Bennell was near best on ground when Swan Districts beat Perth in last season’s grand final at Subiaco.
Since then, Bennell has changed clubs, cities and competitions, but when he ran out for Melbourne against West Coast on Sunday, it wasn’t just the venue that was the same.
The 18-year-old gathered 19 possessions and made four tackles in a spirited display that carried on his impressive start to the season, despite the Demons’ narrow loss.
"My family were up (from Bunbury) for the game and I just wanted to come back to WA and put on a bit of a show, or at least just try my best for the team”, Bennell said after the match.
"How I played in that grand final was similar to how I played out there in this game, and I like Subi because it gives me plenty of space to run in and let me take the opposition on.
Bennell was not the only Demon to be buoyed by fond memories of the colts premiership. Teammate Neville Jetta also starred for Swan Districts on the day and was not shy about stating his intentions.
"Neville said to me at half time [in the grand final] that he was taking the best on ground medal off me after I'd had a pretty good first half. And he did!"
The Demons fought on doggedly to come within two goals of West Coast after losing Jared Rivers and James Frawley in the first half to injury, and Bennell said Rivers' courage was a lift for the whole team.
"That's what he always does, runs back with the flight of the ball to take the mark. As soon as I saw that, it motivated me to get me up even more to want to help the team. To see him take the hit like that really made me want to play harder.
"It was a bit hard when we had only two blokes on the bench when Frawley and Rivers went down, but the boys really stepped and tried to take them despite us being down in numbers."
Having never played senior football prior to being taken with the 35th pick in last year's NAB AFL Draft, Bennell has been pleasantly surprised by getting the chance to play all seven games this season.
Making the transition from Western Australia to Melbourne into an AFL club was made easier with Jetta also being drafted. Now, the two live together with the Jetta family.
"It was just a big relief when my name got called out, and then even better when his name was as well because we have known each other for ages. We've played a lot of footy together so it was good to have that support in going over with him," Bennell said.
