The 29-year-old fell out of favour at the Power last season, managing just 10 senior games (for a total of 110 in six years) and spent most of the year plodding away in the SANFL.
But a move back to the city of Melbourne after his initial 65-game stint with Richmond has reinvigorated Rodan.
He was initially delisted by the Power before being traded to Melbourne during last year's trade period, with the Demons viewing Rodan's experience as the perfect complement to the club's youthful list.
Rodan himself sees his salvation by the Demons on two different levels: helping to accelerate the development of the club's youngsters and to reaffirm he has the ability to play at the elite level.
"I want to prove to the playing group that I still have what it takes to play at the level. You need to gain respect from the playing group and also the coaching staff," Rodan told AFL.com.au during the week.
"And at the same time, seeing these younger guys come through and helping them develop is quite rewarding as well."
Melbourne is will hand young trio Jimmy Toumpas, Jack Viney and Matt Jones their AFL debuts against the Power on Sunday.
These three have been clear standouts on the training track during the pre-season, and Rodan is sure, in time, they will develop into fine footballers.
"It depends how they're tracking with their bodies, but I'm very confident, in the near future, that they'll become the players everyone thinks they'll be," he said.
"I've been super impressed straight away and I think Demons supporters should be very excited by the next few years ahead."
Adding to the youth of the team against the Power, will be a blend of experienced core players the club actively recruited last season.
Rodan, Shannon Byrnes, Tom Gillies and Cameron Pedersen are all slated to play their first games in the red and the blue, while the club's other recruit, Chris Dawes, will miss with a minor hamstring complaint.
"The footy club have pretty high expectations of us mature guys," Rodan said.
"We do have a pretty young list and for them to be fast tracked and play their best footy, we've got to be right up there as well.
"We look forward to the challenge, that's obviously why we accepted it, and I can't wait to get out there and start playing with these guys."
Rodan also has his sights on rewarding the faith coach Mark Neeld and the rest of the club have shown in him.
"I guess as you get older that question continues to be asked (about your value), but look, I'm just happy to get the opportunity from Melbourne again and hopefully I can show my worth."
Follow AFL Media reporter Ben Guthrie on Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie
