For a month at a time, Louis Hedley would find himself in the deserts of Australia. His chances at making a living playing Australian rules football were fading, so Hedley found employment in construction, working as a scaffolder across his home country. He would spend a week home in Mandurah, then fly out somewhere in the desert to spend a month working.
Hedley spent eight years living this life as he hung on by a thread to his dream of one day playing in the Australian Football League. He played Australian rules at a semi-professional level back home and spent time on the reserve team for Peel Thunder Football Club, which plays in the third-largest Aussie rules league in the country.