After more than five years with the Brisbane Lions, Tom Fullarton opted to up and leave the club.
It was the Demons who came knocking in the trade period, offering the Lions draft pick 47 in exchange for Fullarton to make the move to Melbourne.
The 24-year-old ruck/forward played 19 AFL games for the Lions but was stuck behind the likes of Joe Daniher, Eric Hipwood and Oscar McInerney who were ahead of him in the positions he plays.
Fullarton was asked if the overriding reason for him departing the Lions was to give himself every chance of playing regular senior footy.
“Yeah, definitely,” he replied on SENQ Mornings.
“I’ve been at the Lions for almost six years now and we’ve got a fair few stars in our forward line. They’ve all managed to stay out on the park besides the year Eric hurt himself.
“It can be very hard to crack in when you’ve got superstars like ‘Joey’ (Daniher), Eric (Hipwood), ‘O’ (McInerney) who stay out on the park very often.
“I’m more looking for some opportunity and some consistent footy at AFL level because I feel like that’s what I need to propel my career.
“I’m just looking forward to a new opportunity and a new environment.
“I think it will be good for me and hopefully I can thrive in it.”
The 200-centimetre Fullarton, who spent time with NBL club the Brisbane Bullets, will look to bring with him to Melbourne the agility that served him well during his basketball days.
He is looking to somewhat mimic what another former star basketball junior - Fremantle’s Luke Jackson - has produced at at the elite level of Australian football.
“I can bring a lot of energy to the club, first and foremost,” Fullarton added.
“On the field my skillset is not like Luke Jackson, but I sort of watch him play a lot and I feel like I can keep progressing and emulate my game off him.
“I can get around the ground, I’m pretty good at ground level and I feel like that’s what I can bring to Melbourne.”
The Sunshine Coast product is not coming to the Demons thinking he has a guaranteed spot in Simon Goodwin’s side.
He knows he is not simply replacing Brodie Grundy and that he’ll have to compete with the likes of Tom McDonald, Jacob Van Rooyen and Ben Brown for a spot as a key forward, while biding his time behind captain Max Gawn from a ruck perspective.
“There’s no promises or guarantees in sport,” Fullarton said further.
“The mindset is to go down there and work as hard as I can. I feel like I’ve got a good understanding of my work ethic and what I need to do.
“My mindset is to get down there and just work my arse off to try and be a part of the side.”
Fullarton also explained why he ended up at Melbourne who showed immediate interest in his services.
“They were probably just the first team to pull the trigger,” he concluded.
“I wasn’t going to stuff them around. If they had belief in me that I could come and do a job I was all-in, I didn’t really care where I had to go in Australia.
“They were the first keen and I was all-in.”
Fullarton joins Jack Billings (from St Kilda) and Shane McAdam (from Adelaide) at the Dees following a fairly busy trade period for the club which saw Grundy (to Sydney), James Harmes (to the Bulldogs) and James Jordon (also to the Swans) all depart.