In the under 12s he was spotted by Paul Cleary, a local labourer, senior footy player and coach whose kids went to Broadford Primary School with Hall. Cleary is the brother of Phil Cleary, the former politician and player/ coach of Coburg in the VFL. Paul Cleary mentored Hall until he was drafted to the AFL by St Kilda in 1996.

"He loved Barry like a son," said Ron Cleary, the brothers' father. "He believed in him even when no one else did." Ron Cleary got to know Hall as well; he'd occasionally drive him to Melbourne from Broadford for a practice run with the Coburg juniors. It was an hour in the car, he said, and Hall was quiet all the way. "You wouldn't get boo out of him."

He'd thump people on the footy field back then, too - as he did on a regular basis with the Saints and now, when it seemed he was redeemed, with the Sydney Swans.

"Yeah, he knew how to look after himself," said Ron Cleary. "But he was a young bloke from Broadford; what do you reckon?"

Paul Cleary saw Barry Hall through the Broadford under 12s and under 13s. He played his under-14 year at nearby Wallan and then, to Cleary's chagrin, quit the game for boxing and kickboxing.

His father, Ray, the local mechanic, had a boxing gym set up in his shed. Cleary said: "Ray was never overly keen on football and he wanted Barry to become a boxer. He missed two seasons of football because of that, and I thought I'd lost him for good. Let me tell you, he was an outstanding junior footballer back then."

Cleary persuaded him to return to footy aged 17 by taking him to a local grand final his mates were playing in.

The mythology surrounding Hall came from the period in which he quit the game to box, Cleary said. The idea grew that he was just a brawler. "All this Big, Bad, Bustling Barry Hall stuff," he says. "You couldn't get further from it. He's just a country kid who's found his way to the big time."

To Cleary and his supporters, Hall is a tough player who has been made a scapegoat because of the code's wish to sanitise the game. He had been cast as a villain, Cleary said.

Yet he has a history of on-field incidents, including punching St Kilda's Matt Maguire, breaking North Melbourne player Sam McFarlane's jaw, kneeing Richmond's Michael Gale, and headbutting North Melbourne's Adam Simpson. Cleary said he would not talk about those matters nor Hall's off-the-ball punch at West Coast's Brent Staker last weekend. Before last night's tribunal decision, Hall had been charged 12 times, found guilty six times and been suspended for 16 matches.

"I feel for him," Cleary said. "I really do. He's worked so hard since he left the Saints on these kind of things ... and now this."

- Five Sydney Swans players were yesterday named in the two 40-man squads for the Hall of Fame exhibition match against Victoria to celebrate the game's 150th anniversary. Adam Goodes and Ryan O'Keefe were selected for Victoria and Craig Bolton, Tadhg Kennelly and Brett Kirk were picked for the Dream Team, representing all the other states, territories and, in Irishman Kennelly's case, nations.