The Mayor rules roost after a tough period
JORDAN Moncrieff can’t remember the last time he missed a game of football.
It’s a far cry from the sevenyear period when the nowBroadbeach Cats QAFL player essentially didn’t play at all due to injury.
“There are challenges in life and it’s how you respond to them that define your character,” Moncrieff said.
“I wouldn’t take it back. I’m just glad I have got to the point where I haven’t been injured since I was 22 basically.
“It’s been very rare. I can’t remember the last time I missed a game.
“For me to be able to say that after all the years of missing footy is a testament to what I’m doing with my body.”
Moncrieff has been a revelation at Broadbeach since arriving from Melbourne early this year.
The 28-year-old tall forward has booted 23 goals in four games for the Cats to become the most damaging goal-kicker in QAFL in a side brimming with talent.
It’s made members start believing the team can break a senior men’s premiership drought spanning 24 years.
“It’s exciting. Not to get ahead of ourselves but if you look at the list and if you have a healthy list then you have a really good chance at it,” he said.
“The biggest test will be Saturday against Palm Beach Currumbin who are performing really well this year.”
Moncrieff’s football journey is intriguing.
Like many, he followed in the footsteps of his father and grandfather by picking up the Sherrin in Victoria.
He showed promise in school football and made state squads before things unravelled at the age of 14.
Moncrieff was hit by osteitis pubis and the lingering problem meant he played just five games in the next five years.
It was a hard time for the junior who knew he was missing out on the most critical period of football development in his career and couldn’t show what he could do in front of representative selectors and AFL recruiters.
“That was a challenging period after being in the state squads and Vic Country squads,” Moncrieff said.
“The situation changes with every week and month. When you are 14 and get it you think you will be over it in a couple of months.
“Then the fact it just dragged on was hard. The challenge was not being able to find the solution to the problem and address it because I was actually worse two years after than I started.
“I was doing all this rehab, core stability, flexibility and strength work but I was worse.
“Each year you think this is really affecting my developmental years in terms of a footballer and as you build your body, that is when you want to be improving your most between those ages.”
Moncrieff said it shaped who he had become as a person. “I don’t think there is a right way to deal with it,” he said of his emotions throughout the period.
“At the start it was anger, frustrating, disappointment for sure.
“It was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me from the point of view of what I’m doing with my career.
“It matured me really quickly as well. It gave me a really good worldly view that not everything is handed to you on a silver platter.”
The career Moncrieff spoke about was his work as an osteopath at Rigs Recovery Centre in Bundall.
Moncrieff said his injuries prompted his move into the industry on the back of the mentors he met while trying to find a solution to his problem.
Among them was Mark McGrath, a man who has successfully treated the likes of AFL stars Luke Hodge, Chris Judd, Tom Mitchell and Dan Hannebery.
“The key thing was truly understanding what the source of the tightness was,” Moncrieff said.
“My abdominals wanted to be switching on, which is a non-preferred strategy.
“I had to find a better way of stabilising my body without overloading it.”
Moncrieff made it back to footy at the age of 20 but suffered from stress fractures in his feet and then broken his collarbone the next year.
His first uninterrupted season back came as a 22-yearold when he played for Casey in the VFL and he went on to spend three years at the club. He shot on to the radar of AFL clubs, most notably the Melbourne Demons who are affiliated with Casey.
The Demons invited him to do a pre-season with them after his first year there and he went on to spend time playing as a defender on their request to round out his game.
A spot on an AFL list didn’t eventuate and he went on to play a year at Mount Eliza while investing more time into his osteo career.
Moncrieff and his partner, Charlee Cowley, spent last winter in Europe and dodged
COVID-19 lockdowns in Victoria by moving to the Gold Coast this year.
He has since dominated in one of the highest quality QAFL competitions in years and has become known as “The Mayor” due to his presence at Broadbeach, situated in the electoral division of Moncrieff.
“It’s a lot of fun,” Moncrieff said of the nickname.
“It creates a good vibe around the club with people having a good joke about it.
“It’s not the worst nickname in the world, either.
“I hear it all the time now.”