Sorrento star Guy Stringer set to become first man to play 400 games in MPNFL

TO play 400 games of Australian Rules football at any level is a phenomenal effort, but Sorrento legend Guy Stringer is about to chalk up the mark for the Sharks, all in senior grade.

s03fs855 MPNFL Football Sorrento v Frankston (20/20) Sorrento player Guy Stringer breaks the all-time games record playing his 346th game

KEITH Stringer played over 200 games for Sorrento, including the 1969 and ‘79 premierships.

He had a splendid career but, dogged by knee problems, he hung up the boots at 32.

When his son Guy began playing footy, Keith quietly hoped his boy would manage a few games.

“I remember thinking to myself, ‘well I’ve had a reasonable career and if Guy has half the career I’ve had I’ll be very happy for him’,” Keith said.

“Well, he’s certainly left me in his dust.”

Next week, Keith’s boy will achieve a monumental milestone.

Guy Stringer will become the first player to chalk up 400 senior games in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.

Fittingly, his milestone match on Saturday week will be against Tyabb, the club he played his first senior game against.

“He’s a marvel,” Sorrento playing-coach Troy Schwarze said.

“He defies logic, really, in a lot of ways.

“Some blokes hang on and play too long and they end up playing reserves footy. He’s still one of our key contributors each week and he still trains at a really high level. He’s a freak. I haven’t played with anyone like him.”

Stringer’s longevity is remarkable.

He turns 43 next month. Most born in 1972 are moving into gentler sporting pursuits. They certainly aren’t going head-to-head on a footy field with men half their age every Saturday afternoon.

But Guy Stringer is a unique footballer.

“He’s a once in a lifetime player,” Schwarze said.

“He’s a ripper. I say to our boys, “you will tell your kids that you played with Guy Stringer’. And there are not many players you’ll say that about.

“Every year people say, ‘when’s Guy going to give it up?’ But I can’t see why he would at the moment.”

Stringer has carved out one of the most impressive bush footy careers of the modern era. His long list of accolades includes seven premierships (one at Pines and six at Sorrento) and four senior best-and-fairests (one at Hastings, one at Edi-Asp and two at Sorrento).

Amazingly, Stringer’s Best and Fairest awards at Sorrento came 18 years apart — in 1993 and 2011. Schwarze remembers the room erupting with joy when Stringer was announced as the winner in ‘11 (a premiership season).

Throw in 21 interleague appearances, nine with Vic Country, seven with Wanderers in Darwin, 21 at Frankston Dolphins, 19 with St Kilda Under 19s, and a dozen in Sorrento’s thirds and reserves, and Stringer has played over 500 games.

Add junior games and he’s up around 700.

“I’ve always wanted to play as long as I could,” Stringer said.

“I probably didn’t think 43. Maybe late 30s I thought I could get to.”

In St Kilda’s Under 19s, Stringer showed promise. But at the end of the season, Saints officials picked out a handful of players to come back the following season — Spida Everitt was among them — but Stringer was overlooked.

“If he had have knuckled down and worked hard I reckon he could have made league footy but he just didn’t have it in him at the time,” Keith said.

Guy said: “I probably wasn’t committed to the degree you should be to get there.”

League footy’s loss was suburban footy’s gain.

Stringer, who works as an eletricien, says he has no regrets.

“I’ve got to meet a lot of good people, I’ve had success, made friendship and got work — there are plenty of people to ring if you haven’t got any work,” he said.

“I’ve loved my country footy that much I wouldn’t change anything for the world, that’s for sure.”

Keith reckons Guy gets his longevity not from him, but his grandfather Jack Richardson. “Jack actually won a best and fairest for Boronia when he was 35. He played until he was 40,” he said.

Keith had bad knees and feared Guy would inherit the problem. “I can remember when we trained, Guy and I, we would have kick-to-kick and I’d never make him kick long. He’d do small kicks and I’d have the right size footy for him so he didn’t do any damage to his knees. I was conscious of that because I had trouble with my own knees.”

Guy has been lucky with injuries. He’s avoided them almost complete. And his knees are good.

Guy’s mum Chloe passed away four years ago but she and Keith watched their son’s career unfold.

Keith said Guy’s success means a lot.

“It’s just been fantastic for us as parents to follow him. I’ve been following him playing senior footy for 26 years and that’s just been a really big highlight of my life,” Keith said.

And don’t think for a minute that Guy Stringer is going to retire any time soon. Why would he?

“I still enjoy it just as much,’’ Guy said. “It’s hard to say you’ll see that changing in six months’ time. I can’t see it changing but the body might say something…’’

MOST MPNFL senior games:

Guy Stringer 398, Warwick Graham 345, Jack Austin 343, Peter Hibbert 342, Brett Wright 338, Robert Jackson 335, Peter Cremen 332, Mark Hustwaite 330, Gordon Hendry 323, Greg Hilton 319, Mark Berenger 314, Adam Cross 309, Willy Duff 304, Luke McGuinness 304, Simon Goosey 303, Chris Draper 302, Mark Wilson 300, Brendan Long 300, Andrew Dalgleish 300.