Ex-Melbourne player Marty Hore is one of those obscure AFL names your mate screams at the pub when listing forgotten stars.
Hore's AFL career, and much of his football journey, has been hindered by a litany of injuries, ultimately derailing his career.
His life after the Demons, following his second delisting at the end of 2025, opened a return to the family dairy farm at Leitchville, where he has spent the year milking 750 cows with 15 employees.
And this weekend, Hore is set to make his long-awaited return to the field for Goulburn Valley League (GVL) club Rochester.
"I'm hopefully back playing this weekend. All going well, I will be out there," he said to the GVL.
"I will be on managed minutes, looking after myself with the long-term picture front and centre."
Hore was a dominant junior in the region, and was drafted by the Demons ahead of the 2019 season. He played 14 games in his maiden campaign, but found himself on the outer due to a shoulder injury. Melbourne secured a drought-breaking flag in 2021, and Hore was out the door.
He continued playing football, joining the Williamstown Seagulls in the VFL, and his development caught the eye of Melbourne once again, who needed defensive depth. Hore signed as a pre-season supplemental selection period (SSP) prospect ahead of 2024, and added another six matches in the red and blue. He was delisted at the end of 2025. A bicep and a second anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in a VFL game for Casey Demons put an end to his AFL career.
"When I was delisted in 2021, I considered coming home. I got in touch with Echuca and Rochester. Both clubs were close to me, and I wanted to play GVL football," he said.
"I got picked up again and put the return home on the backburner."
Hore remained in touch with Rochester through Carl Oliver, who kept the door ajar to a reunion at the Tigers.
"Carl kept in touch with me the whole way through," he said.
"That helped my decision. Rochester seemed like a good fit for me. There are a lot of people similar to myself."
And now he's set to don the Tigers guernsey for the first time when the club takes on the Shepparton Swans this Saturday at Princess Park.
Hore has been building steadily since knee surgery this year, and will be a welcome sight on the field, even if it's on managed minutes.
"For the last two months I've been going flat out," he said.
"I had a small surgery on my knee at the end of January. Since then I have been building slowly.
"I have spent a lot of time in the gym and steadily built up my running volume for the last six months."
The Tigers sit sixth on the ladder, with a game in hand, and could finish this weekend as high as fourth or as low as eighth
"We have three games to build cohesion. We probably need to win all three to make finals, but we are not looking too far ahead."
