Round 10 of the Mortgage Choice Hills Football League sees Blackwood defender Matt Waldron play his 100th senior game in the red and the green. Waldron spoke about the honour of playing 100 games for the Woods. “It means a lot to me to play 100 games. It’s my junior club and I can imagine I’ll retire here when that time comes.”
A junior of the club, Waldron was part of the all-conquering 2011 Senior Colt Premiership side. Missing a year of football in 2012, Waldron came back to the club for season 2013 where he played 19 B Grade games kicking 26 goals. “I suffered from osteitis pubis in 2012 and just simply couldn’t play. I missed not playing football in my year off so I decided to give it a crack in 2013.”
Struggling with where his place was in football, Waldron played the following year (2014) in the C Grade when the side was in Division 8 of the Adelaide Football League. During the 15 games he played, Waldron he kicked 28 goals including a bag of six against Old Ignations in Round 16 where he was named best on ground.
“It was both a disappointing but also great learning year for me. It was disappointing because I won the leading B Grade leading goal kicker in 2013 and was dropped for the entire 2014 season. I felt outcasted from football and was ready to walk away from football. The only reason I stayed playing was because of Adam Pope. He is a coach and person I can really trust. I still though I could play A Grade football at this point and he helped me believe I could make it.”
Coming into the 2015 season, Pope was appointed the B Grade coach and Waldron earnt his way back into the side. In the first five games of the season he kicked 19 goals and was in the best players on three occasions. The early season form earnt Waldron his first A Grade game in Round 6 against Hahndorf, only six months after playing in the C Grade. It was a tough match with the side losing by 24 points. He played another six A Grade matches across the season, kicking five majors. He eventually found his way back into the B Grade and became a key member of the successful premiership side.
Season 2016 was similar to 2015 with Waldron playing ten A Grade matches and nine B Grade matches finishing the season off losing in the B Grade semi-final to Onkaparinga Valley at a very muddy Heathfield Oval. At the end of 2016 Waldron had now played 72 senior games but was yet to establish himself as a regular A Grade footballer. Wanting to get to this position, he re-evaluated his game and saw a position at full-back which he could make his own.
“Getting dropped from the finals in 2016 prompted me to change what position I played. In the off-season I went up to Darwin to work where I ended up playing three games Waratah Football Club. I came back for the start of the 2017 pre-season where I asked Damien if I could move to full-back. He was very receptive of the idea and the rest is history.”
With a position now settled in the A Grade, Waldron has become a vital cog of the super six down back. Playing every game in the A Grade in 2017 he was named in the best players on six occasions keeping his forward opponents quiet in most games. 2018 has seen Waldron take on the Junior Colts coaching position which has helped developed his football and he was part of the recent Hills Football League Inter league side which beat the River Murray by 13 points.
At only 24 years of age, Waldron hopes he can continue to play A Grade for many years to come. “I hope to continue to play in the A Grade. Hopefully we can have some more success in the years to come. I also want to develop my coaching and progress through the grades. I aim to teach our upcoming younger players how to play good football and develop into quality A Grade footballers to continue the success for the Woods.”
Across Waldron 99 senior matches he has some outstanding statistics:
- 99 Games (44 A Grade, 40 B Grade, 15 C Grade)
- 66.7% winning percentage (66 wins, 30 losses, 3 draws)
- 127 Goals (1.28 per match) (Most Goals in Match – Ten in Round 5 of 2015)
- 19 Times in Best Players (19.2%) (1st: 5 times, 2nd: 5 times, 3rd: 1 times, 4th: 3 times, 5th: 5 times)
- 2 Premiership – A Grade (2017), B Grade (2015)
- HFL Inter league player – 2018
- Biggest win – Round 1 2016 v Echunga – 200 points
- Biggest loss – Round 14 2016 v Torrens Valley – 92 points
- Most successful Round – Round 1, Round 3, Round 11 and Round 12 (100% winning record)
- Least successful Round – Round 7 (33.33% winning record)
- Hasn’t kicked a goal for 653 days
#beapartofthemarch
