STEWART Crameri considers his football career full circle with his return to Princes Park to play with Maryborough in 2019.

Crameri first played with the Magpies as an eight-year-old in the under-13s alongside his brother Joseph and now rejoins the Magpies as a 30-year-old with an AFL career of more than 100 games behind him.

“I’m still very passionate about my football and it’s great to be back playing at Maryborough,” Crameri said this week as the Magpies kicked off their pre-season training campaign.

“I was very young when I first played here in about 1997 in the under-13s as a bit of a goalsneak.

“I started when I was eight; I played 100 games in the under-13s and then went through the under-15s and 16s, into the seniors for a couple of years and the Bendigo Bombers after that.”

Crameri’s return to Princes Park couldn’t be more timely in creating an injection of enthusiasm around Maryborough given the extended on-field struggles the club has endured in the Bendigo Football-Netball League.

Crameri’s first season in the AFL with Essendon – 2010 – was also the last in which the Magpies have played senior finals.

While Crameri was forging a career at the elite level with firstly Essendon, then the Western Bulldogs and thirdly Geelong, the Magpies were on the decline to the extent they have won just two senior games in the past four years and at one stage suffered through a 47-game losing streak.

READ MORE – Good to see Crameri back out on the MCG for first time in 559 days

“I was 16 when I first played seniors with Maryborough in 2005. It was a good environment and really helped me throughout my time in the AFL to see how a football club is run and part of coming back is to help instill that into the younger guys here,” Crameri said.

“Playing senior footy at Maryborough through those couple of years was a really good stepping stone to the VFL.”

Under coach Steve Thomson, Crameri was the Magpies’ leading goalkicker with 33 in his second season of senior football in 2006 – although his breakout game came in his first year when he slotted five goals against Eaglehawk in round four of 2005.

As well as winning the Magpies’ goalkicking, Crameri also represented the BFNL inter-league team that won the 2006 VCFL Pool C Country Championships title at Barooga under Brett Fitzpatrick when he was a late call-up from the under-18 side for injured Sandhurst forward Mark Fitzgerald.

Then followed three years on the Bendigo Bombers’ list in the VFL – the first spent in the reserves; the last two in the seniors where he his raking left-foot and bullocking style of play was a standout, particularly during 2009 when he was a shining light in a winless season.

Crameri looks back fondly on his time with the Bendigo Bombers where his senior coaches were Matthew Knights and Adrian Hickmott and laments that the VFL pathway which led him into the AFL is now no longer present in Bendigo given the demise of the Bendigo Gold after the 2014 season.

“It’s disappointing to see Bendigo doesn’t have a VFL team anymore. If it hadn’t have been there when I was coming through then I wouldn’t have played AFL,” Crameri said.

READ MORE – Crameri off leash for first time in 559 days

“But that’s another thing about coming back here… to try to help develop the younger players before they go and have a crack in the VFL in Melbourne if that’s something they are keen to have a go at.”

Crameri became the poster boy of the Bendigo VFL pathway when the Maryborough lad, who hadn’t previously gone through the AFL breeding ground that is the TAC Cup, was taken by Essendon with pick No. 43 in the 2009 Rookie Draft.

And with that selection began a nine-year career in the AFL across three clubs in which Crameri grew from the Essendon rookie list into a 103-game player. 

Crameri’s AFL accolades include winning the Essendon goalkicking three years in a row in 2011 (34), 2012 (32) and 2013 (30), as well as the Western Bulldogs’ goalkicking in 2014 (37).

While tremendously proud of being able to play more than 100 games at the elite level, it was also a career in which Crameri endured more than his fair share of hardship.

Most notably was when he was among the 34 Essendon players suspended for the entire 2016 season by the Court of Arbitration for Sport as a result of the supplements and injection program run at Windy Hill in 2012 under controversial sports scientist Steven Dank.

By 2016 Crameri was at the Western Bulldogs after being traded from Essendon following the 2013 season.

Adding further salt to his wounds, Crameri was denied becoming a premiership player as his 2016 ban coincided with the Bulldogs ending a 62-year flag drought with their grand final victory over the Sydney Swans.

READ MORE – Stewart Crameri to play 100th senior game

Hip surgery then ended his return with the Bulldogs in 2017 after just two rounds and left him stranded on 99 AFL games, before he was thrown a lifeline by Geelong when – just like he had been at Essendon – he was rookie-listed by the Cats.

Crameri finally got to game 100 in round seven this year in a Friday night win over the GWS Giants at Kardinia Park.

Game 100 was played on May 4, 2018. Such had been the obstacles along the way in getting to 100 through the combination of his ban and injury setback, Crameri had played his 97^th game in the Bulldogs’ elimination final loss to Adelaide on September 12, 2015 – 965 days earlier.

“I look back on my career and just think how fast it has all gone,” Crameri said.

“I was in the system for nine years, plus three years in the VFL and it was a good ride, but also a tough one, and I’m really grateful I was able to get to 100 games this year with Geelong.

“I wish I could have played more, but it was just my time. I never held back on anything I did and gave my best and being 30 now is considered fairly old in the system.

“But I was stoked with what I could achieve from starting out here at Maryborough and now ending up back here brings it full circle.”

Crameri says he has moved on and doesn’t dwell on the impact the Essendon supplements saga had on his career and the subsequent missed chance of being part of the Bulldogs’ 2016 premiership that it led to.

“It was obviously a tough couple of years and I did struggle through those periods, but looking back on it now, it has made me a better person,” Crameri said.

“I don’t think about it that much and I can’t forget just how good those first five years were at Essendon and the Bulldogs. Bad things happen sometimes, but you’ve just got to be grateful with what you’ve got.”

After nine years in the cut-and-thrust of AFL, Crameri – who hopes to play 10 to 15 games for the Magpies next season – is now very much getting back to his roots.

Not only in terms of returning to where his football started with the Magpies, but also now working for the family business in Maryborough – Crameri’s Mitre 10.

“I used to work there before I got drafted, so I haven’t slotted back in too bad and I’m enjoying it,” Crameri said.

“I’m doing a bit of a different role… a bit of back-of-house stuff learning the business and the ropes with dad (Bernie) and all the stuff I probably didn’t take in when I was 19 or 20.

“The lifestyle here is a really good change of pace.”

Crameri – who says his body is feeling better than it was 12 months ago when picked up by Geelong – doesn’t have an official role with the Magpies, but he’s willing to do what he can to help lure past players back to Princes Park and spread as much of his wealth of knowledge gained from almost a decade in the AFL.

“We’re working really hard to get some players back here and get an identity again as a club,” Crameri said.

“There’s obviously some work to be done, but I’m really excited to try to get it going and get some wins next year.

“From what I’ve seen at training there looks to be some really skilled young players, so if we can continue to push and develop them and work on our training standards then the wins will come.

“Maryborough is a club that is close to my heart and it’s not good to hear what they have been through over the past few years, so that’s why I’m really keen to come back, help out and do the best I can.”

READ MORE – 2019 BFNL fixture

Maryborough coach Ben Lavars, who is preparing for his second season at the helm, says the return of Crameri to the Magpies provides the club with a significant boost both on and off the field.

“Having Stewie to soundboard off with different drills and the way we run pre-season is fantastic because he obviously has a wealth of knowledge,” Lavars said.

“It has created a bit of a buzz around town and for me it has been super having him. He’s not sure how many games he will play yet, but we needed a big tall forward.

“Often we’d get the ball in our forward line last season, but couldn’t keep the pressure on without a big target.

“When he’s down there it’s certainly going to be great to have him to kick to.”

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