When Brodie Kemp was drafted by Carlton, he was already facing a rocky start to his AFL career.
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A knee injury, that he suffered while playing for Geelong Grammar last year, meant the Echuca product would have to wait for the opportunity to test himself at the top level.
Throughout his first AFL pre-season, albeit not a full one, the 18-year-old spent almost all his time in the rehab group.
And his progress was being watched closely by the Blues’ medical staff.
But Kemp now faces the bigger challenge of doing more rehab alone, after AFL players were sent home due to the coronavirus pandemic — with the season suspended until at least May 31.
Although the former Murray Bomber has a clear plan of what he needs to do during the coming weeks.
“Sometimes it feels like the whole situation isn’t real,” Kemp said.
“There was a point where you didn’t think the entire thing could have stopped footy. Andrew Russell (Carlton’s fitness boss) has given us a four-week program to help keep us in shape.
“All the boys were sent home with gym equipment as well, which will certainly help.
“We might not have face-to-face contact with the club staff, but we are able to call or FaceTime them at any time, which helps to ease the burden.
“The best-case scenario at the moment is we can get back to the club in early May.”
While it is clear to Kemp what the club expects from all players in the coming weeks in terms of their fitness, he said there was a much stronger message from coach David Teague.
“He wants us all to stay safe and make sure we take care of our families,” Kemp said.
“In our meeting before we got sent away from the club, he spoke a lot about looking out for each other in this difficult time.
“What the world is going through at the moment isn’t easy for anyone and to get through it we are going to need to work together.”
With so much bad news floating around in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, Kemp is continuing to look for positives.
“It has been a great opportunity to come home because I don’t get to do it very often anymore,” he said.
“Getting back to the quiet Echuca life is always nice because Melbourne is such a hectic place.
“I’m going to be making the most of the time I have with my family.”
While Kemp enjoys a return to the twin towns during the AFL hiatus, he is no stranger to living away from home at a young age.
During the latter stages of his schooling, Kemp lived on campus at Geelong Grammar, meaning a smooth transition into the AFL environment.
“I’m living with Jack Newnes (another new Carlton recruit) and his partner,” he said.
“It’s been great so far, especially when Jack has been in the system for several years now.
“My brother Mitch has moved to Melbourne for uni like a lot of my mates, which has certainly been good for me because I get to see them a lot more now.
“And in 2018 I trained with Carlton for a week, so I had expectations on what to expect.
“It’s a great club and I’m excited to get back into it.”
The break in the AFL season could be a blessing in disguise for Kemp.
When he arrived at Ikon Park, many people tipped him to miss the entire season as the Blues took a conservative approach to his recovery.
But with so much uncertainty as to when footy will start again, we may see Kemp in the navy blue sooner than expected.
And his rehab progress suggests it could happen.
“I’ve gone up a few gears in the past few weeks,” he said.
“I’m still doing minimal body work, but that could change in the coming weeks. I started running again in January and everything has been smooth since.
“I’m very thankful for how the club staff have guided me through everything.”