Cameron Bruce (born 30 September 1979) is a former professional

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for the

Melbourne Football Club The Melbourne Football Club, nicknamed the Demons or colloquially the Dees, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

and

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). He is currently serving as an assistant coach for the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. During his AFL career, he was known for his aerobic capacity and neat kicking skills.

Early life

He attended

Melbourne High School Melbourne High School is a Education in Australia#Government schools, government-funded Single-sex education, single-sex Selective school, academically selective secondary school, secondary day school for boys, located in the Melbourne suburb ...

and played for Melbourne High School Old Boys following his schooling.

Playing career

Melbourne Football Club

It was from MHSOB that he was drafted in 1999, at the relatively old age of 20. He was Melbourne's last selection in that year's draft, taken as the club's sixth pick, and 64th overall, behind team-mates Brad Green, Paul Wheatley and Matthew Whelan. At 20, and after one year in Melbourne's Junior Development Squad, he made his debut for the Demon senior side against

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

in Round 1 of the 2000 season, kicking a goal with his first kick in AFL football. He played in Melbourne's impressive run to the Grand Final, but had to withdraw from the final match of the season due to injury. Given the number 32 guernsey, he quickly adapted to AFL football, receiving a Rising Star nomination in his debut season, and finishing runner-up to David Neitz in the club's best-and-fairest in 2002. He was a member of the

International Rules International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

sides of 2002 and 2004.

Developing his game

Bruce developed his game as a midfielder, but from 2005 he has been used in attack, across half-back and also as a tagger – the latter role seen notably through his tagging of high-profile players such as

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...

, Chris Judd,

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...

and Nathan Buckley.SportsAustralia.com – AFL 2007 Season Preview
Because of his ability to adapt to new positions and roles within the side, versatility is often highlighted as one of his main strengths, and he has been regarded as the most versatile player in the league at various stages throughout his career. He enjoyed a solid run of form in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, which he managed 34 goals for the year, including a seven-goal haul against Carlton in round six. He carried the form through to the 2005 season – enjoying a particularly fruitful period early in the season – before suffering a serious shoulder injury sustained from a heavy tackle which ended his season prematurely.

Established player

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, he played a pivotal role in Melbourne's eight-game winning run, which came on the back of losing their first three matches of the season. He kicked the winning goal against Sydney in round 4 and received 10 Brownlow votes throughout the season, his most in a season to date. He finished second in the club's best-and-fairest and had one of his more consistent seasons – he was one of only two players to average more than 22 disposals and kick more than 20 goals for the season. (The other was Chris Judd.) The

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

season was hugely disappointing for Melbourne, where they were unable to convert narrow losses into wins and being outclassed on other occasions. Bruce celebrated his 150-game milestone in Round 4, and averaged 24 possessions for the season. He achieved a career-high of 35 possessions against the

Kangaroos Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern grey ...

in Round 9, but his goal tally was well down on previous seasons, kicking just nine majors for the season. His preparations for the 2008 season were hampered by injuries suffered in pre-season, but he was selected in Round 1 and played in the first fourteen matches of the season for Melbourne. New Demons coach Dean Bailey used Bruce chiefly in defence in the early stages of the season, where he picked up Brad Johnson and Cameron Mooney among others. Bailey handed Bruce a more attacking role during the middle of the season, generally playing either off half-back as a rebounding defender, or on the wing. Bruce kicked two goals in all three of Melbourne's wins for the season. He played in all 22 of Melbourne's matches for the season (the only Demon player to do so) and averaged more than 24 disposals per game. He won Melbourne's best-and-fairest for the season, polling 75 votes – 15 more than second-place Brock McLean.Holmesby, L
Bruce wins best and fairest
, ''MelbourneFC.com.au'', 2 October 2008, accessed 3 October 2008.

Melbourne leader

Following the retirement of David Neitz in 2008, Bruce was named co-captain of the team alongside James McDonald for the remainder of the season. This came on the back of his role in the leadership group in 2007. McDonald was named as permanent captain for

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, with Bruce as vice-captain. Bruce resumed his place in the midfield for 2009 and rotated equally between the forward- and back-flanks. He recorded 30 disposals and nine marks against Collingwood in Round 2. He kicked the 200th goal of his career in a 22-point loss to Hawthorn in Round 9. Bruce played his 200th game in round 16, 2009.

Hawthorn

In November 2010, it was reported that Bruce had been training with the

, after being given permission by the AFL. Bruce was subsequently drafted by the Hawks with the fifth selection in the pre-season draft. A few hours after he had been drafted by the Hawks, Bruce had revealed on SEN, a Melbourne-based sports-talkback radio station, that he had already been handed the number 17 guernsey, made famous by Hawthorn legend, Michael Tuck. Midway through the 2012 season, Bruce announced his retirement from football, citing a persistent back injury as the cause. He retired having played 234 AFL games, including 10 with the Hawks, and kicked 211 goals.

Coaching career

Hawthorn Football Club

Bruce was appointed as an assistant coach in the role of development coach with the

in 2013 under senior coach Alastair Clarkson. After impressing in his role as a development coach, he was promoted to a senior assistant coach with the Hawks in late 2013. On 22 August 2017, it was announced that Bruce would leave Hawthorn at the end of the 2017 season to become a senior assistant coach at Carlton.

Carlton Football Club

At the end of the 2017 season, Bruce joined the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Princes Park (stadium), Princes Park in Carlton North, Victoria, Carlton North, an inner suburb of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia. The c ...

as senior assistant coach under senior coach Brendon Bolton. At the end of the 2021 season, Bruce left the Carlton Football Club due to a clean-out at the club, after an extensive review of the club's football operations.

Brisbane Lions

On 20 September 2021, it was announced that Bruce had joined

as an assistant coach in the position of midfield coach under senior coach Chris Fagan.

Statistics

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2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

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2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

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Honours and achievements

Team *

Minor premiership A minor premiership is the title given to the team which finishes a sporting competition first in the league standings after the regular season but prior to commencement of the finals in several Australian sports leagues. Origins The etymolo ...

():

Individual * Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal: 2008 * Melbourne captain: 2008 *

Australian international rules football team The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in International rules football, a hybrid sport derived from Australian rules football and Gaelic football. The current team is solely made up of player ...

* AFL Rising Star nominee:

References

External links

*
DemonWiki profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Cameron 1979 births Living people Melbourne Football Club players Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy winners Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Melbourne High School Old Boys Football Club players Hawthorn Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players Australia international rules football team players