Gary Moorcroft hangs up the boots after another dominant season for Bundoora
Retiring Bundoora legend Gary Moorcroft remained a dominant force until the final siren of his final game and will go down as one of the league’s greatest players.
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After more than 600 goals over nine years, Bundoora legend Gary Moorcroft hung up the boots on Saturday.
A three-time premiership player with the Bulls, three-time Northern Football League Division 1 leading goalkicker and seven-time Team of the Year member, Moorcroft will go down as one of the competition’s all-time greats.
Belying his 43 years, the former Essendon and Melbourne forward remained a force this season and finished fourth in the league goalkicking with 51 majors.
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However, Moorcroft conceded Father Time was starting to catch up with him.
“Going off the year before, the body was just hanging in there, and this year has taken a toll,” Moorcroft told Leader.
“The body is just not keeping up with the mind at the moment.
“I just love the game, love the competitiveness of footy and love the challenge.
“It keeps me young, so I don’t know how it’s going to go next year but we’ll see what happens.”
The goal-machine rated Greensborough’s Nick Riddle and Heidelberg’s Adam Symes as the toughest opponents he faced in the NFL.
Success has followed Moorcroft throughout his football career.
He was part of a premiership side with Northern Knights in 1994 and claimed the Morrish Medal the same year before being a member of Essendon’s 2000 flag, a dual premiership winner with Silvan and featuring in a losing grand final at Romsey.
Moorcroft was a part of the Bulls’ premierships in 2011, 2013 and 2017 but the club won’t contest finals for the first time in 20 years.
“Premierships are hard to come by, that’s why you play footy,” Moorcroft said.
“In local footy, the amount of work that goes on behind the scenes, people put in countless hours and don’t get paid either.
“To bring success to the club and see the smiles on their faces is why you play football.
“It’s a fantastic club, fantastic people, good culture and hopefully I’ve left my legacy there.
“It’s been 20 years since the club didn’t play finals and since I’ve been playing local footy I’ve played finals every year, so I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself for the next four weeks.”
Such has been Moorcroft’s longevity, he’s been able to play senior football with his son Beau and coached his daughter Chloe to a senior women’s premiership.
Coaching is something Moorcroft hopes to pursue after having a break from football.
“I’ll probably look down that track in the coming years,” he said.
“I might have a year off next year and have a bit of a relaxed period. It’s summer in Greece during the footy season, so I might head over there.”
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