The game, the first of its kind, was played less than 12 months after St Kilda star Nicky Winmar famously pulled up his jumper and pointed to his Aboriginal skin after enduring racial taunts from a section of the Magpies supporters and players at Victoria Park.
The All-Stars’ win, driven by captain Michael McLean and stars Darryl White, Derek Kickett and Chris Lewis, led to an even greater awareness of the indigenous community and served to inspire Campbell and the next generation of would-be AFL footballers.
“I was actually here for the Collingwood game in ‘94’. I was only a little tacker and can’t really remember much, but I know I really looked up to the players and wanted to be out there,” Campbell said.
“After not being picked up in the [2004] national draft. I went to Adelaide and thought I wasn’t going to get there, but once I got to the Kangaroos my main priority was that I was right in the pre-season to get to these games.
“All the boys have memories of that [1994] game. Andrew McLeod said earlier in the week that he was only a young chappy up here watching it. He was inspired and wanted to be the captain of the team and he did that on three occasions.”
On Saturday night, Campbell followed in McLeod’s footsteps by winning the Polly Farmer Medal for best on ground.
The 22-year-old was influential with two goals and some dynamic passages of play in the second and third quarters, and became the first ‘Centralian’ (Central-Australian) to be awarded the prestigious medal.
“I’ve read a few books about Polly and seen some vision of him on the Marngrook Show. I think he was a great player and he was one that stood up for Aboriginal people in the old days,” Campbell said after the game.
“I’m very humbled and a bit embarrassed to win the medal. There were a lot of good players out there tonight. I thought Travis Varcoe and his forward line pressure was right up there and young Warren Benjamin, who’s not even a ruckman, played his heart out in the ruck.”
The All-Stars’ superior speed was on show from very early in the piece at TIO Stadium and helped the sleek outfit bolt to a 25-point lead at quarter time.
Campbell said the dazzling display was a result of ‘instinct’ rather than any set game plan.
“We didn’t really sit down with game plans until about Thursday and we didn’t really know what to come up with because of the weather,” he said.
“But I think that win means a lot after the loss to Essendon [in 2007]. We wanted to bounce back and we knew that Adelaide was going to be a really good side. They are one of the fittest sides in the pre-season, but the conditions probably suited us better than them.
“The boys just kept going and we didn’t really give them a sniff.”
