ON WEDNESDAY, I went to Sam Allica's funeral.

Sam was a long-serving runner at the club, who passed away after an ongoing battle with illness.

It was an overwhelming service, particularly with the amount of people who turned up and paid their tributes to him.

It was a very fitting service and it was great to hear his family members tell a few stories about him. They were able to paint a really good picture of his life and the key events that happened in it on top of the type of bloke he was.

Sam was one of those selfless people who always put others before him.

Everybody who talks about him says exactly the same thing. People talked about him being ultra-positive and his ability to always compliment others.

He always wanted to see his family or blokes at Melbourne succeed and achieve the best they could.

Sam was also a roman-wrestler when he was younger and seeing the photos at the funeral showed a 'ripped' young fella back in the day. He was a pretty good athlete. 

Chris Connolly spoke at the funeral about Sam's days at Melbourne.

Sam was a runner for the great Norm Smith in the 1964 grand final and it was fantastic to hear those tales. He was a Melbourne man through and through until the day he passed away.

I can remember when I first came to the club; Sam seemed to take an instant liking to me.

He was fascinated by my bright red hair. I think it was because one of his daughters has red hair, so he starting getting into me a bit. Sam would always call me: 'The red-headed fella'.

The great thing about Sam was that he was always willing to have a chat. And he was the type of guy everyone instantly liked. He was very easy to get along with. 

Quite simply, Sam was an unsung hero who gave everything to the club – everyone loved having him around.

It was great to see all of the players honour him at the funeral as well. Past players like Garry Lyon, Ron Barassi and even Hawthorn coach and ex-Demon Alastair Clarkson were there. Sam had an influence on all of those guys and more.

Although it was a sad day saying farewell to Sam, it was also a fitting tribute to a man who brought so much joy to others.

In many ways, going to his funeral only put some perspective on life.

He was a fit guy for an older fella, although he had some heart issues in recent times.

It reinforced how you've got to make the most of every moment and that's what we've got to realise at the club.

We've only got a short time as AFL players and while it's an exciting career, it's something that we can't take for granted and we've got to make the most of it when we can.

That really hit home to me when I was saying my goodbyes to Sam.