You only have to listen to former players speak about their time at the Calder Cannons to understand the impact the TAC Cup team has had on their lives.
Former players, including AFL stars, recalled their times at the club at Saturday’s inaugural Hall of Fame function.
For most of them it wasn’t just a few years of their lives, it’s something that has stuck with them forever.
Three-time Geelong premiership player and now Bomber star Paul Chapman, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, said he and his family could never repay the club for what it did for them.
Chapman was just 16 when his 19-year-old brother Glenn died in a work accident.
“It does mean a lot [to be inducted]. As Kel [James Kelly] said when you are young and you are raw and you don’t really know what you want to do,” Chapman recalled.
“There were circumstances in my life which made things tough. The footy club was excellent and not just for me, but also my family.
“They made us enjoy life and weekends, and to play footy it helped us a lot and helped us take that next step.
“We’ll forever be thankful for what the footy club has done for us. You never can repay them for what they have done for us … but you can try.
For David Rodan and his family, the club provided a pathway to connecting to the community.
The former Richmond, Port Adelaide and Melbourne player moved with his family from Fiji to Australia when he was three.
“Footy integrated us into the community and we found friends outside of the Fijian community,” Rodan said.
“My parents made relationships they wouldn’t have had otherwise.
“I remember before the 2001 [TAC Cup] grand final all the families outside the MCG having a barbecue.”
James Kelly said the Cannons was more than a football club, ‘‘it’s a family’’.
“The memories I have from the Cannons and the relationships with people who are here [at the function] and I still treasure today, definitely set me on a path I thoroughly enjoyed.
“When I first started playing for the Cannons, I wasn’t really sure if I would make it.
“Ryan [O’Keefe] touched before on culture at Sydney, but it’s the same thing at the Cannons.
“There is just good people around and the word family gets tossed around a lot, but everyone at the Cannons is like a real family.”
Jude Bolton said looking back at footage of his time with the club bought back some memories.
“We were in the time where we did not have too much success, but we had some good wins,” Bolton recalled.
“Looking at one bit of footage, seeing Cameron Baird kick the winning goal after the siren against the Oakleigh Chargers is special.
“I was lucky enough to play with Chappy [Chapman] and Ryan O’Keefe in that game and it’s a special moment to see him do that.
“Sadly he’s [Baird who was awarded a Victoria Cross after his death in Afghanistan in 2013] not here to look back and talk about kids and things like that.”
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