MPFNL 2024: The Hendrys’ extraordinary Pines contribution
Beau Hendry says he’d be “a prick to play against I reckon’’ after notching his 300th game for Pines — continuing his family’s astonishing contribution to the club.
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Some footballers bounce around clubs, staying for a while before moving on.
The Hendry family dropped anchor at Pines decades ago and has built a remarkable record in green and red that’s unlikely to be broken.
On Saturday, Beau Hendry played his 300th game for Pines.
Next Saturday, his younger brother Guy will play his 250th game.
This is all after their dad, Gordo, played an astonishing 530 games for Pines.
That’s nearly 1100 games between the trio.
And they’ve all been champion players; premiership winners and passionate Pythons.
“We’ve been born and bred in Pines,” Beau says.
“Obviously my mum and dad were born in Pines and I was born in Pines. It means a lot. It’s a good family club.”
Beau marked his 300th game with a best-on-ground performance as Pines scored a thrilling five-point win over Rosebud at Eric Bell Reserve. He dug deep in the last quarter, throwing his team on his back, to nab the Buds, with Liam Cox kicking the winning goal in the dying minutes.
Beau was chaired off to the roars of the Pythons faithful, grabbing his jumper in a show of dedication to the green and red.
“I love the place,” he said.
Pines coach Paddy Swayn revealed Beau was playing “under a lot of sufferance” — an injured foot that requires surgery.
Asked to sum up Beau Hendry the footballer in a word, Swayn said: “The word that I use is not a word that gets bandied around a lot in footy locker rooms. It’s love. He just loves the game, he loves the MPFNL, he obviously loves his family — he’s a great family man — but he loves his club unconditionally and the biggest one is he just loves his teammates. He’s the protector out on the ground, he gets around guys at training, so that’s the word I use. Love is the best word to describe him because that’s how he goes about his footy.”
It’s also understood Beau has refused match payments for a couple of years, happy to play for the love of the jumper.
“He’s a very rare player,” Swayn said.
“He’s all about club and all about team. It’s good to use him as a role model for young players to see actually that’s the way you do it.”
At 36, Hendry intends to play as long as he can.
Pushed to give an insight into his playing style, Beau was typically humble.
“I’d like to describe myself as someone who’s just hard at it, does whatever the team needs,’’ he said.
“That’s it. I’m not a skilful player. I’m hard and tough and a prick to play against I reckon.”
He added: “I’ll play until I can’t play anymore. I won’t be getting anywhere near Gordo’s record that’s for sure but I’ll drop back and play in the twos, I’ll happily do that, there’s no dramas there, help the boys out.”
BEAU HENDRY’S BEST PINES PLAYERS
1 Jimmy Messina
2 Paul “Chewy’’ Scanlon
3 Aaron Edwards
4 Tim Bongetti
5 Guy Hendry
“Jimmy Messina would be number one. And then Chewy Scanlon. And then you’ve got Azza Edwards who was an absolute superstar. Between Jimmy and Chewy they are two of the best onballers I’ve ever seenplay the game. Big Tim Bongetti, who captained with me in the 2018 grand final…just the way he goes about his footy, his presence on the ground, he’s a good man. And (brother) Guy Hendry is number five.’’
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