300 Games for a Simple Warrior

Glenn Archer will be remembered for the way he played,
not what won says Nick Mockford.

They say it is only a game, but it is amazing how the simple practice of men kicking a bit of leather around can engrain itself into one’s soul.

Normal, everyday blokes for six days a week, yet for three hours on a weekend, they become heroes or villains, and contribute to the emotions of so many more normal, everyday blokes (and women) who follow them like the deadliest arrows on a target canvas.

As a staunch North Melbourne supporter, later today I will stand and watch Glenn Archer run out onto the Telstra Dome and through a bunch of crete paper that will recognise his 300th game.

Not his 300th AFL game – he only played his 250th late last season in dramatic fashion against the Swans – but his 300th AFL-sanctioned game, which includes home and away games, finals, pre-season and even State Of Origin and International Rules. In fact, he probably won’t quite reach 300 games, even if he plays on another season as his current form suggests he just might.

He doesn’t have a Brownlow or even been close to one, he doesn’t have the penetrating kicking of a Nathan Buckley or the ability to produce the magic like a James Hird, but there is no player more deserving of Life Membership than the gritty number 11.

Of course, I’m not going to bore you with accolades of his courage and leadership, or tales of his determination and thirst to succeed. There have been countless examples of that over the last decade, and will be countless more.

He does, however, represent everything that is good about the sport: leading by example, sticking up for your mates, getting stuck into the opposition and having a red-hot dip. It is the culture of footy in Australia, and no one demonstrates it better than Archer.

It is amazing how such a simple man with such simple values can impact on the lives of so many people. I can’t claim to know the guy, I have only met him – and only briefly – on two occasions, yet I would struggle to name many better role models in my own mind.

When Archer’s career finishes, he will retire back to his wife and children, and live a normal life. He’ll stay loyal to those closest to him, stay involved in the game through player management, and probably attempt to blend into the background.

In other words, he is just like any other hard-working family man. If everyone in Australia who stayed true to their mates and family was awarded a medal, there wouldn’t be enough resources in the world to cater.

However, the fact that Glenn Archer spends a few hours a week chasing a football around, he’ll stick in a lot of hearts by the time he finally does hang the boots up; boots which will have taken a heck of a beating and given a heck of a beating back.

He will certainly stick in mine.

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