Wanderers’ Aaron Motlop ‘might’ve played my last game’, reflects on a brilliant NTFL, NEAFL career
EXCLUSIVE: Wanderers’ dual premiership winner and Chaney Medallist Aaron Motlop has given a strong indication he might have played his final game of football. He also reflects on the success he’s enjoyed and hurdles he’s had to overcome in a special Indigenous Sport Month feature story.
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IF champion Wanderers midfielder Aaron Motlop has played his final NTFL game, he will step aside after a long and distinguished career.
The 35-year-old would leave the game a two-time NTFL and two-time NEAFL premiership winner, giving a strong hint he could be ready to hang up his boots.
“I’m not sure. I might have (played my last game),” Motlop said.
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“I haven’t had the motivation to go for a run or do much since my last game.
“It was so disappointing that we fell short against Saints (in the 2020-21 preliminary final, losing by 27 points) and when I was walking off the ground I was thinking ‘we’ve just lost a preliminary final – this could be my last game’.
“A lot goes into your preparation – training, rebab, strength work and nutrition.
“I’ll be 36 next year, and for me to go through the grind of all of that one more time – it might be too much for me.”
You could certainly understand Motlop – now a father of three, and someone who has undergone two shoulder reconstructions and an ACL reconstruction over the course of his career – now dreading the mental strain of continuing to push his body to the limit.
But – being the team-first person that he is – we could still see him running around next NTFL season.
“It’s only early June and things might change,” he said.
“If I keep playing it will be to support my cousin Shannon, if he keeps the head coaching role.
“But it will all depend on how my body is feeling.
“I’ve grown up watching my dad (Mark) coach three or four clubs, so it’s in my genes to also want to coach at some stage.”
Motlop, the 2010-11 Chaney Medal winner and a veteran of over 200 NTFL games, speaks with typical humility when looking back at his outstanding career.
“I’m pretty proud to have played a sport I grew up watching my father and uncles play,” the captain of the 2015 NEAFL premiership-winning NT Thunder team said.
“And – for want of a better word – putting my own little stamp on the game.
“I’m incredibly proud and honoured to have played in the NTFL and represented NT Thunder.
“The pinnacle of team sport is to play in successful premiership-winning sides because it’s not about individual brilliance – it’s about how your teams perform.
“And I’ve really valued being in those strong team environments.”
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THERE are those who are destined to play a particular sport, and then there is football and the Motlop family.
“I’d say so (I was hooked on football from an early age),” Wanderers stalwart Aaron Motlop says.
“I was not even a day old and there’s a picture of me in the NT News with my dad (Mark) and a pair of black boots.
“I was always destined to play the game, and seeing my father coach from a young age ingrained in me that was what I was also going to do.
“It was the same for me as the guys in country Victoria growing up and watching their parents work on a farm, and where football is also a big part of their lives.”
NTFL premiership-winning coach and Aaron’s father Mark made many sacrifices in order to see his son go on to have an outstanding football career.
Aaron went on to be a two-time premiership winner with NT Thunder (NEAFL) and Wanderers (NTFL).
“Dad was a huge positive influence on me, and he’s always supported me and my siblings – Jarrod, Matthew and Kayllah,” Motlop said.
“From a young age, I’d kick a footy between two palm trees and they were the goals.
“I always aspired to play senior football.”
Motlop, an inspiration for young Indigenous Territorians with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage, also reserved special praise for his mother Shiralee.
“Mum is one of the most supportive and caring people I know,” he said.
“Both parents were very supportive and encouraging on my footy journey from a young age.
“I’m so grateful to have them both as my parents, and I can’t thank them enough for everything they’ve done for me.”
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WANDERERS club legend Aaron Motlop had no shortage of AFL idols growing up.
A team-first attitude has been a big part of a career which has seen him win premierships in the NTFL and NEAFL, respectively two each with Wanderers and NT Thunder.
This is why he is so grateful for the positive influences these stars had on him while growing up.
“As you get older you appreciate the players you look up to,” Motlop said.
“For me in the AFL, they were Michael Long, Michael McLean and Andrew McLeod. “Locally, they were Jason Cockatoo, Bruce Jarmyn and Kelvin Maher in the NTFL.
“I have a lot to thank them for in regards to being role models and inspiring young footballers.”
Motlop had to pinch himself playing alongside an Indigenous superstar such as McLeod – perhaps the Territory’s greatest ever footballer – in the early years of the Thunder program.
McLeod, both a two-time AFL premiership winner and Norm Smith Medal winner and veteran of 340 games at the elite level, helped his native Thunder outfit to a NEAFL flag in 2011.
“The level of football knowledge and IQ that Andrew brought to Thunder was unbelievable,” Motlop said.
“Playing alongside him was a dream come true, and he made us all walk taller when he played for us and gave something back to Territory football.
“We had an unreal team featuring Andrew, Jarred and Cameron Ilett, Iggy Vallejo, Shannon Rusca and Jason Roe, and we were strong in every position.
“It’s one of the great memories of my career.”
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AARON Motlop has had to overcome plenty of setbacks on his way to becoming both a two-time premiership player with Wanderers and NT Thunder, respectively.
It hasn’t all been rosy.
Long-term injuries have been a part of his journey, including shoulder (two) and ACL reconstructions.
“Everybody aspires to play in the AFL, and if I changed my vision early, who knows,” he said.
“But my idols were always at a local level in Darwin, and I’m very proud of what my family has done at a local level and on the big stage.
“My first shoulder operation was when I was 16. And at the time there wasn’t much of me – I was only about 60kg and still developing.
“I was always told ‘you’re a very talented junior’ but I probably didn’t hit my peak until my mid-20s.
“I had a go in the SANFL, but I had some injuries down there and it didn’t quite work out.”
Then along came NT Thunder, who Motlop won NEAFL flags with in 2011 and 2015, captaining the side to its second flag six years ago.
“I came back to Darwin and Thunder started up. So if I didn’t come back home I wouldn’t have achieved what I did,” he said.
“I actually tore my ACL in my second Thunder game, which was our first interstate game against Brisbane Lions under Michael McLean.
“My first game in NT colours was a dream come true. We played in front of a big home crowd and the atmosphere was electric.
“We could barely hear one another out on the field.”
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