Playing Aussie Rules footy has been in my blood since childhood! Going to bed at night with a footy (Sherrin) by my side was normal & I’ll always remember getting my first brand new Sherrin for my birthday & repeatedly sniffing it for the smell of that authentic Kangaroo Brand leather scent before ruining it, kicking it everyday on the asphalt at school & out in the street at home into the darkness of nightime!

I first started playing team footy with Doutta Stars in 1989 in the Essendon District Football League (EDFL) under 10’s & progressed my way through the ranks to senior footy with Doutta’s till midway through 2000 when a knee injury ended my season & changed my life’s trajectory forever!

In 2001 I found myself living as far away from footy as I thought possible in London, but sure enough footy found me (or I found it!) again & by 2002 I was playing Aussie Rules football for the West London Wildcats in the British Australian Rules Football League (BARFL). The Wildcats had 3 competing teams across the competition & I became a regular for the Shepherds Bush Raiders in which I was fortunate to captain to successive premierships in 2002 & 2003 (going undefeated in ’03’).

In 2004 I took over the coaching role of the Raiders & won another premiership as playing coach & by the end of the 2005 season completed the quartet by winning my fourth straight Raiders premiership & ending a successful time playing footy abroad (including matches in Dublin & Copenhagen)!

On returning to Australia in 2006 & filling in for a game for Old Essendon Grammar’s Club XIII team later turned into another premiership winning season of footy in the Victorian Amateur Football Association (VAFA).

2007 saw a return to Doutta Stars for one year which ended the run of consecutive premiership winning seasons at 5 in a row! This also led to a spell from footy for a few years until another unintentional offer to help boost numbers (& my personal fitness) at training saw a comeback to footy in 2010 for South Melbourne Districts in the VAFA. I spent 2 years at South Melbourne with a break for a 2nd ACL knee reconstruction, that was actually suffered during the 2005 season in London & miraculously allowed me to keep playing until accindentally being discovered during another injuries routine stability check, putting an end to the 2010 season! I made a successful comeback in 2011 but decided enough was enough after playing in both the reserves & seniors final games of the season on the same day in 2011!

Another 3 year spell & I was back at it again in 2014, this time playing for Essendon Superules in the AFL Masters Victorian Metropolitan Football League winning the 2014 Premier Division premiership. An additional two more years playing supers & I finished up at the end of the 2016 season before heading off to New York in 2017 & training with the New York Magpies for some additional fitness & haven’t played a competitive game of footy since!