It’s been quite some journey for more than a decade that has provided Toby Pinwill an enlightening perspective of football and life.
Pinwill, who plays his 150th game for Port Melbourne this weekend, is the current longest serving player in terms of seasons played at the Borough.
John Baird and Sam Pleming may have played more games, but neither has been at Port Melbourne as long as Pinwill, who is nearing the end of his 11th season at the club.
It’s been a career that has seen him play first under Gerard FitzGerald, during his sole year at the club, then three years under Saade Ghazi and the past seven with current coach Gary Ayres.
After his first two seasons at the Borough, the former Oakleigh Chargers TAC Cup graduate had played just eight games, but history, especially Port Melbourne history, will record Pinwill as one of its greatest players in the 21st century.
Pinwill was pivotal in the club’s historic, unbeaten premiership season of 2011. He won the medal named after club icon Norm Goss for best player in the Grand Final.
Few players attack the game with the ferocity of Pinwill, who literally wears his heart on his sleeve for his beloved Borough.
“It’s been a long time, but thoroughly enjoyable,” Pinwill said.
While Pinwill has experienced views from the cellar and penthouse, he notes what has made the club so consistently strong in recent years has been the commitment of the players.
He said a core group had been reinforced each season by good players who in turn bought in to what the group is trying to do and it had mushroomed from there.
“A big part of us staying together has been ‘Ayresy’ and each year just adding a couple of players has helped give us what we’ve needed,” Pinwill said.
“Everyone wrote us off after last year, which was pretty average, and said it was an end of an era.
“The guys that had been there felt we had a little bit more to offer. As much as anything it was a group decision to stay, we all felt we still had more to offer to the footy club.
Read the full article in the VFL Record this weekend
Last Modified on 29/08/2014 09:46