At 14 years of age, Campbell was playing representative rugby for his local province Mid Canterbury in New Zealand, and harboured dreams of becoming an All-Black or playing international cricket for his country.
But when he moved with his family to the western districts of Victoria in 1999, the lack of rugby in the area forced him to take up the 'foreign' Australian game, which he soon developed a passion and a knack for.
Just three years later, he was drafted by Fremantle with pick No.27 in the 2003 NAB AFL Draft, and his willingness to learn combined with hard work has led to a remarkable and rapid development of his game.
"He brings a different mix to our forward line, he's probably the most aggressive of our taller players and that aggression's important," Fremantle coach Chris Connolly said.
"He's got that New Zealand rugby background. He's a fierce competitor, and we're really pleased with how he's coming on…he can end up very important in our forward mix."
The softly spoken Docker was conducting a football clinic when told of the good news, and admitted the nerves were beginning to creep in.
"I was just ecstatic. I couldn't believe it," he said.
Standing at an imposing 193cm and weighing 92 kilograms, Campbell believes his body is now ready to handle the rigours of AFL football.
"(My debut) probably hasn't come before expectations because this is my third season (at the club), and I've been working really hard," Campbell said.
"I set my goals at the start of the season that I wanted to make my debut this year, and it's nice to know that I'll get my first game underway."
"I think probably my first two seasons (at the club) my body wasn't physically ready to play AFL."
Campbell has been in good form for his WAFL club West Perth, and it has been that form that finally proved to the Fremantle coaching staff that he was ready to take the next step.
"I think the club understood that coming from New Zealand and not having a lot of football background it was always going to take time," Campbell said.
"Last year I tried to go a step ahead of myself, and this year all I concentrated on was having a good pre-season, and not worrying about if I was going to be in the side in round one.
"I was just going to concentrate on playing good, consistent, WAFL senior football, and that's what I've focused on. I think that's allowed me to play good footy, and hopefully I can do it at the next level."
