Two inspirational leaders of the Peter Jackson VFL will play their 100th senior games this weekend: Box Hill Hawks captain David Mirra and former Northern Blues skipper Brent Bransgrove.
David Mirra, 25, is a 2013 premiership defender, four-time VFL Team of the Year selection, two-time Victorian state representative and has led the Hawks to Grand Finals in his first two seasons as captain.
Brent Bransgrove, 27, is in his 10th season with the Northern Blues and led the club for four years from 2012-15 (the first two as joint-captain). He announced earlier this week that Northern's clash with Coburg at Preston City Oval on Sunday will be his last VFL game. An ongoing hip injury will end his time as a player, but Bransgrove plans to stay involved with the Blues in a mentoring role.
What were you hoping to accomplish when you started out in the VFL? Was playing 100 games even a consideration?
DM: “When you first start, you just want to play one game. Then you want to play the next one. For me, it was about establishing myself in the senior side given I played Development League footy all my first year. My ultimate goal was to get drafted but that didn’t eventuate, so I just wanted to stick at the best level of footy I could for as long as I could. That’s led to me playing 100 games.”
BB: “I honestly wouldn’t have thought I’d get this far. I didn’t really know what to expect coming out of the TAC Cup. I just thought I’d embrace what Northern had there and see where it took me. Each year there were new people and people stuck around as well, and you just keep building relationships.”
Which personal traits and skills do you think have allowed you to play 100 VFL games?
DM: “The biggest thing was probably just being honest with myself. In my first few years, I suppose I learned some pretty harsh lessons from the leadership group in terms of how to prepare and how to get the best out of myself in pre-season. It was about changing my focus as well – when you come in, you just worry about kicks, handballs and marks, but as you get older you worry more about the team and how different guys are going, and you start to think outside the box a bit.”
BB: “It’s been a long journey and my body hasn’t held up too well. Persistence is probably the key. I’ve never been the most athletic or skilled player, but I guess my hard work and hours behind the scenes and on the track has equated to lasting the 10 years and 100 games.”
How did you come to be a captain of your club?
DM: “It was something I always wanted to do, and particularly when I started playing seniors I wanted to develop my leadership. It was something (former Box Hill player) Beau Muston got me involved in – in the leadership group in 2012 – and that gave me confidence I could be a leader amongst the group. Then as I developed, the captaincy came about. I was lucky enough to captain the side as an acting captain to Daniel Pratt for about seven games in 2013 which ultimately led to me gaining full captaincy in 2014. I’ve got a passion for the jumper and I take privilege and honour in being the captain of the side.”
BB: “It really came out of nowhere (in 2012), because I missed out on 2010 due to hip surgery and then the next year I came back and played half in the seniors and half in the Development League. The following year I guess we had a fair turnover of players, losing our captain Adam Iacobucci and also the change to the Northern Blues (and associated alignment with Carlton) brought an influx of players. Me and Andre Gianfagna shared the captaincy, which was a massive honour. I’d been in a leadership group but never thought it would come my way that early in my career.”
What have been the biggest changes for you personally over the journey?
DM: “You definitely mature. I think the biggest thing for me was the influence of (then senior coach) Brendon Bolton in my first year (2010), in just setting standards and then driving those standards yourself. I think I’ve changed my mentality from my first few years, for sure. Brendon sets a strong culture and makes sure everyone abides by it, and there’s definitely a lot of lessons I learned from him that I take with me now as captain and try to enforce to the younger guys.”
BB: “What you take from footy, you also take into your lifestyle. You have to be organised, dedicated and committed to the cause, so whatever you do outside of football, that relates back to your football. I guess I’ve taken a lot of life lessons out of football – as much as learning about football itself.”
What has been your most memorable on-field moment?
DM: “You can’t go past the 2013 flag, but also playing with a lot of quality guys and quality AFL players. We’re lucky to have guys come down to Box Hill who have played in AFL premierships.”
BB: “The 2009 Grand Final. It was surreal running out on a Friday night at Etihad Stadium. We didn’t get the win (the Bullants lost to North Ballarat), but that whole finals campaign was a really good experience and to get to the Grand Final was a pretty good achievement from where we had come from.”
Is there a particularly embarrassing or funny moment that sticks out in your mind?
DM: “Probably my first senior win in Round 2, 2011. On the final bell I got pretty excited – fist pumping and jumping up and down. It was like I’d won a Grand Final. I remember (then senior coach) Damian Carroll played the footage during the week in the review and the boys brought me back down to earth.”
BB: “Going into that 2009 Grand Final, I already had my head wrapped up before I’d run out onto the ground. I’d split my eye open the previous Sunday and we had to back up on the Friday night. I had six or seven stitches in there.”
What do you still hope to achieve in the VFL and what might the future hold?
DM: “I want to win a premiership again. Individual milestones are great, but you don’t get the same satisfaction playing 100 games as you do playing a premiership. We’ve been on the losing end the last two years, so that stings and you want to rectify that in a way by winning another one. Hopefully I’m still working in business (post-footy), but I’ve always thought about coaching. That’s something I’m passionate about, particularly with the younger group we have at the club. I enjoy teaching the tactical side of the game and transferring knowledge I’ve learned to those guys.”
BB: “You just try to develop the younger players and also the club culture. You try to instil it into these players coming through and hope they carry that through the following years past my time. That’s my main focus, and trying to get people to stay for a period of time – not just a year and then getting out of the Northern Blues and the VFL. There’s still a high turnover of players because it’s a highly demanding system, and I just hope people actually stick at it because you make a lot of mates and develop yourself as a person. I’m also doing structural engineering and I’ve been trying to balance that with footy for the last three years, so I’ll be focusing a lot more on that.”
* Brent Bransgrove photo: Graeme Furlong
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Last Modified on 19/05/2016 00:23
