The talented duo journeyed back to where it all started on Tuesday night, taking part in junior training with their home club Cobden.

They found the time to come back with their AFL clubs the Sydney Swans and Essendon having a bye this week.

Wide-eyed Cobden youngsters were running on top of the ground as they took part in training drills with their AFL idols.

The visit home was no chore for Rohan and Merrett with both keen to give something back to the next generation of Bombers.

Rohan played a season of senior football in 2008 for the Cobden seniors while Merrett played 11 games in 2012, a body of work that included the grand final loss to Warrnambool.

The pair were part of Cobden teams that were built from the ground up, using the club’s juniors as the building blocks.

In 2015 the Bombers are again in a building phase and coach Wayne Robertson is leading one of the youngest teams in the competition.

Last Saturday the Bombers upset Port Fairy, their second win of the season, with many league observers tipping Cobden as a team on the rise.

Rohan, whose brother Ash is a key member of the Bombers team as a ruckman, likes what he sees.

“Its good to see the confidence in the young group coming through and all the hard work the coaches are putting in is paying off,” Rohan said.

“Playing against mature bodies gives you a good grounding.”

Rohan is enjoying a solid season with the Sydney Swans, playing in all 11 games so far and passing the 50-game milestone along the way.

Merrett continues his rise at Essendon, a shinning light in what has been a tough campaign for the Bombers.

He too has played every game this season and last week gathered 29 possessions in the Bombers’ loss to the West Coast Eagles.

Merrett plays at Essendon alongside his brother Jackson while another Cobden export, Ben Cunnington, is plying his trade at North Melbourne.

Both Merrett and Rohan acknowledge the support of  the Cobden Football  Netball Club in their rise to the top.

They also want to do what they can to help the next generation fulfil their dreams. 

“I was very fortunate growing up. I had the likes of Gary and Ben and my brother to look up to and made a pathway for me to follow,” Merrett said.

“I guess I want to help the future generations. I know how much those guys helped and made me believe it was possible (making the AFL).

“Before that I didn’t really believe it, with Cobden being a small town.”

Rohan said he was always keen to take the opportunity to return home. 

“It is good to get away from the city life, freshen up, get back to the country, back to Cobden and try and help out the kids as much as I can.

“This is where I started my footy. The club pushed me all the way through and I try and give as much as I can to them.”

But the Cobden influence extends behind the football club and beyond the sport to the community.

Understandably the town is proud of its AFL stars, but it is the normality of a return home that these young football stars love.

“The thing about Cobden is the community, how tight the club is and the support,” Rohan said.

“They (the community) respect us and don’t always chew our ears off about footy, so that’s really good.”

The level of community support drew a smile from Merrett and a playful dig at his home town. “Its good to come back. You walk down the main street, its the only street in Cobden,” he said with a cheeky grin.

“So you see everyone down there and you go into the supermarket and everyone asks how you’re going.

“Everyone gives a bit of advice on how your team can go better so it’s good fun and I love to get back here to spend time with my friends and family and give something back.”

While the pair receive daily football advice from some of the AFL’s best, they have not forgotten some of the lessons learnt from their grassroots days at Cobden.

“Everyone used to say Trunk (Stephen) Hammond would never shut up on the footy field,” Merrett said.

“They said he was never the best skilled but always had the loudest voice and that was what got him the ball.

“It’s something I use. With the crowd being so loud in AFL you have to be loud to be heard. AFL coaches are always in your face about being heard and helping teammates out.”

Rohan remembers taking on one of the biggest challenges in Hampden league football in his first year playing seniors. 

“Wayne Walsh was coach in 2008 when I was playing on Jason Rowan,” Rohan said.

“He said I had to be confident in myself that I could beat him. So I take that to the AFL now, that I have to be confident in myself that I can beat anyone I line up on. Things like that you always keep in the back of your mind.”

abrady@fairfaxmedia.com.au