Early struggles inspire Port Adelaide Magpies skipper Steven Summerton to work harder

A LIFETIME of hard work and sacrifice goes into every one of Port Adelaide Magpies skipper Steven Summerton’s football games.

A LIFETIME of hard work and sacrifice goes into every one of Steven Summerton’s football games.

Few would know walking, let alone becoming one of the SANFL’s elite running midfielders, would be an every day battle for Summerton.

As the Port Adelaide Magpies gear up for a cutthroat final against South Adelaide at Adelaide Oval this Sunday, Summerton has revealed the debilitating leg problems which plagued him as a youngster.

The 26-year old, who won the Bob Shearman Medal for the best player in the competition as voted by the SANFL’s 10 coaches at last week’s Magarey Medal night, was born with his heel bones half way up his legs.

What followed was a series of operations to slice skin and cut tendons to realign the bones.

Then as he grew, more operations were needed to realign his feet.

“When I was three I had a series of ops and when I was around seven years old my feet were at the wrong angle,” Summerton says.

“I had to get them straightened again and I watched a video of me playing under-9s footy (for North Haven) and I couldn’t believe that’s how I used to run.”

Summerton admits the hurdles he has had to jump have only made him stronger.

“It makes you realise footy doesn’t last forever, for some it doesn’t happen at all, so I’m just trying to make the most of what I’ve got,’’ Summerton said.

“We were disappointing against Norwood but I guess the positive was we played one quarter of footy and only narrowly lost.

“Buddha (coach Garry Hocking) said after the game you can’t win when you play one quarter of footy so we’ll be hoping for a complete effort against South.”

Summerton, who was tagged heavily by Norwood, blamed inexperience for the loss, saying his teammates were keen to bounce back.

“People forget we have a lot of young players, some who’ve never played finals and have limited experience in senior footy,” he says.

“So it is up to me and Henry Slattery to try and help.

“Getting tagged is something I’ve gotten used to and its something I have to work through but my teammates are helping with that – the game is played on team defence now.”

Summerton is the last remaining Magpie from the side’s last SANFL finals series six years ago.

He said the competition had changed immensely since then but one thing had not.

He still wants a flag as a Magpies player — even at the end of the 2013 SANFL season when the Magpies were resigned to the fact they would become the Power’s reserves team.