It’s hard to believe that it has now been 9 years since Michael Locco walked through the doors at Quambee Reserve. A player that many of us knew nothing or very little about but a player we all know now and a player who will go down as one of our best.
There are some people that play local footy who are remembered not just by their teammates but by their peers from other clubs they play in their career. A man that is spoken about years later at opposition club gatherings, when someone mentions, “Do you remember bloody Locco, number 32 and wore that colorful head gear, damn that guy could take a pack mark, he killed me every time we played”! Michael Locco is one of those players.
This Saturday as we take to the field against Wantirna South, Michael will play his 100th game for the mighty Saints.
For 9 seasons now, Michael has been our General of the backline. He has put the fear of God into the Premier & Div 1 forwards since his first game with us in 2016. Goes without saying that when the backline make their way into position before the first bounce, there are a couple of forwards saying, “bloody Locco had better not come to me”!
So where did it all start for Michael …. As is the case with most young boys growing up in an AFL or just sports made state like Victoria, Michael played as many sports as possible that used a ball or had some sort of a competitive edge, but his love of Aussie rules was always going to win.
Growing up in the beach side suburbs in the South East, Michael joined his older brother from U9’s through to U16’s at Mordialloc Braeside Junior Football Club in the Moorabbin Saints Junior Football League, hoping to one day follow in the footsteps of his boyhood hero being a North Melbourne supporter, Wayne Carey.
As Saints members, we only know Michael as the pillar of strength in the last line of defence, but Michael actually applied his craft in the midfield during his junior days & by all reports was just as good in the middle as he is down back as along the way down at Mordialloc he collected 3 Best & Fairest awards.
By the time Michael got to under 16’s, he knew that he wanted to continue with footy into senior level, so with Mordialloc Braeside not really having any connection as a feeder to a senior club, Michael made the decision to leave Mordialloc & make the 5km drive down Nepean Hwy to Mentone Reserve to finish of his Juniors in U17’s with St Bedes-Mentone Juniors and with St Bedes-Mentone Seniors recently moving from C to A division with a 3peat of flags (2006-08) under the guidance of Luke Beveridge, the move seemed perfect for Michael.
During his time at both junior clubs, Michael also played at TAC Level with Sandringham Dragons from U15’s – U18’s.
After 3 Seasons (U18 – 19’s) racking up 43 games & 20 BOG’s, Michael finished his time down at St Bedes-Mentone.
With Michael doing his hamstring for the 3rd time during the 2011 season and with a few other minor injuries resulted in him playing as a backman, a position he wasn’t used to after playing as a midfield during his junior career. Michael lost a little bit of love for the game and decided to sit out the 2012-13 season and just get back to enjoying other things in life outside the footy club environment.
At the end of the 2013 EFL season one of Michael’s best mates from Uni, Tyler Falkner convinced Michael to come down for pre-season at Blackburn. Tyler himself also played down back and knew that Michael would be a very valuable asset for the Burners.
Now for those of us who know Michael, he is not a big pre-season kind of man, so Tyler must have been a good mate
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.In his first year at Blackburn, Michael only managed to get in 8 games due to a few injuries but still managed to be named 4 times in the BOG’s. At seasons end, Michael had gotten his body back to where it needed to be and made the decision to try and play at the highest level he could, so he made his way down to Frankston in the VFL for pre-season but was very quickly picked up and recruited by Williamstown to be part of their 2015 campaign.
Michael was back to a really happy place down at Willy playing 15 games for the year but what had dogged Michael for a few seasons, those persistent niggling injuries just kept raising their ugly head and as the season wore on, the 2 hour travel time 3 nights a week plus weekend travel really started to wear Michael down.
Williamstown had a great year in 2015, eventually winning the VFL Premiership by 55 points. Michael was named in the side but during the Thursday night light training session, Michael suffered a grade 1 quad strain and had to be withdrawn from the side. Along with the many hours behind the wheel, Michael decided he would head back to Blackburn in 2016, the club he still had down as his home club while playing VFL.
Luckily for us this is where North Ringwood enter the picture. Peter Banfield who was the current coach down and Blackburn, left the club late during the 2015 season and was eventually appointed as Senior Coach with us for 2016 as he headed home to where it all started at our Junior Club before being drafted by Essendon in 1984.
Banners, now as Senior Coach, was quick to get on the phone to Michael and convince him to join him down at Quambee and as they say, “the rest is history”.
Michael came to us as a young man at only 23. As a Secondary College teacher the attributes required for his profession have been applied with relevance to local footy in assisting our young list to get the most out of their football. It’s like having another playing coach on the field, something that has been great for our club over the last few years with our young list.
When talking to Michael’s peers, the first thing you gather is that Michael would be one of the most respected players on our list for what he has not only achieved with us but what he has done and brought to our club. You really get a feel for what Michael means to them & the side and just what type of an exceptional human being he is.
His mates describe him as an “Exceptional leader” on & off the field and he’s like a second Coach/Teacher offering help and advice to everyone, especially with our young list. His preparation to look after his body for training & gameday is that of AFL standard, knowing that it is key to his performance. Described as “The Rock of Gibraltar” of the backline & that nothing gets past him, one mate may have even mentioned Michael might have even said that himself a couple of times, but of course only in a joking way . Michael, I will let you guess who gave me that .
. Michael, I will let you guess who gave me that .It was easy to tell, talking to a couple of mates, that Michael is held in very high esteem with his teammates as he is also with Saints supporters & members. Michael is a very resilient young man who has been through some tough times since being at the club but is able to rise above any challenge in front of him, with a smile on his face and still able to help others, he’s just the type of person and no matter what age you are, you look up to him with admiration, just a real gem of a man.
I asked Michael what his time at North Ringwood has been like and without hesitation, he gave me the below answer, which made me feel even prouder to be part of out great club.
(In Michael’s own words) – By far and away, North Ringwood has been my favorite place to play football. Previous to North Ringwood, I had moved clubs a few times but I have found my football home at Quambee. Playing with mates like Jayden & Dylan van Unen, Matt Cullinan, Jason Sharp, Matt Sheppard, Jack Whelan & Aaron Fenton for a number of years has been a privilege and has kept me coming back year after year, even in pre-season when I didn’t think my body had it anymore, the friendships & the club made the decision easy.
I have also been lucky in my time at North Ringwood to have had some exceptional & quality coaches during my 9 years. From Banners, who got me there to Brett Moyle & finally Robin Nahas.
My only regret is that I have only managed 100 games in my 9 years at the club.
In Michael’s 99 games so far:
Named in the Best – 57 Times
Goals – 3
2016 – NRFC Senior Best & Fairest
2017 – NRFC Senior Runner Up Best & Fairest
2022 – NRFC Senior Runner Up Best & Fairest
2023 – NRFC Senior Best & Fairest
2023 – EFNL Senior Division 1 ”Team of the Year” (Back Pocket)
All the best for Saturday mate, enjoy the day and just do what you do best … destroying & dismantling the opposition forward line.
To all our Saints Members, let’s get down to Walker Reserve on Saturday to give support and make some noise to help our boys get over the line so we can celebrate with Michael and honour our Saints champ in style.
C’mon Sainters
