Warrnambool's Ben Cunnington opens up on family, football and farm

"It's a good feeling - even putting the navy polo on for the first time, a bit of a weird feeling, especially when you only know one colour for the last 15 years," Ben told The Standard.

"Going forward, it's now exciting to give back to them (family) a little bit.

"Moving back to the community, Belinda will meet new friends, the kids will start playing sport, it's definitely a family decision (to join Warrnambool).

"It's nice to see them all decked out and how excited they get, running about, I think they're pretty happy."

Ben, who got his start in the Hampden league as a 15-year-old at Cobden, will return after an accomplished 14-year, 238-game AFL career at North Melbourne.

It wasn't just what he achieved on the football field but what he and his family endured off it in recent years that sees Ben return the man he is now.

Following two bouts of testicular cancer in the final years of his AFL career, Ben made an inspirational return to top-level football in August, 2022.

Twelve months later, he played his final game, citing a fading motivation and desire to get back into the senior side after falling out of selection favour.

Since that moment, Ben has felt a spark return ahead of his return to the football field, albeit this time in the country.

"It's sort of funny, my love and passion feels like it's nearly got greater since I've retired and made the call to come back here," he said.

"You try not to but sometimes you get a bit complacent and end up treating football as a job, which it was - everyday we were going into work trying to get better... now to come back and being a bit more of a balance and not full-time, I feel that passion and love for football, it's already sparked."

The 32-year-old never questioned his will to perform in the past.

Playing the sport at the highest level for so long undoubtedly comes with highs and lows, along with the internal and external pressure of playing in a state known as a traditional AFL heartland.

Being the ultimate competitor, coupled with his love for the game, drove the midfielder to succeed.

But his status as one of the hardest men in the game - he still holds the league record for most contested possessions in a match (32) - eventually paled in comparison to his fight off-field.

Ben admits he never thought cancer would hit him.

"For some reason, you just think you're invincible," he said.

"I remember, we played Carlton and pumped them, this was a couple of years ago, (I) played alright and the next day the doc called me in, wanted to have a chat with me.

"I went in and she said I'd tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, which was at that stage a four-year ban so I though 'shit, that's not great'.

"She backed me in, and said 'obviously if it's not that then it's something else so we need to get in for a scan right away'.

"I remember calling Belinda, saying 'shit, I've just tested positive and I've either got a four-year ban or I've got cancer'.

"At the time I didn't know which one I'd prefer."

Quickly getting in for a scan, he soon learnt it was cancer.

"It was very overwhelming, the family took it hard," he said.

His first operation in July 2021 went smoothly, and with the knowledge surgeons had removed it all.

Fast-forward to November 2021, and during a routine check-up, Ben was told the cancer had returned, this time in his lymph-nodes.

"That's when we had to opt to do chemotherapy to treat that and that's when it got pretty real," he said.

Remembering that time, Ben says he was in awe of Belinda for the support she gave him and their family.

"A lot of people don't realise the week before I started chemo, we had our third child," he said of youngest Kobe's arrival.

"So Belinda had three kids, including a newborn, and me starting chemo, so it was pretty full-on.

"I couldn't be more proud how Belinda handled the whole situation and got us all through.

"It was some pretty tough times and a couple of times I thought I was in a bit of trouble but Belinda handled the ambulances, the ups-and-downs so well with all the three kids, trying not to expose them to too much - she was a trooper."

Having had the game taken away from him throughout his health battle, Ben's drive to return to the top was strong.

It wasn't easy though as he started rehab to build his physical state back up from scratch despite various set-backs.

"Along the way, I kept straining and tearing my calf, I remember I got COVID, I broke my ribs in a bloody VFL game, it definitely wasn't easy coming back but we got there," he said.

A fairytale return in the penultimate round of the 2022 AFL season saw Ben and his family lead North Melbourne onto Adelaide Oval after 385 days out of the game.

"To run through that banner again, that was a proud moment," he said. "To get back to that top level from where we'd been, it was like we'd started again."

But by the time the 2023 pre-season rolled around, Ben conceded it "just felt a bit harder".

"I hadn't played for 18 months, I felt like I was building but it still felt hard and then when I got dropped (in round nine) and (was) out of the team and fell out of favour a bit, it tested my drive and commitment," he said.

"That's when me and Belinda started having the conversations - 'how much do we want it, do we want to hang around... and go through this'."

Having little ability to impact and help the club towards senior success, Ben said working with some of the Roos' young midfielders gave him purpose and helped him "put on a brave face".

With a growing desire to return to the farm, Ben and the club agreed he would retire, announcing it teammates in an emotional address in August.

"It was a really clean finish, a happy ending for both parties and then for them to give me the farewell game and respect, they didn't have to do that but we'll be forever grateful," he said.

Being a one-club AFL player sits right with Ben, North Melbourne the ideal fit for a once 18-year-old "quiet, country" kid, who joined it with pick five of the 2009 AFL draft.

He credits the Roos for enabling him to get the best out of himself, ultimately leading him to becoming a club great as a two-time Syd Barker medallist for its best and fairest player.

But Ben was never one to get caught up with individual accolades or the media spotlight.

Though he looks back on his individual achievements fondly, playing finals football was the pinnacle.

"2014 against Essendon, (the) elimination final when we got our first win, we came from behind, three-quarter-time, to get that win was definitely my highlight," he remembers.

"Then we were lucky enough, 2014 and '15, to play in a couple of prelims.

"That 2015 (prelim against West Coast), I remember we were a couple of goals up at half-time and we thought we were going to a granny but unfortunately that didn't happen.

"Finals footy, it's like another game, it feels like the home-and-away season is NAB Cup, it feels like praccy matches.

"Everyone strives to get to (the grand final) and unfortunately I didn't get there but I'm still very proud of my career and what I've achieved especially with the couple of battles I've had to go through towards the end."

Following the decision to retire, Ben and Belinda made sure to soak up each 'final' event, including his farewell game for the club - he went out on a 24-disposal, 10-clearance and two-goal performance - as well as one last club best-and-fairest appearance.

The final bookmark was the traditional retiring players' motorcade around the MCG at last month's AFL grand final.

"The kids were in awe, 100,000 people and we're cruising around," Ben said.

"It was pretty special... but a weird feeling at the same time, that was the full stop, that was the end.

"But that's where I'm grateful, my body's still in good enough condition that I can still come back and play footy."

Returning to the south-west and "the farm" has been a long time coming for Ben and Belinda, who hail from Princetown and Scotts Creek respectively.

"We're pretty simple people, just coming back to the farm is more than what we could have dreamt of," Ben said. "Just to come back to this area... (it's) a chapter we feel is going to be our best especially with the kids, growing up on the farm like we did and the opportunities that will bring.

"Even when me and Belinda moved down to Melbourne, we'd always come back to our family farms, that was weekly.

"We always had that good balance in life and always wanted to come back to the farm."

The couple purchased their property in 2019 with Ben running and fattening cattle while still playing football in Melbourne.

Now he plans to move into the commercial breeding game.

"We've got 73 (Angus cows) at the minute that we'll calve in autumn - even that we're excited for," he said.

"To live on the farm, that will be my new job, waking up to the cows each day, feed them, improving and learning to make them as efficient an enterprise as I can and get that up and running, that's my new aim," he said.

Ben is excited to get back to his roots on the football field.

His senior debut remains league folklore, the then 15-year-old kicking 10 goals for the Bombers after quarter-time against Camperdown.

"Hampden definitely gave me the jump and the step up to help me get drafted," he said.

"My debut game, I still don't know how I kicked 10, I hadn't even looked like that and 15 years later and apparently I got better.

"Watching a few games this year, the standard's as good as it's ever been."

Signing at Warrnambool, Ben said it was surreal the amount of people who had reached out, though he is excited for Belinda, who wasn't attached to a country football netball club growing up, to be involved.

"It's a bit overwhelming because you still feel like you're a normal country lad, dad, husband," he said of the buzz. "It's definitely a surreal feeling, the position we're in.

"(Belinda) does like the social side of life and I feel like a footy club, she won't realise how much she'll love it, I'm excited for her to be part of it."

Though he has stayed in touch with people at Cobden, Ben said his decision to sign with a rival club was in part due to moving closer to the regional city.

"Growing up in Princetown and Scotts Creek was great and we didn't miss out but we just felt whatever the kids get into whether it's sport or not, we just feel Warrnambool brings more opportunity," he said.

"That's sort of the reason why we came a bit more this way but in saying that we're only 20 minutes out of town, got a couple of hundred acres, got some bush, we get that full country feel."

Ben said he could talk for ages about the things he loves about the south-west - he is also excited to hit golf courses and indulge in one of his favourite pastimes - fishing.

"We're only a couple of weeks away from getting a new boat, a new Edencraft 6.0m so we're pretty pumped for that, I think that will handle off-shore pretty well down here," he said.

"Even just starting to meet a few people at the Warrnambool footy club, apparently there is a few fishermen (here) so I'm excited to meet them and have some fun."

Ben is earnest in using his experiences in the AFL to help the next generation of footballers reach their dreams.

He understands the position he has been in and wants to pass that knowledge onto the next 15-year-old from the south-west.

"If I can help out in any way, and I feel Warrnambool does have such a great opportunity with the facilities and Dan (O'Keefe) as the coach, for kids to get drafted," he said.

"It's definitely a good opportunity to help kids get to where they want to go and conquer their AFL dreams."

Looking out across a pristine Reid Oval, Ben, who moves back to the south-west with his family at the end of the year, pictures an exciting future.

With the memory of that "bit harder" pre-season now in the rear-view mirror, the Blues' gun recruit says he can't wait to get a run in on the Reid and tackle a fresh pre-season - and the 2024 season - that lays ahead.

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