As a 17-year-old Nathan Lovett-Murray had the football world at his feet. He had just finished playing with the North Ballarat Rebels in the TAC Cup and was selected to join Collingwood’s rookie list. Little did he know that it would be one of those feet that triggered his football journey. In his first training session with the Pies, Lovett-Murray fractured his foot and as a result missed the majority of the season. At the end of the season he was de-listed and four years later he has found his football home, Windy Hill.

During the past four years, Lovett-Murray was forced to re-consider if he was good enough to play AFL footy. The former Heywood resident in Western Victoria, spent 2002 playing with Williamstown but was starved of regular opportunities. Self-doubt started to kicked in. ""A couple of times I thought that I am not going to make it,"" Lovett-Murray said.

He returned to Heywood during the next summer but soon realised that he had made a mistake.

""I was back in Heywood and I was going to have a break from playing VFL football. But I went back home for about a month and thought that I just did not want to be here. I wanted to be back in Melbourne and playing VFL football and when that opportunity come up, I jumped at,"" he said.

That opportunity came in the form of the Michael Long Scholarship, which provided funding for Lovett-Murray to play with the Bendigo Bombers. He struggled early with fitness and form, but despite being dropped he worked hard to make sure that this second chance did not slip through his fingers.

""(The hardest part) I suppose was probably not giving up on the dream I suppose to play AFL footy. Not to give up on it and keep working hard I guess. If you put in the hard work then it will pay off.

""To see the group I played with at Collingwood play in two grand finals in a row was hard. I thought that if they can play in a Grand Final, then I can play AFL football. That kept me going,"" said the 21-year-old.

Lovett-Murray has played four games so far and provided Bomber fans with glimpses of his skill, highlighted by his three goals against Carlton two weeks ago. ""It’s a different intensity and skill level. One thing that I have found is that you definitely can’t afford to fumble the ball. You have got to be clean with your hands,"" he said.

""It was especially good to play against my old team Collingwood. I was there for a year and it was good to have a win. There was a great atmosphere. The first couple of games I was playing I guess I was sort of holding back. But then I had a bit of a talk to Harvs last week and he said, if it’s there then just go for it,"" Lovett-Murray said.

So what now for the Bombers latest ray of light?

""If you put in the hard work then the football club and Sheeds will back you all the way. I have made sure that I have done everything that the club has wanted me to do and it has started to come off. Hopefully I can just be consistent and play good, exciting senior football,"" he said.