Demons Remember Their Mate

The Age

Wednesday January 5, 2005

STEPHEN RIELLY With AAP

MELBOURNE players gathered yesterday to share their sorrow and a re-reading of one of the biblical passages many had heard at team-mate Troy Broadbridge's marriage to Trisha Silvers only 17 days earlier.

Little more than 14 hours after football manager Chris Fagan contacted many of them on Monday evening to confirm the unspoken fear that Broadbridge's life had been swept away by the Boxing Day tsunami, they assembled at their Junction Oval training base to grieve over a loss which, by then, had cast the broader football community into mourning.

Ms Silvers, who was admitted to hospital in Bangkok after surviving the tsunami, returned to Melbourne yesterday after receiving news of her husband's fate on Monday.

It is still unknown when Broadbridge's body will be returned home.

The Reverend Cam Butler, the football club chaplain who had conducted the Wattle Park marriage ceremony on December 18, explained to the players yesterday how Broadbridge's father, Wayne, had identified his son's body, and some personal effects he had with him in a backpack, in a makeshift Thai morgue the previous day.

Counsellor Phil Martin addressed the players and staff, encouraging them to express their grief and to understand it, in whatever way they could.

"We'll be keeping a close eye on our group and on their partners and wives, and also the staff here to make sure they're dealing with it as well as they can," Fagan later said.

"I think today helped the players and started to put it all into context. When things like this happen, you've got to deal with them. It's a part of life, unfortunately.

"AFL footballers and young people in general often think themselves bulletproof, that they'll be around forever. Unfortunately, it's not the reality."

Wayne Broadbridge yesterday thanked aid workers, including Melbourne medical student Jess Maulder, who supported him during the identification process.

"We've been through Troy's possessions and . . . we're satisfied that it's Troy," he said.

Mr Broadbridge met Australian Federal Police yesterday after DNA tests on his son's body. "A lot of people and a lot of families have been affected by the event, and we're just one of those," he said.

Scores of suggestions as to how Melbourne and football might honour Broadbridge poured into the club as the football community paid tribute to the 24-year-old who played 40 games as a Demon after a stand-out junior career with the Port Adelaide Magpies.

Melbourne released a statement that read: "The players and staff at the Melbourne Football Club are mourning the loss of our friend and team-mate Troy Broadbridge. Our thoughts and prayers remain with Trisha and the Broadbridge family at this difficult time. Our heartfelt sympathy goes out to them."