McLean’s hammy hiccup after good start

Apr 17, 2022

Voice of experience: Brock McLean has taken a leading role in guiding the Tongala midfield, particularly in the absence of several star players who have missed the last two weeks.

Bouncing Blue: Brock McLean takes a bounce as the Blues surge forward in Saturday’s third successive win of the season, against rival Nathalia.

Directing traffic: McLean’s experience in the AFL, with Melbourne and Carlton, has made him a great asset at Tongala.

Brock McLean’s arrival at Murray Football Netball League powerhouse Tongala has suffered an early hiccup, the former number five draft pick limping off with a hamstring injury in the third quarter of Saturday’s match against Nathalia.

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The arrival of McLean has had rival clubs rolling their eyes in anticipation of the firm premiership favourite further strengthening its ranks. The club’s senior team has two forms, one where it fields a full-strength team with its Northern Territory contingent and a second where it has a much more significant “local flavour”.

Every weekend clubs await the team sheet to see which Tongala they are playing, but McLean — until Saturday — was set to be a weekly fixture with the team.

McLean was a star in the team’s hard-fought round two win against Barooga and was well on the way to repeating that performance on Saturday.

The 36-year-old, who played 94 games at Melbourne and 63 games at Carlton in an 11- season career, had hamstring concerns early in his career.

He spent six seasons with Melbourne and arrived at Carlton in 2009, spending most of the 2011 season with the Blues VFL affiliate Northern Bullants. He won the team’s best and fairest that season.

McLean was delisted in 2014 and returned to his junior club, Aberfeldie, for the 2015 season.

His arrival at Tongala comes after the club was forced to sit out the 2021 finals series, as was the case with all regional football leagues, then re-start its push to addressing a 40-year premiership drought.