Rampe a Rising Star
By Brendan Day
Rampe was thrust into the Swans’ senior side this season after Alex Johnson ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a 2013 NAB Cup pre-season contest against Gold Coast.
He ended up playing 23 games this season, including every game from Round 4 onwards, and was a key part of the injury-hit Swans’ run to the Preliminary Finals.
“I remember when it happened out at Blacktown and I was sitting on the bench,” Rampe told sydneyswans.com.au.
“He (Johnson) was coming off on the stretcher and I ran out on the ground and I knew that it was going to be my chance, so I grabbed it with both hands.”
23 year-old Rampe was taken by the Swans with pick 37 in the 2012 AFL Rookie Draft.
Having played the 2010 and 2011 seasons with Williamstown in the VFL, he returned back to Sydney in 2012 to play for the UNSW/SE Bulldogs in the AFL Sydney competition.
A standout in the Premier Division, he won both the Phelan Medal for AFL Sydney’s best and fairest player, and the Howarth Trophy, awarded to the representative player of the year.
Rampe’s unconventional path to the AFL involved studying at Newington College, a school that traditionally focuses on rugby union.
”When I was coming through there was really no AFL around,” Rampe told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“I played in just a round robin thing on a Friday night, which a few of the rugby guys at school used to play in.
“A scout there asked me to start training with a Sydney rep team and it just went from there.”
Rampe believes that his decision to focus on defence was the prime reason he achieved such success for Swans this season.
“Developing my defensive game was the main thing – I’d come from the Sydney league where I was more of an attacking player,” Rampe said.
“I just wanted to play my role and I didn’t have to do anything too special, just stop my man and compete.”
The Newington College product set some small goals for himself prior to the season.
“After round one – when I had one game – I was content with that,” Rampe said.
“I just wanted to get on a list and get a senior spot, so to be able to play 23 games is just an absolute dream come true.
“To get a trophy to top it off is just the icing on the cake.”
Rampe’s consistently strong play was rewarded by the Swans earlier this year, when they signed him to a contract that will keep him at the club until the end of 2015.