In his words, Melbourne captain Brad Green reveals the full story about his time with Manchester United and how an AFL career was almost bowled over by cricket in the second of a two-part series exclusive to melbournefc.com.au

Once I got home, I really got over soccer.

I got to that stage where I thought what am I going to do with my life?

It was then my mates said to me: ‘Why don’t you come and have a kick of the footy with us?’ And that’s where footy started to grow for me and I loved playing school footy with my mates. I still remember it to this day - it’s some of my best memories.

We won our state final, which was our grand final. I remember celebrating that win for Launceston Grammar.

In the meantime, I was still playing cricket in the summer.

But then I tried to play all three - footy, cricket and soccer - but it got to the stage where I had to make a decision.

Once I started turning my attention to footy, I started getting into development squads and the Tassie Mariners asked me to come and train with them.

And that’s where footy really took.

I was still playing cricket and I ended up playing first grade cricket in Tasmania and even managed some second XI matches for the state as a 16 or 17-year-old.

I played against the likes of Brett Lee, Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz. I also played with George Bailey, who is the captain of Tassie.

I was an opening batsman and also threw down a few medium pacers. But I loved the challenge of getting out there and taking on the quicks and using the new ball.

In 1998, I had played 10 games of footy.

St Kilda flew me over and was considering taking me as a 17-year-old. Tim Watson was the coach of the time and John Beveridge, who was the St Kilda recruiting manager, was thinking about drafting me. I spent a day with them both, as they showed me around the club.

But come draft day, St Kilda didn’t pick me up and then the following year I played a full season TAC Cup and was drafted by Melbourne.

That was how it happened.

But on draft day, 1999, I was either going to have a football or cricket career. If I wasn’t drafted, I was heading to the Rod Marsh Centre of Excellence in Adelaide.

I was going to live in Adelaide and become a cricketer - if I wasn’t drafted.

One of the other was going to pick me.

I was in the under-19 Australian cricket squad and I was Tasmanian under-19 captain and my championships were in December and the draft was in November, 1999.

I approached the club and asked it if I could still captain Tasmania in the championships and play in the World Cup, but the reality was I couldn’t do both. But I didn’t understand the requirements at the time.

So once I got drafted, cricket finished up.

But 12 years on, here I am reflecting on the journey as the Melbourne captain.

So at the end of the day, I was trailed by Manchested United, but never made it. I don’t know if I would’ve made it at cricket either.

I actually think I’ve chosen my strength - and I never regret my decision.

Out of the three sports, I think I was best at football, then cricket, followed by soccer.

I’ve always tried to weigh up in the back of my mind, what would I succeed at the most and what was I going to enjoy the most? Footy ticks all of the boxes.

Back then, if you were ever going to be any good at cricket, there were only 11 spots in the Australian team. There weren’t the IPL opportunities and Twenty20 cricket, which players now have to think of.

I still don’t think my decision would’ve changed though - even with cricket opportunities expanding. And I still love watching the English Premier League on television.

They’re my three passions and now I’ve also got a role in sports management (I’ll talk about that later another time).

Reflecting on my soccer decision, it probably won’t soak in until I finish my footy career.

It was a real eye-opener - as was the number of cars David Beckham used to drive to the club. I can remember eight new cars, from Lamborghinis, Land Rovers to Porsches. I remember thinking ‘wow’.

I also remember when Beckham received a bullet in the mail - and that talk was going around the training ground at the time. Security was high and that was a vivid memory.

But the experiences that I gained, particularly moving overseas as a 15-year-old was something I can’t buy. When I moved to Melbourne at 18, I had life experience and I wasn’t home sick straight away. Having that life experience was enormous in my footy career.

Kids these days turn down a lot of things, so my advice would be to experience opportunities and experience life.