If it weren’t for a letter secretly crafted by Adrian Dodoro and delivered to Kevin Sheedy, this week’s Bomber Legend Damien Peverill may never have played for Essendon.

It seems hard to believe that the 144-game midfielder could have been confined to local football for the entirety of his career, but in the late ‘90s that was exactly what Peverill thought would eventuate.

For four years Peverill went undrafted, questioning his place in the AFL. Keeping faith in his abilities was hard and he became accustomed to rejection.

“I got a few knockbacks, not getting drafted for four years,” Peverill said. 

“I was kind of just at the point of saying, ‘alright I’m going to go back to local footy and play with my mates’.”

Peverill went through a brief and unsuccessful pre-season stint with the Western Bulldogs before spending a year with Melbourne in the reserves, but he continued to face disappointment.

“I remember after the Bulldogs gave me the tap on the shoulder. I was 18 years old at the time and thinking that was my one and only chance and I was driving home in tears not really knowing what my life was going to be and where I was going to end up,” he said.

“Three more times after that (I remember) a similar thing happening.”

However, in 2000 the tough on-baller got the break he deserved. He scored a spot with the Bombers as a top-up player for the reserves and became a crucial member of the side, breaking his way into Windy Hill and finishing second in the best and fairest in a special year for the club.

But that wouldn’t be enough. He would need to impress legendary coach Kevin Sheedy to reach his dream of playing in the AFL and Essendon recruiting manager and current list manager Adrian Dodoro knew just how to do that.

“I sat down with Adrian Dodoro,” Peverill said.

“He had a bit of a brain wave that I should write Sheeds a letter. It was a bit of shameless self-promotion.”

“I didn’t write the letter, Adrian actually constructed the letter and I kind of typed it out – I changed nothing.”

Peverill knew Dodoro’s strong relationship with Sheedy would prove important, so he placed his future in the hands of the recruiting manager.

“Adrian knew Sheeds really well and knew what made him tick and what he’d like, so I trusted him.

“I knocked on Sheeds’ door, which was fairly intimidating, and I just handed him the letter and said I’d love to have a chat with you once you’ve had a read of it.

“We did a pre-season up on the Gold Coast and Sheeds just pulled me aside and we had a good chat for 20/30 minutes and I ended up getting drafted with the last pick in the rookie draft.”

Now able to grab this ultimate opportunity, Peverill never looked back. He exploded onto the scene in 2001 as a brief replacement for injured star Joe Misiti, impressing all before him with his knack as a tagger.

While he was forced to go back to the rookie list upon Misiti’s return, his impact was highlighted when he entered 2002 as one of the Brownlow Medal favourites.

Peverill went on to carve out a terrific eight-season career with the Bombers, taking the competition’s best players head on and becoming one of the club’s truly unsung heroes.

The Bomber Legend will be honoured in the pre-game entertainment ahead of Essendon’s clash with Port Adelaide on Sunday afternoon. CLICK HERE to buy tickets to the match at Etihad Stadium.

To hear more of the crowd favourite’s Essendon journey, watch Peverill’s interview BomberTV interview with Rohan Connolly above, or listen to the interview in full via the podcast below.