Adrian Morgan pushed through the pain of a serious arm injury to help steer the Vic Country over 50s team to a resounding victory at the AFL Masters National Carnival.
Adrian, 58, of Bairnsdale, played in the over 50s and over 55s for Vic Country and in an aboriginal representative team during the carnival, held on the Sunshine Coast.
The annual Masters National Carnival attracts the cream of male and female footballers aged 35 and over from across Australia.
He was selected to play in the over 55 team for men aged 55 to 59, but also played under his age in the over 50s, for men aged 50 to 54, to cover a vacancy.
While the over 55s were not successful, the over 50s won their round robin competition with two big victories and one loss.
A Koori Hospital Liaison Officer with Bairnsdale Regional Health Service’s Aboriginal Health Unit, Adrian plays with Swan Reach in the Omeo District Football Netball League and the Wellington Warriors in the Victorian Country Masters Football League.
He said he injured his arm in the opening minutes of his first match for the tournament.
“I tore the tendon on my bicep muscle. It was in a roundhouse tackle. I must have hit my elbow and I just snapped it (the tendon),” he said. “I went off in that much pain, but I strapped it up, went back on and ended up playing six matches with it.”
Adrian said he’s now awaiting surgery to repair the torn tendon.
“But I played pretty well,” he laughed. “I was only supposed to play three games on the Wednesday, Friday and Sunday but I ended up doubling up. On two days, I played two matches in one day.”
The over 55s team won two of its matches with Adrian at centre half forward but lost the second and did not win its division two competition. But the over 50s’ success in its division three pool was a surprise, Adrian said.
“We were thinking that we couldn’t make it because we had to win by 50-something points in the last game to get enough percentage, but we held them (Vic Metro) to one goal and we won by 58 points. We thought it was all over but we got the word that we won the medal,” Adrian said.
Vic Country finished with a whopping 288 per cent for the three matches combined, easily defeating the other teams in their division three competition.
Adrian, who played at full back, said he was pleased with the team’s defensive strength, holding the two sides his team beat to single goals. The final match was against arch rivals Vic Metro.
“The back line held us up in the two games we won to our nine or 10,” he said. “There’s a bit of rivalry there. Everyone likes to beat Vic Metro.”
He also played in an all-indigenous all-star side against a non-indigenous all-star team, both teams featuring the best players in the carnival. The Indigenous side won by 17 points. The match, a first, will now feature in all future carnivals.
“I actually played better than I played in the 55s. I had never played centre half forward before. I still got on with it and set up a lot of goals, but full back – I played full back for the Swannies before I left so I was pretty used to that,” he said.
The Vic Country Over 45s team also won its division at the carnival.
Adrian said he’s looking forward to next year’s national carnival in Fremantle, WA.
“I really want to get players who play masters footy locally to get involved and come to these carnivals. They’re missing out on a great experience playing the best of the best in Australia,” he said.
Adrian thanked BRHS, the Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative and the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation for supporting him to get to the carnival.