Snakes, snags and silverware: The making of Mulgrave’s greatest
On the eve of game 300, a chorus of Mulgrave stalwarts declare 42-year-old Adam Booth the club’s greatest in almost a century of history. Not bad for a basketballer who wandered in off the street.
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At 41, Adam Booth ran second for a league best and fairest.
But on the eve of his 300th senior match, the Mulgrave champion, now 42, insists “There’s times where I feel like I’m still trying to prove myself as a footballer.”
The unassuming ruckman-turned-forward admits it “sounds strange” after two decades.
Games record-holder at the Eastern league Division 2 club, the 194cm stalwart also carries the mantle for goals kicked, topping the count on 17 occasions with upwards of 750 career majors.
Remarkably, football was not always his sport of choice …
‘A NEW CHALLENGE’
Booth says he “walked in off the street”.
An avid basketballer as a junior, he only played football until under-14s.
He wouldn’t return to the game until 21, following school mates to the club that would eventually become a second home.
“I’d just had enough of basketball basically, and was looking for a new challenge,” Booth says.
“(Mulgrave) was my local club, and I wanted to give it a try.
“I went down there starting afresh and very green, giving it a crack and wanting to see what would happen.”
Turning out for a pre-season under then-coach Robbie Coccaro, the wiry, 88kg ruckman would line up for his senior debut in Round 1 of 2004 against Bayswater, aged 22.
With the exception of two reserves games, he’s played seniors ever since.
“I just remember running my guts out, we had a close win and I think I got recognised as best on ground,” Booth recalls of his debut, a 12-point win.
But football didn’t come naturally.
“To be honest, I was just running around like a headless chook for the first couple of years,” Booth says.
“Adjusting from basketball to footy wasn’t that natural to me – basketball you try and avoid contact whereas footy you try to do the opposite.
“I was a little bit fortunate that there wasn’t really an established ruckman at the time for Mulgrave … I was pretty lean and could obviously jump.
“But it took me a while to be able to settle in.”
‘DON’T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER’
Hayden Stanton arrived as coach of Mulgrave in 2007, remaining at the helm until 2011.
His first impressions of Booth, who he oversaw for five seasons, were anything but flattering.
“I thought he was a big, gangly basketballer, big hands with a big melon head on him,” Stanton laughs.
The pair’s first meeting after Stanton’s appointment didn’t help the image.
“One weird thing was when I first met him, I went around to his house … I walked in, and he used to collect pet snakes,” Stanton remembers.
“He would often just put them out in the backyard or around the house – he was a little bit different like that.
“Big, long pythons, not just tree ones – I remember saying to him ‘Mate, you’ve lost the plot!’.
But the “gangly basketballer with a big melon head” came to sway the opinion.
“In my time in footy – and I’ve coached a lot of footballers – apart from Marc Holt at Cranbourne in terms of marking ability, I think Adam stands really close to him to be able to mark the footy at its highest point, or one-on-one against anyone,” Stanton says, who is in his 23rd year of coaching at a sixth club.
Current Mitcham coach Neil Winterton – who played two seasons with Booth at Mulgrave, including the 2010 premiership – agrees.
The former Frankston VFL gun also played and coached against the evergreen Lion while at the helm of Mitcham and Bayswater.
For the three-time flag mentor, there is no doubting the weapons at Booth’s disposal.
“He’s got the best hands I’ve seen in local footy – they’re just vice-like and once he gets his hands around the footy, he’s not dropping it,” Winterton says.
“Because he’s so bloody big, and moves really well for his size, he’s such a difficult match-up.”
Like Stanton, former Mulgrave captain Dean Siakoulis’ initial impression left a lot to be desired.
The pair shared the field for more than a decade before Siakoulis’ retirement at the end of 2023 after leading the club from 2015-2021.
“To be honest, I just thought he was a big, dorky, dopey, lumbering ruckman and forward,” he laughs.
“He used to roll into footy games in his three-quarter jeans and runners, and you wouldn’t pick a footballer out of him, that’s for sure.”
But the six-time best and fairest concedes he was wrong.
“He might have the best hands to have come across local footy – it didn’t matter how many people were holding him or jumping on top of him, he just had a vice-grip,” Siakoulis says of Booth.
“It didn’t matter who you were playing against, you always stood taller knowing that he was on the field.
“That’s why they say – don’t judge a book by its cover.”
And the pythons – a childhood hobby – slithered the way of the daggy reputation.
“The wife made sure the snakes disappeared before we had kids, so I no longer have them today – they’re gone!” Booth, a father of two, laughs.
‘WE’RE STICKING TOGETHER’
Grand final agony in the form of back-to-back defeats across 2008 and ’09 would prove the catalyst for a breakthrough premiership in 2010.
Pitted against a ruthless Jason Heatley-coached Wantirna South in ‘08 on a blustery day at Mitcham’s Walker Park, the Lions – who had knocked over the minor premier in the semi – were served a 98-point drubbing in the Division 2 decider.
Booth laments: “They got off to a good start and we weren’t experienced enough to handle that” as the Devils piled on nine opening-quarter goals.
Twelve months later would tell a more heartbreaking tale.
Opposing a rising Paris Harvie-led South Croydon, Mulgrave, which finished the home-and-away season in second, romped to a 42-point quarter-time lead aided by the breeze.
The Bulldogs – who finished minor premiers – slammed through eight second-quarter majors to edge ahead at the main break, before the Lions skipped 27 in front by three-quarter time.
But the script of the previous three quarters didn’t waver, as South Croydon rattled home to pip a wasteful Mulgrave – 14.16 (100) to 12.19 (91) – off the back of a six-goal-to-one final term.
A second-straight shot at promotion to the league’s top-flight (then known as Division 1) went begging.
Booth remembers a wary three-quarter time huddle, as coach Stanton implored one final effort.
“We thought we were in trouble and Hayden said: ‘We’re going to have to attack to win this game’, and obviously we fell short.”
But the gutted group soon found resolve – led by captain Brad Fowler.
“After the match, I still remember it vividly, we were pretty flat and dejected sitting in the change rooms, and we basically just made the commitment that we’d stick together as a group,” Booth says.
“Brad Fowler was our captain at the time and he’s a leader of men – I don’t think he gave the group much choice, he said we’re getting this result and we’re sticking together.”
Another season would roll by – but the Lions, resolute in their commitment to one-another, would turn out a runaway home-and-away campaign yielding 16 wins and two losses.
Bayswater, second, would be the hurdle – which Mulgrave had dispelled to the tune of 63 points in the semi-final.
Seemingly unshaken by their underdog status, Baysie would kick away to a 24-point lead early in the decider, keeping the favourites goalless in the first quarter.
Bearing the scars of two botched flag campaigns, Mulgrave wasn’t to be denied.
In one-way traffic after the opening term, the Lions would pile on 11 goals to three for an 11.10 (76) to 7.9 (51) triumph.
“We showed resilience and in 2010 we pretty much dominated the whole season – while we got challenged in the grand final, we were never going to lose that,” Booth says.
“We just had a resolve in the group that we were going to win no matter what, and we did.”
The victory would mark the club’s first senior flag since 1979 – breaking the league’s longest premiership drought at the time.
“It hit home about how much it meant to so many people that had been there for decades – they were genuinely emotional,” Booth says.
“For me and a lot of the playing group it was more relief given the previous two years.”
Its place among the two-decade career, on the surface, is undisputed.
“I still look back at it as being the major achievement of my career,” Booth says.
He continues: “But it’s not everything to me as well.
“I’m still very proud of winning some of the relegation games we’ve had throughout the course of the journey.
“I think anybody you pull the jumper on with, you form a bond with them and that holds.
“I know a lot of past players … it’s that connection of playing for the club and doing your best for the jumper.
“You don’t have to win a grand final for it to mean something to you, but it helps, and I’m happy we did it.”
LOYALTY
Booth modestly confesses he’s “had a few offers” from rival clubs to pry him out of Mulgrave over the past two decades.
Stanton, less sheepishly, declares by his third year in charge: “There were clubs throwing $600 to $1000 a game at him from all over the joint.”
“Mulgrave’s never been a high-paying club, so that was big money back then for a local.”
But the premiership coach says there was never any doubt about Booth remaining a Lion.
“He never, ever looked to go anywhere else,” Stanton recalls.
“He never asked the club for big money to stay and he always stayed for whatever the club was prepared to pay him.
“In my time there, he’s probably been the most loyal and supportive player that I coached in five years at Mulgrave.
“He was even on the committee; he was that sort of guy – he couldn’t do enough for the club.”
Booth reveals his “attachment” to Mulgrave transcended any king’s ransom.
It remains a point of pride for the 42-year-old.
“(Other clubs) just didn’t have the same feel,” Booth says.
“I just love the culture at Mulgrave, I truly believe they’ve got the best culture in the competition – we don’t have the biggest budget, (and) people are there for the right reasons.
“It was just too hard for me to walk away from – I’ve invested a lot in the club, but I’ve been paid back just as much and I think it’s been good for both of us over 21 years now.
“I’m proud of that one-club status I’ve got.”
THE COMPETITOR
Siakoulis lauds Booth as “the most competitive footballer I’ve ever played with”.
“There was never a moment in a game or a time in a season where he did not want to win,” he declares.
“You could be down by 10 goals and he’d still be urging his teammates around him to put in.”
Current Mulgrave coach and former teammate Matt Richards says the stakes always run high for Booth.
“When he’s at training, he’s there to get something out of it,” Richards says.
“If I say a drill’s competitive, he’s just licking his chops. He loves to wrestle and doesn’t back away from who it is. ‘Boothy’ is the first one to jump in.”
It’s a trait the big man has carried across 299 senior games – and one he largely owes to his father, Grahame.
“My dad was born with polio – before the vaccine came out,” Booth says.
“He was told he would never walk and he’s been through a journey where he’s now running marathons.
“He’s had to compete his whole life, and it’s not something he brainwashed me with, but it’s obviously something you pick up along the way … I think from my parents it was a learned behaviour.
“Nobody would’ve seen me play more games than my dad, and he’s obviously keen for the (300-game) milestone, too.”
Booth continues: “But also with the culture, particularly with the standard Hayden Stanton set, it was a non-negotiable – you look after your mates and the two came together.
“I think he drove the competitor in us all.
“If you’re not a competitor, you’re going to struggle to play long.”
Stanton recalls: “Whenever there was a need for anyone to get involved with any separating the opposition, Adam was the first bloke in.”
Mother, Vera, doesn’t go unheralded.
“I get my aggression from Mum!” Booth laughs.
LONGEVITY
The penny dropped about a decade ago.
“Once I got to about 31, I realised that unless I got more serious in the gym, I probably wasn’t going to remain competitive,” Booth says, highlighting he’s only trained one night a week since the age of 35.
“I’ve stuck to it (gym) the last 10 or so years and it’s been certainly worthwhile.”
Still “north of 100kg” by his own admission, Booth says strength and conditioning was a lesson he learned the hard way – as Mulgrave contested the Eastern league’s top division in 2011.
“In 2010 we won the flag and I’d had a pretty good year, but I wasn’t really doing the work in the gym and those sorts of things,” he says.
“I had the coach come round to my house when we were going up to Division 1 and he said ‘Don’t worry about doing any work’, and I thought that sounds pretty nice, so I didn’t.
“But I was just too heavy in the top grade.
“I think one of the things footy teaches you is you need to be pretty honest with yourself and I thought, if you’re going to remain relevant then you need to put in the work – and I have since and it’s certainly helped with my longevity.”
Coach Richards knows how tirelessly the club’s elder statesman toils.
“He does a lot of work behind closed doors in the gym to keep himself in this condition,” he says.
“He was a lot heavier 10 years ago but he made a change in his body to be able to keep going.”
Siakoulis believes some had the champion written off a decade ago.
“It’s his constant want to improve – maybe at 31, 32 it seemed like he was tailing down, but he just came back and got fitter and stronger every pre-season,” he says.
“If a 42-year-old can improve every time he’s on the track, it gives those young fellas something to look up to.”
Two pieces of advice strike the vocal cords for the ageless Booth – as obvious, or as unconventional – as they may seem.
“One … you have to do the work – running and gym – there’s no shortcuts there,” he asserts.
“And two … don’t go to a physio – they’ll just tell you something is wrong.
“If you don’t know there’s something wrong, you can keep playing, and I think people surprise themselves with what you can actually play through a lot of the time, so you’ve just got to push through it sometimes.”
But perhaps longevity’s greatest debt is owed at home.
“My wife (Prue) has been a massive support to me to be able to play this long.”
LEGACY
Richards played five seasons with Booth and shared the locker room with some of the club’s most decorated champions.
One, however, stands above as the greatest.
“I got there at the end of Darren Linkins’ career, who won six best and fairests, (and) Gerry Boonkkamp won seven and just changed the culture of our footy club,” Richards says.
“Gerry was for me was always the best player the club had because of that.
“But I’m pretty comfortable now that ‘Boothy’ has got the mantle of the greatest.”
Siakoulis agrees.
“He’s the most respected footballer to have walked through the doors at Mulgrave.”
Stanton echoes the sentiments.
“He’s been an absolute gem for Mulgrave,” he says.
“When the names are talked about in terms of individual honours, you talk about Gerry Boonkkamp, Dean Siakoulis … in terms of games played and what they mean to the club, the person you talk about is Adam Booth.
“That’s pretty good for a club (almost) 100 years old.”
Despite the lofty accolade, Booth has never won a best and fairest.
“If I need bragging rights, I can say I’ve won about 17 (club goalkicking awards) or something like that!” Booth quips.
A joint runner-up for the Division 2 league best and fairest in 2023 at the ripe age of 41, the multiple Team of the Year representative says the narrow miss still sits high among his achievements.
“I don’t play in the positions that typically get votes, (and) I don’t get a lot of free kicks as well so I don’t feel the umpires love me, but it was nice to get some recognition,” Booth says.
“It was a bit of a surprise at the same time, but you know what, I think you’ve got to take those things when they come along.”
‘PROVING MYSELF’
On Saturday, Booth becomes the only Mulgrave player in the club’s 99-year history to etch 300 senior games.
He freely admits he’s “probably done over 20 hamstrings” in his career – one as recently as a month or so ago, delaying the milestone.
“I remember thinking it’d be nice to get to 200 games, and when I got to 200, I didn’t think I’d get to 250, then I certainly thought after 250 that I wasn’t getting to 300,” Booth says, who has played primarily forward in the past few years.
“Starting from my age, (playing) 18 games a season, I never thought I’d get here.”
Two seasons wiped due to Covid cast further doubt.
“I played my 250th game in Round 18 of 2019, so it was before Covid hit,” Booth says.
“As Covid dragged on and it was pretty clear that we weren’t playing, I started to think it was probably the end of me.
“Then I had more time to think about it and I was pretty determined that I wouldn’t let something like Covid finish my career, so I decided to try and stay fit, dig in and do it again.
“I was fortunate my wife was patient enough to agree to let me do it again because we’ve got a couple of kids.”
The father of two young girls and husband to Prue is well aware the career is closer to the end.
“I just want to help the new group coming through to not only make finals, but do some damage, and that’s enough to worry about … but father time is undefeated and it’s not too far away,” says Booth, a sales manager for a packaging company.
Balancing family life aside, there are few, if any regrets among his 20-year Eastern league stay.
In Round 1, 2021 he broke the Lions’ senior games record with his 251st appearance.
“To finally get the record was quite surreal because I’ve always been trying to justify myself as a footballer,” Booth says.
“With my basketball background, for a long time in my career I felt like I was just trying to prove to myself more than anybody that I was a footballer and not a basketballer.
“It probably wasn’t until around that time (breaking the games record) where I thought maybe I’ve ticked that box now.”
But at almost 43, the mild-mannered, once-gangly basketballer who wandered in off the street during the summer of 2003 is still out to tick that box.
“It’s one of those things that’s always nagged away at me and driven me,” Booth says.
“There’s times where I feel like I’m still trying to prove myself as a footballer, which sounds strange.”
Adam Booth will mark his 300th senior game against Lilydale at Mulgrave Reserve on Saturday, June 29 in Round 12 of the Eastern league Division 2 season.
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