THEY all featured on the AFL’s grandest day of the year during their careers.

But never have this trio of former footy guns been exposed to this kind of fanaticism and following.

Campbell Brown, Stephen Milne and Adam Schneider are all currently in India representing Australia at the 2016 Kabaddi World Cup.

Kaba-what, you say?

Kabaddi is a rough, contact sport that sees select players hold their breath and chant “kabaddi, kabaddi” while trying to tag and wrestle opponents to the ground to score points. It lasts for 40 minutes, as two teams of seven players and five reserves each try to outscore each other by getting their opponents out, either through a raid or a tackle. The team with the most points at the end of the 40 minutes is declared the winner.

The sport can be described as combining aspects of wrestling and rugby, and was originally intended to help develop self-defence techniques, quick reflexes and the ability to counter attack on the fly, when facing individuals or multiple opponents.

And Brown — a bloke who has never played Kabaddi in his life prior to the tournament — is the team’s captain for the sport’s biggest event.

“There are many attributes we learn in Australian football that come handy in kabaddi,” Brown told the Hindustan Times pre-tournament.

“Things like speed and agility is key to both sports. The tackling skills we learnt as players will also help here. Australian rules football is a 360 degree game, just like kabaddi. You need peripheral vision to evade tackles when raiding.”

The Australian Kabaddi Federation only decided to put together a team for the 12-nation World Cup a few months ago, opting to stack its team with AFL talent. The Australian team is coached by former kabaddi player Srinivas Reddy and consists of three Indian origin players who have Kabaddi playing experience, while the other players are from footy background — including three with AFL experience.

Milne and Schneider, who played over 500 AFL games between them, both represented St Kilda in the 2009 and 2010 Grand Finals, while Brown, who played 205 games with Hawthorn and the Gold Coast Suns, was a member of the Hawks’ 2008 premiership side.

Despite having played on the AFL’s prime day of the calendar year, the trio

“We’re very fit. On an average, you run between 12 and 16 kilometres in an AFL game. That’s why our pre-season training lasts up to six months. We do a lot of running, swimming, boxing, cross training and gym work apart from pilates and yoga.”

However it was a tough start for Brown and his Aussies, who were thrashed 54-20 in their opening match of the tournament by India — the champions of the past two World Cups.

Brown scored five points for Australia, but the Aussies stood little chance against the country that has dominated the sport at the top level for nearly three decades.

They’ll be hoping to bounce back with a win in the Kabaddi Ashes — a game against England on Monday.

AUSTRLIA’S SCHEDULE FOR 2016 KABADDI WORLD CUP

8th October: India d Australia 54-20

10th October: England v Australia

12th October: Australia v Argentina

15th October: South Korea v Australia

17th October: Australia v Bangladesh

21st October: Semi-finals

22nd October: Final