O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale veteran Trinity McNamara, 42, hoping to help the Lions win fairytale flag
Trinity McNamara is an ex-flight attendant turned real estate agent who hopes to end his three-decade footy journey with his first A-grade flag. Plus, meet O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale’s squad.
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TRINITY McNamara is a former flight attendant turned real estate agent who is hoping to end his three-decade footy journey with a premiership at the same ground he started.
The 42-year-old forward is hanging up the boots after O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale’s “Battle of the Battlers” grand final against Marion at St Mary’s Park on Saturday to spend more time with his daughters Connie, 9, and Vivienne, 7, and wife, Tanya.
St Mary’s, known to many as “Panther Park”, was where McNamara began playing footy as a member of South Adelaide’s under-12 development squad when the oval was the SANFL club’s home base.
From there, he made his senior debut at Reynella at the age of 15, lined up in about 150 games for Seaton Ramblers, had a stint at Broadview while trying out for North Adelaide and then spent time at country clubs including Naracoorte, Paskeville and Hummocks-Watchman.
Now McNamara is back closer to home at O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale, providing experience to a team that has gone from losing matches by an average of 137 points to grand final favourites in 12 months.
And he would love to close the circle on his career by winning his first A-grade flag tomorrow, in the Adelaide Footy League’s division seven grand final.
“It’s been quite a hard adjustment to realise that my time is finishing,” McNamara says.
“The whole year has been a struggle to know I’m giving up something I really enjoy and have for a long time but I’ve got other priorities that are also beautiful challenges.
“It was a really sentimental feeling to know that I was coming back here to have one last game.
“This is where I was hoping to be an AFL player and now, here I am, about to tie it up.”
A key reason why McNamara has been a footy journeyman is because he loves meeting people and experiencing new communities.
Those were also motivating factors behind him working as a QANTAS international flight attendant for a decade.
“You could be off to Asia, do your bit and be back by the weekend to play footy,” says McNamara, who now runs a real estate business.
In McNamara’s first season at O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale in 2015, the Lions finished second-bottom of the Southern Football League with a 3-15 record and were thrashed by more than 100 points eight times.
Results did not get much better for the club over the next two years as it won six of 34 matches, prompting a move to the Adelaide Footy League 12 months ago.
This season, the Lions have lost only once in division seven on their way to the grand final.
“There’s guys who have been here for a decade just getting pasted so they deserve a really big
shout-out because they’ve been doing it tough,” McNamara says.
“The people at this club make it pretty special.”
McNamara has snared a C-grade flag before but an A-grade premiership has eluded him and he has lost three grand finals.
The Lions have yet to taste the ultimate success since O’Sullivan Beach and Lonsdale merged in 2001.
“I joined O’Sullivan Beach/Lonsdale because I thought I could help some kids,” says McNamara, who has kicked 19 goals from 17 games this season.
“(A flag) would be huge for the club and mean a lot to me, especially with my girls here cheering me on.”
MEET THE O’SULLIVAN BEACH/LONSDALE LIONS
Back row (nickname, occupation):
Coach Shane Lynch (Lynchy, concreter)
Richard Hore (Richo, hospitality)
Brad Hayes (Haysey, student)
Jacob Bagshaw (Baggy, labourer)
Jason Dikkenberg (Dicko, teacher)
Co-captain Gary Dean (Deany, plant operator)
Daniel Loveridge (Dan, plumber)
Kym Markwick (Kymbo, teacher)
Matt Devonshire (Devo, sales rep)
Tom Hicks (Tommy, carer)
Assistant coach Michael Dean (Deany, operations manager)
Middle row:
Trinity McNamara (Trinno, real estate agent)
Anthony Beetz (Beetzy, gyprock fixer)
Scott Murphy (Murph, labourer)
Simon Godfrey (Simmo, sales rep)
Trevor Rigney (Trev, plant operator)
Josh Andrewartha (Joshy, labourer)
Jeff Lines (Linesy, teacher)
Bottom row:
Blake Clark (Clarky, labourer)
Dan Goodwin (Spotter, eye technician)
Clinton Calyun (Silky, student)
Dan Frith (Fritzy, labourer)
Adam Mason (Mase, carpenter)
Co-captain Doug Clinch (Dougy, admin officer)
Brad Mcilvar (Macca, teacher)
