EFL: Mooroolbark coach Heath Black pulls on the boots as the Mustangs battle crippling injury list

MOOROOLBARK coach Heath Black has made a surprise return to football after the Mustangs’ horror injury run to start the Eastern Football League Division 2 season.

Mooroolbark coach Heath Black. Picture: Jason Sammon

MOOROOLBARK coach Heath Black made a surprise return to football on Saturday after the Mustangs’ horror injury run to start the Division 2 season.

The Mustangs squared their campaign at 2-2 after a 61-point win over Mulgrave, set up by a nine-goal blitz in the opening term.

Black said the Mustangs’ long injury list forced him to pull on the boots, suggesting he may continue to play in the short-term.

Key playmakers Judd Darby, Jaydan Bishop, Kane Noonan, Lachlan Sutherland and Alex Wadsworth are among some of Mooroolbark’s personnel on the sidelines.

It was the 38-year-old’s first game since July last year when he made three appearances for Narre Warren.

“It just got to the point where our (under) 19s are pretty short, our reserves are not too bad but our senior list, I just had to play,” Black said.

Lachlan Sutherland is one of Mooroolbark’s players on the sidelines. Picture: Brendan Francis

“The list is significant, you’re probably talking between the whole list, 17 players at the moment. I’ve never really seen anything like it.

“You get two (players) back and you lose two — my name at the moment is on the (selection) board but I certainly hope by Thursday it is off the board.”

Despite the injuries, Mooroolbark went to the first change with a 53-point lead after holding Mulgrave to just two behinds in the opening term.

The Lions were able to manage parity on the scoreboard for the rest of the game as the Mustangs finished with a 19.9 (123) to 8.14 (62) victory.

Recruit Troy Wright continued his scintillating start to the season, while Trent Georgiou booted six goals to also be among the best players.

Changes at the selection table have resulted in an inconsistent start to the season for Mooroolbark but Black was confident his side could still challenge for a finals berth.

“We’ve set ourselves that we have to get through this six-to-eight week period, get people slowly coming back and into form and when the whips are cracking, the idea is we are cracking along with it,” he said.

“With our list and it is so frustrating, I know with our full list how competitive we could be this year.

“The decimation of injuries has probably flattened us a little bit psychologically but we have to keep hammering in the belief that we’re going to be OK when everyone comes back.

“That’s reality, we’ve got injuries, our form is up and down, we all know it but if the effort is there, I’m happy.”