In launching both the Sports Medicall service and the AFL Medical Fellowship, Demetriou laid the groundwork for sports doctors to reclaim the eminent positions they once held in the game.
The new ventures were launched at the Aberfeldie Football Club due to its strong ties to AFL Victoria, which is partnering with the AFL in the Medicall service, which gives grassroots footballers access to leading sports medicine specialists.
Demetriou as a player for nearby Pascoe Vale, was a regular visitor to the ground.
Aberfeldie is about three kilometres away from Essendon's home base at Windy Hill, where the murky events of the summer of 2012 have led to an Australian Crime Commission Report, an ASADA investigation and lots of angst for the AFL.
The symbolism was obvious as Demetriou spoke pointedly – and at times passionately – about the dangers posed to the game by "potential lunatic sports scientists".
It was when the Bombers failed to show for a NAB Cup game in Wangaratta last year that the AFL first expressed concern over the increased power sports scientists had at football clubs. On that occasion the Bombers had elected to fly to the game on the advice of their sports scientists, but the plane could not land because of the stormy conditions.
It was felt that had the decision been left to the doctors rather than the scientists, the Bombers would have taken the bus.
And it was then that the AFL started moves to shift the balance of power within clubs and have doctors reassert their authority. At the same time, the AFL Medical Officers Association was expressing concern that its ranks were thinning and that not enough was being done to encourage medical graduates to consider sports medicine as a career.
"With the demands of AFL football and because of the competition from other codes, it has become harder and harder to attract leading sports practitioners into our game," Demetriou said on Thursday.
Essendon's cry-for-help fast-tracked plans by the AFL to create the medical fellowship. The initial thought was to create some sort of mechanism that would allow clubs to have full-time doctors.
But in their briefings with club leaders in the wake of the ACC Report, the AFL soon learned that the clubs don't necessarily want full-time doctors, but instead need more of them to be available to service the football industry. And their ranks need to be replenished.
Hence the fellowship, which will helps clubs at the elite level by bringing more and fresh blood into the sports medical field and Sports Medicall, which addresses a concern long felt by sports physicians that suburban and country footballers don't get enough access to leading sports medical services.
Ashley Browne is a senior writer for AFL Media. Follow him on Twitter: @afl_hashbrowne
