arguably the best player in Victorian community football and has emulated his father by lifting Darley from the canvas to the BFNL premiership.
It has been a remarkable turnaround inspired by Bewley’s return to Darley Park under the guidance of former VFL coach Dan Jordan.
Jordan, a Ballarat FNL hall of famer, lauded Bewley’s influence.
“I knew Darley fairly intimately having played a fair bit of footy against them, sort of what (Darley) are. But for me, there were still a few cultural issues that I thought were holding them back,” Jordan said.
“That was a little bit of something that happened (and) it’s always the competition-versus-us mentality and that sort of thing.
“There was a bit of a focus around if we could shift the mentality in terms of seeing how we’re perceived as a club as honest, hardworking, being able to lose graciously but win humbly.
“That goes through to the whole supporter base, the board, everyone.
“Then the football results would be a bit of a by-product of that. We worked really hard on that and we got guys back to the club. Brett was clearly one that was really big for us.”
From Ballarat to Bacchus Marsh, Bewley dragged his club out of the doldrums with one best-on-ground performance after another.
In one match, he registered 45 disposals, seven inside-50s, 12 clearances and laid 10 tackles.
In another, he logged 48 disposals, six goals and 13 clearances.
“He’s one of the best I’ve seen. I have played with and coached some good ones, but certainly at this level he’s one of the best I’ve seen,” Jordan said.
“He’s still got the attributes that he could play at the highest level, to be honest. In all honesty he’s probably a bit stiff not to be. But we’ll take it.”
Bewley’s BFNL dominance has been recognised by him winning the league’s top individual honour — the Henderson Medal — in each of the past two seasons.
But the ultimate reward came on September 23 last year when the Devils withstood North Ballarat by a point to clinch Darley’s third Ballarat premiership since 2015.
It took weeks before the enormity of what Bewley had achieved truly sunk in.
“Pretty surreal feelings and celebrations after the game. It was all a bit of a blur,” Bewley said.
“It’s not really until you sort of sit back and flick through the photos on your phone of the emotion of the win and that sort of stuff.
“That was a real childhood dream for me to be able to be a premiership player at Darley. My dad’s a premiership player at Darley, so it was good to join him in the club.”
Bewley’s career had come full circle to end up back at Darley, where he first learned the skills which put him on the radar of AFL clubs as a teenager.
An athletic left-footer, Bewley landed at Western Jets in the TAC Cup and had mild interest from AFL clubs.
When he went undrafted, Bewley stayed in Melbourne’s west at VFL club Williamstown, where he played under the tutelage of former Hawk Andy Collins.
“Every year AFL footy clubs were talking about his potential. Then all of a sudden he matured,” Collins said.
“The opportunity to play as an inside-mid, opportunities to play as a different type of player. One of the things that Brett is, he’s got real good footy smarts. You can see that.
“People would be trying to tag him now I would imagine, but even then he had really good footy smarts.”
At 28, Bewley is back on the tools working as a chippy, has a young family and is content with his decision to return to Darley rather than pursue VFL opportunities after being delisted by the Dockers.
Collins, now the head of development at Hawthorn, says there’s “no doubt” Bewley could “still walk into a lot of AFL football clubs”.
“We see that with many of the top local talents. Brett just happened to be at Fremantle and didn’t get the positional opportunities that he probably wanted,” Collins said.
“Maybe if he was there now, it would have been really different because Blake Acres has moved on (to Carlton) and other players have been moved including the ex-captain (Nat Fyfe) who’s probably gone more forward.
“Brett would have been a really interesting prospect for them.”
Bewley was part of an incredible draft haul for Williamstown in 2018, heading west with VFL teammate Lachie Schultz at picks 57 and 59.
Ben Cavarra had earlier become a Bulldog at pick 45, while Michael Gibbons was snapped up as a supplementary signing for Carlton after several prolific years in the state league.
Fellow Seagull Tom Wilkinson was also drafted by North Melbourne as a rookie.
“Everyone still plays state league to hopefully get an opportunity, but we were a side that was just really focused on winning and beating the AFL-listed sides,” Bewley said.
“We got real pride out of that and Collo was always really strong on making sure no one was bigger than the team and we all just had our roles to play.
“That was the main thing, the blokes that ended up getting an opportunity were just a by-product of the way we played as a club and the way we operated.”
Billy Myers was another of Bewley’s Williamstown teammates.
Like Bewley, he graduated from Darley to the VFL.
Myers’ career didn’t progress to the big league though and their paths wouldn’t cross again until Bewley landed back at Darley Park.
While Bewley was the headline act, the premiership he had craved since his childhood wouldn’t have been possible without Myers.
With 30 minutes on the clock and tension palpable on Grand Final day, Myers won a freekick on a tricky angle with Darley trailing by five points.
He goaled and about 20 seconds later, Darley was premier.
“Both massive engines, both really driven kids. If you think of Billy’s journey, Billy doesn’t get drafted. Brett does. And Brett deserves it. But Billy also could have got drafted at a similar time,“ Collins said.
“That’s the challenge of Victorian footy now, to get their systems right. Which can keep these enormous talented players that don’t get drafted (and) give them a chance to mature.
“Once Brett matured, from this immature person, very driven to this wonderful person, this great teammate, inspiring teammate with the ability to go inside and out. Just a great teammate off the field as well.
“Had time for others, great friendships, highly-regarded with his teammates. If you interviewed some of the leaders at the time, they would have spoken exactly the same about a kid that was a little bit selfish around the way he was playing with the hope of getting drafted, to a really selfless teammate that was going to do anything for their team to win.”
Bewley had 34 disposals in the decider — a quiet day by his ridiculous standards.
Just don’t tell his coach that.
“There was a bit of talk around Brett being nowhere near his best. He was under heavy duress and he still had 34 possessions,” Jordan said.
“It’s just ridiculous that people are expecting him to kick four and have 50 every week.
“In a grand final, leading from the front, I thought he played a mighty game. A couple of the things he did when we needed a lift were exactly what Brett’s about. He’s a great teammate. He doesn’t seek those numbers.”
Bewley says Darley is a club which is often misunderstood but has always held a special place in his heart.
“It’s one of those clubs where unless you’re involved with it and a part of it, you don’t really understand the club as a whole,” he said.
“From the outside looking in, a lot of people would not like playing against Darley or not like coming to our ground, but we are really trying to be a great club off the field and a club where players want to come and get better.
“There’s obviously been a few things that have happened in the past that we’re really trying to make amends for. But we would like to hope we’ve taken some really big steps in that aspect of our club in the last couple of years.
“It’s a family-orientated club and you won’t find many better people than what we have at Darley.”
Most would argue that sentiment applies to Bewley, the humble hero who helped Darley rediscover its true essence.
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