2024 VAFA Anytime Fitness Rising Star – Joey Campigli

If you’d told Jonah ‘Joey’ Campigli midway through the season that he’d be in the mix for the Anytime Fitness Rising Star Award, he would have shaken his head in disbelief.

At that stage, he’d booted 33 goals from 9 games in Old Brighton’s Holmesglen Under 19s Premier team and appeared destined to see out the season in the line-up that would ultimately go on to win the premiership.

Having snuck in for two senior games in the middle of 2023 while others travelled around Europe, Joey was content biding his time in 2024, realising that an opportunity to break into the Tonners’ all-conquering senior line-up was going to be hard to come by this season.

But the 20-year-old is also well aware of what an unpredictable rollercoaster ride footy can provide, complete with dizzying highs and crushing lows that can come from seemingly nowhere.

Joey’s football journey began with a season in Hampton’s Under 10s, however when they had too many players for one team but not enough for two, he switched across to the East Brighton Vampires from Under 11 onwards.

“I played most of my juniors at East Brighton until Under 15s,” Joey recalls. “Then we lost a couple of seasons in 2020 and 2021 to COVID.

Just as Joey was raring to get back into footy, he received news that he would have to sit out another year.

“I used to always be one of the smallest on my team, so generally played on the wing as an outside midfielder. In Year 11, I would have been around 177 centimetres, but I suddenly grew about 8 centimetres really quickly and it caused issues with my leg. I needed to have a tibial osteotomy (where the shinbone is cut and reshaped to relieve pressure on the joint) in April 2021 and sat out of sport for another 12 months.

“I came into 2022 with no pre-season and decided just to focus on school footy with Brighton Grammar. I played ten games and we ultimately drew with Caulfield Grammar in the Grand Final and shared the premiership, which was amazing.”

(Joey’s team came from 46 points down early in the third quarter that day to draw the game, despite kicking into a 5-goal wind in the final term. Talk about footy’s rollercoaster!)

Joey joined his brother Finn and a bunch of schoolmates in the Under 19s at Old Brighton in 2023, booting 24 goals as a midfielder who would spend 10 minutes a quarter forward to claim the team’s Best & Fairest and Goalkicking awards.

“I managed to play a couple of games mid-season in the seniors while a bunch of guys were overseas,” Joey recalls, “But I fully expected to be a midfielder again in the Under 19s for all of this season.

“However, we had plenty of good midfield options, so it was best for team balance to play me at full-forward. So I spent the first half of the season training with both the Under 19s and the Seniors as a forward, while playing with the 19s for the first 9 games.”

Joey polled coaches’ votes in 6 of those 9 games and was making good progress.

“I like playing forward. Taking marks and kicking goals. My aerial presence is a strength in my game and the coaches at both levels were just asking me to compete, bring the ball to ground and then apply pressure once it hits the deck.”

His former trade as a midfielder was still coming in handy, with his capacity to win ground balls and his agility once in possession causing headaches for opposition defenders.

“I knew the Seniors would be a hard team to crack into. ‘Soupy’ (senior coach Marcel Bruin) said to just keep sticking at it in the Under 19s. I was named as an emergency in Round 9 versus Collegians and Sam Collins was a late out, so I got the call-up.

“I just focused on the things the coaches were asking of me and I managed to hold my spot. Some days I got used, other days not so much, but all I could do is just focus on playing the role.”

“I had no doubt that he would get an opportunity with our senior team throughout the year,” said his senior coach, Marcel ‘Soupy’ Bruin.

“He was able to pick up how we wanted to defend and attack really quickly. He has thoroughly taken to the forward role, complementing our group holistically and making the forward group really dynamic.

“Joey’s a gifted athlete with a great workrate, competing strongly in the air and when the ball hits the ground, Joey’s speed and ability to close space quickly can put opposition defenders under real pressure.

“But I think the attribute that I love most about Joey, despite his almost shy demeanour, is his competitiveness when he trains and particularly when he plays. He is very quick and covers the ground smoothly, has lovely hands and always seems to find himself in the right spots to impact.

“Tough to play that connector/key forward role as a young player with limited exposure against senior bodies but his ability to compete and importantly put pressure on the opposition quickly cemented his spot within the senior side.”

Joey booted 2 goals in 3 of his first six games – a more than reasonable return in the wet and windy depths of winter in conditions not suited to a young player with his game style.

“I started to feel like I belonged in Premier Men’s after the OMs game (in Round 12, when he kicked 2 goals from 14 disposals and 7 marks). I started to get used to the pace of the game, the bigger bodies and what the coaches wanted.”

His breakout game came a few weeks later against St Bernard’s in Round 15, when he grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck with 18 disposals, 12 marks and 11 score involvements, including 5 goals in a best-on-ground performance that made the competition sit up and take notice.

“Everything just fell into place that game. I got used when leading up and got on the end of a few. After that, I knew I could contribute to this team for the rest of the year.”

And contribute he did – Joey becoming a key focal point for the Tonners as they claimed the minor premiership before ultimately falling short of the Cardinals on Grand Final Day.

“We’re building,” said Joey of Old Brighton’s 2024 campaign. “We’ve made some progress this year which will hold us in good stead for coming years. We’re only going to get better from here.

“We kept our heads up after the Grand Final and remained really positive. ‘Soupy’ had nothing negative to say. We tried our best but just fell short. Stay connected, stay together and we’ll come back firing for next year.”

Despite the disappointing finale, Joey thrived in the September cauldron.

“I loved the high-pressure aspect of it and the high stakes of it. I loved the crowd on Grand Final Day. The last time I played in front of that was the drawn APS Grand Final against Caulfield.”

“Joey is an understated hard worker who has put a lot of effort into getting himself ready for the step up to senior footy,” said club President, Tom Clarke.

“He doesn’t say much, he just goes about his business quietly and professionally. He has very quickly earned the respect and admiration of his senior team mates, who love playing with ‘Smokin’ Joe.”

Joey finished 2024 with 21 games and 49 goals to his credit (12 of those games and 16 goals in the Seniors) to surely catch the eye of VFL and AFL recruiters with his mix of athleticism, skill and smarts.

“He has enormous upside and will be an incredibly difficult player to match up on as he continues to grow physically,” said Bruin. “Such a coachable young man, he’s respectful, enjoys playing and competing and could easily slot into multiple positions which provides us with great flexibility.”

The 2024 VAFA Anytime Fitness Rising Star Award further heightens his profile amongst scouts.

“It’s a huge privilege. I thought I was going to play the whole year in the 19s, so I’m grateful more than anything to get the opportunity to come into the senior team. And not only the senior coaches but the 19s coaches who helped me develop. They didn’t have to play me, so I’m grateful to them and the players for getting around me as a young player.

“I’m also grateful to my parents and everyone wants to play with their siblings, so I’m grateful to my brother Finn (who also plays in the Old Brighton senior team). We look after each other out there – he’ll get angry if I don’t kick it to him!

“And to everyone that helps out at Old Brighton. There’s a lot of volunteers that help out with Thursday night dinners and work so hard behind the scenes every Saturday. People like Tom Clarke, the Hill family, Katie Flockart and many others. Thanks to you all.”