By David Nagel
Ryan Hendy is a born and bred Doveton star – in fact if you look closely enough the blood, sweat and tears he has poured into the club over the years are probably shaded with a tinge of black and green.
The passionate Doveton man played his 250th senior game for the club at his beloved home ground at Robinson Oval on Saturday.
A brief 17-game dalliance with ROC in 2013 and a two-year 33-game coaching stint at Garfield bring his tally to 300 – a remarkable milestone in this his 19th season of senior football.
He started as a 16-year-old all the way back in 1999 – making his childhood dreams come true.
“My grandparents were heavily involved in the club, Dad has been president and coached as well, so I basically grew up at Doveton and I couldn’t have wished for a better childhood,” Hendy said.
“All I ever wanted to do was play footy for Doveton and to play this many games is quite surreal when you think about it. I remember kicking the footy in the park with blokes like Rowdy (Brad Downe), and it’s amazing to think that those two kids have gone on to play so many games for the club … it’s a real buzz.”
Hendy becomes just the fourth player to reach 250 senior games with the Doves, joining Steve Henwood (250), Downe (272) and Mark Mitchell (273) on that illustrious honour board.
His style of play has been similar to current GWS star Toby Greene, a rough cut diamond – an absolute gem, who loves a goal, but with a few sharp edges to iron out.
“Yeah that’s probably a fair call, I don’t have any regrets about the way I played my footy but it was on the edge sometimes and I probably could have pulled it back a bit,” he said
“But I wear my heart on my sleeve and that’s just the way I am.”
Hendy’s passion is a perfect fit for Doveton.
“It’s probably the most passionate place you’ll find in local footy,” Hendy said with extreme pride in his voice.
“It can be our undoing sometimes but we wouldn’t have it any other way. You want to play for a club that is passionate and Doveton is definitely the place to be if you’re looking for passion, that’s for sure.”
Hendy has been a genuine star of the game, winning a premiership in 2005, a best and fairest in 2008 and he was twice runner-up in the league best and fairest award -the Norm Walker Medal.
He was also a prolific goal-scorer for a midfielder, consistently racking up 30 to 50-goal seasons -unique for that part of the ground.
The 35-year-old said 2005, when the Doves were premiers and champions, was a career highlight.
“That’s the highlight, no doubt, but looking back we probably could have won two or three premierships with a bit of luck,” he said.
“That 2005 team, wow, I still talk to people we played against back then and they say it’s the best side they’ve ever played against. We had some gun footballers like Danny Cassett and Davey George, blokes like that running around in their prime.”
He rates champion full-forward Cassett as the best he played with, hands down; with George, Downe and current-day team mate Michael Henry next on the list.
Hendy knocked back big offers to move from Doveton over the years, but it took his growing passion for coaching to finally wedge him away from his home patch.
“I love Doveton but I saw an opportunity to explore my coaching career, ROC gave me the taste then a really good opportunity came up to coach Garfield and I jumped at it,” he said.
“I loved Garfield; it’s a second home to me. I would have stayed but I wanted to come home and finish off my career at Doveton. But coaching is something I definitely want to get back into in the future.
Hendy wanted to thank some special people for helping him through his career.
“Obviously my old man (Steve), he’s had a massive influence on my career,” he said.
“All my coaches as well, but mainly my dad and my uncles and my close mates I suppose. And my wife Bec, she’s been fantastic as well – putting up with all my whinging.”
So how would he like to be remembered?
“Just as a loyal Doveton person who played with his heart on his sleeve, that’ll do me.”
