Port Adelaide rookie Brett Eddy finally makes the AFL grade at 27

A KNEE injury in 2010 cruelled Brett Eddy’s AFL dreams, but after being overlooked by recruiters since the Power rookie produced a magical performance that locks him in for Round 1.

Port Adelaide has given Brett Eddy his chance on an AFL list. Picture: Sarah Reed

IAN and Ingrid Eddy sat glued to the TV at their Gippsland dairy farm on Sunday watching their son, Brett, in his final audition with Port Adelaide.

They had been there as the recruiters swooned over 193cm full-forward Brett in 2010, before his knee buckled when he was playing for ­Collingwood’s VFL side.

They had watched him kick buckets of goals in the SANFL in the past four years, then be overlooked by AFL clubs.

Finally he was on the Power’s rookie list, but after only a single goal in two pre-season games, he needed to make a statement. Then a magical thing happened.

Eddy kicked four goals in 10 minutes against Hawthorn, part of a five-goal haul that will ensure the 27-year-old’s promotion to the senior list this week.

“Tears ran down our faces,” Ingrid said.

“We looked across at each other and simultaneously said, ‘He’s made it’.

“We were just so happy for him. It has been such a long journey and it’s great to see him get his rewards.

“It was just a very emotional afternoon because we knew he had to do something ­outstanding to be looked at by (Port coach) Ken Hinkley.”

Port Adelaide’s Brett Eddy wins the ball in front of Hawthorn’s Ben Stratton in their JLT series match in Noarlunga. Picture: Getty Images

Only Geelong’s James Podsiadly was drafted at an older age than Eddy, a stockbroker who quit his job last year to pursue his football dream.

Eddy is now a certainty to play in Round 1 against ­Sydney at the SCG.

If others have faced more adversity, or travelled a rockier road, few have persevered as long.

Ian said his son had never given up, ­despite being overlooked for the first time as a junior by Gippsland Power.

He played his first senior game for Foster Football Club at 15 and by 2010 was a premiership player along with a tight-knit group of mates.

A powerful forward, he went back and forth between local footy while also kicking 54 goals in Sandringham’s VFL seconds.

In 2010 he kicked 21 goals in eight games for Collingwood in the VFL before his knee gave way.

“He had kicked four goals in the first quarter against St Kilda playing on Xavier Clarke and then he did his knee five minutes into the second quarter,’’ his father said.

“Brisbane was keen and three teams were talking to him, but when he did his knee they stopped talking to him.”

Brett Eddy kicked five goals against the Hawks last weekend. Picture: Sarah Reed

Eddy took 18 months to get back to full speed then, through a friendship with South Adelaide coach Brad Gotch’s son Xavier, found his way to the SANFL club.

He led the SANFL goalkicking in 2015 and 2016 and his goals finally won over Port Adelaide.

“I think a lot of young kids out there get overlooked when they are 18 or 19 and then they get pigeonholed,’’ Ian said.

“Port Adelaide have been fantastic. They gave him a lifeline and told him he had to do certain things to get a game.

“He is just a genuine forward who has got the smarts and gets in the right areas.

“He is a great story for 24 or 25-year-olds who think their footy life has passed them by.

“If he played an AFL game, it would mean a lot to me after a long journey. We would sit back as parents and it would mean everything to us.”

Originally published as Port Adelaide rookie Brett Eddy finally makes the AFL grade at 27