New South East Melbourne recruit opens up on issues in Sydney, the dog who helped him through it and his struggle through three knee reconstructions
Told he should retire at just 22, Angus Glover got angry. Then he got defiant. Recent tumult in Sydney was just a bump in the road, compared to what the new Phoenix recruit has been through.
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Angus Glover has revealed man’s best friend helped him survive one of the toughest seasons of his professional career as he commences a new beginning with South East Melbourne.
After he helped Sydney to back-to-back NBL titles, the hard-edged guard endured a roller coaster 2023-24 campaign, in and out of sacked coach Mahmoud Abdelfattah’s rotation as he watched the Kings stumble into sixth place.
“I never really fully got an explanation, but just ‘Moud didn’t see me in his rotation’,” Glover told Code Sports.
“I wasn’t in the best head space after the season, given the last couple of games, but it is what it is.
“It’s just one person’s opinion, I’m moving on and, at the end of the day, I’m happy.”
The tumult led to the decision to seek a fresh start, one Glover’s found by negotiating a way out of the last year of his Sydney contract, allowing the Phoenix to pounce with a fresh two-year deal.
MAN’S BEST FRIEND
As he struggled through last season, the one constant for both Glover and partner Keira, who is also pleased with the move, given her family is in Melbourne, was new puppy Ollie the Labradoodle.
“Ollie’s eight months old and I got him in Sydney and, yeah, not going to lie, probably wouldn’t have got through the season if it wasn’t for him, he was much-needed given what’s happened,” Glover said.
“I think it’s funny, people say it about their kids, you come home, you see them and you just forget everything that’s going on in your life and he’s done that for me and Kiz.
“He’s a Labradoodle, but you look at him, he’s fluffier than a normal Lab but he’s definitely not as curly as a poodle. He’s like a long-haired Lab, it’s hilarious.
“He’s definitely man’s best friend.”
NO BAD BLOOD
Glover said he would forever be grateful to the Kings, who helped him through the third of three devastating knee reconstructions and allowed him to play a key role in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 titles.
“There’s no bad blood with the Kings organisation, what they did for me when I hurt myself in the Covid bubble, I’ll be forever grateful for that,” he said.
“But I’m someone who tries to focus on the present and the future and I don’t like dwelling on the past because you can’t change that, you can only affect what’s happening now and what’s going to happen.
“For me, I’m ultra happy with the move, looking forward to playing a bigger role and looking forward to showing people what I’m capable of.
“I was a bit restricted last year, there was no denying that, so just looking forward to playing with a lot of freedom in a fresh start.”
‘I THINK YOU SHOULD RETIRE’
The way Glover dealt with those devastating knee injuries — three ACL tears in six years — is what makes him such a special player and person.
Told by his surgeon to retire after rehabbing the third reconstruction, Glover knows better than almost anyone what it’s like to face the possibility of having the sport he loves ripped away.
“I’ve kind of had a chip on my shoulder since the first knee, really, because people have put me down since that happened,” Glover said.
“Then that second one happened and people put me down more and a bunch of people tell you to retire.
“The third knee, my surgeon tells me to retire, so then you try to prove him wrong.”
Glover still gets emotional when speaking about his fork-in-the-road moment where the 22-year-old had to make the biggest decision of his life — listen to the surgeon, or listen to his heart.
The truth is, the only emotion he should have is pride.
“So I did the surgery, did all the rehab and did the 12-month check up, like you do with most major injuries and surgeries,” Glover recalls.
“You do a bunch of tests that are actually for Olympic snow skiers and I’m clearly not agile like they are and I failed a lot of those tests.
“The surgeon sat me down and said ‘I know you failed these tests and normally I’d tell someone who fails them to retire but, at the end of the day, you’ve done three ACLs, so I think you should retire’.
“That was after the 12 months of rehab.
“I remember sitting there in the car, I was quite emotional, going ‘God, is this it?’
“By the time I got home, I was so angry, I’m like, ‘you know what, I’m gonna prove you wrong’.
“And yeah, here I am now, however many years later, still playing, no, knock on wood, injuries. I’ve played 100-plus games now.”
CHIP ON THE SHOULDER MORE LIKE A CHUNK, NOW
That ever-present chip is what gives Glover his edge — and it’s a little bit bigger now, with the Wollongong-born Centre of Excellence product hyper-focused on winning another title, but also motivated to show the Kings what they’re missing out on.
“I want to bring a championship to the Phoenix, that’s the mindset of everyone involved in the club but there is a little bit of a chip on the shoulder as well with wanting to show people what I’m actually capable of,” he said.
“I’m trying to show my full package, play defence, get on the rim, shoot the ball at a high clip, just try to showcase a little bit of everything.
“At the same time, any team that I play for, no matter what level, I’ll give my all, I’m not shying away from that, I’m one of the hardest workers going around.
“It’s what, six months away now? I’m already looking forward to the opportunity to pull on the Phoenix jersey and just give it everything.”
BRINGING LEADERSHIP
The eight-year veteran is the second Phoenix recruit to be made official, following Boomer Nathan Sobey’s arrival, and that pair will help star Mitch Creek with leadership and setting standards at a club that finished bottom of the table last campaign.
“My role is to just try to be a leader, this is my eighth year in the league now so I’ve got a fair bit of experience, I want to bring my knowledge of winning a couple of championships and my work ethic,” he said.
“It’s going to be a really exciting group, I’ve played with Sobes in a small stint with the Boomers before Covid hit the world and I loved my time with him on and off the floor, I know Creeky, I played with Foxy in NBL1 and Matt Kenyon and I have known each other for a long, long time from our junior days, so we’ll be building towards what we all want to achieve.
“The end goal for me is hopefully retiring with a bunch of championships and being loved by all my teammates and the fans.
“I’ll do anything to win.”
APRIL 3: TWO-TIME CHAMP WANTS OUT OF SYDNEY KINGS
—Michael Randall and Matt Logue
After a frustrating up-and-down season where his role fluctuated before he was ultimately benched, two-time Sydney Kings champion Angus Glover is set to be bought out of the final year of his contract.
Glover was the unsung hero of Sydney’s 2023 grand final win over New Zealand, playing through breathing difficulty in the game-five decider after suffering cartilage damage in his chest and abdominal spasms, to score 12 second-half points, punctuated by several match-winning plays, including a memorable late dunk.
A source said Glover is seen as a player who can help build culture at the Phoenix in what will be a largely new squad in 2024-25.
It’s understood Glover had asked the Kings for a mutual release, which was denied, as the club insisted on a fee.
Earlier this year, Code Sports revealed a fired-up Glover had directed heated words at star guard Jaylen Adams over a lack of defensive effort during the three-quarter-time break of the February 11 loss to Illawarra.
Abdelfattah, sacked with a year to run on his deal after a 13-15 campaign, sided with Adams, despite a testy relationship with the American, and banished Glover to the bench for the final game of the regular season and the play-in qualifier, where the Kings were summarily eliminated by New Zealand.
The story was corroborated by multiple sources but the Kings denied it was the reason he was benched.
Sydney attempted to push the narrative the story was fabricated and Glover was out of the rotation because he’d fallen down the pecking order due to Abdelfattah’s preference for other talent.
But that doesn’t align with the reality every Kings’ player took the floor in their record-breaking 55-point final-round win over South East Melbourne — except Glover.
The disappointing season ended with the Kings axing Abdelfattah — with a year to run on his deal — and they won’t bring Adams back.
Sydney officials had hoped to convince the gritty Glover, who has fought back from three knee reconstructions, to stay at the club but his departure looms as the first blow to a bright start in the Kings’ reload under legendary mentor Brian Goorjian.
That began with the million-dollar signing of Xavier Cooks, captain Shaun Bruce’s recommitment, a new three-year contract for bench weapon Kouat Noi and the impending arrival of Cairns star Bul Kuol on a multi-year deal.
No NBL players can be signed until 9am on April 15, when the league officially opens free agency.
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