600 and Counting! – Troy Luff, AFL Sydney Legend
By Rod Gillett
Former Sydney Swans star Troy Luff will strap on the boots for his 600th game on Saturday when he runs out for UNSW-Eastern Suburbs in its Division 5 fixture against Sydney University at Dave Phillips Field at 3.30 pm.
This is Troy’s 38th season of playing open-age football after starting out as a 17 year old for Nelson Bay in the Newcastle competition under former Campbelltown coach Steve Bird. Bird’s son, Craig, who played in the Swans’ 2012 premiership triumph, was also recruited from Nelson Bay.
After a 78-goal haul saw him top the Newcastle league goal-kicking in 1989 he joined the Swans in 1990 and debuted in Round 12 under against Fitzroy at the SCG; he finished with six games in his first season.
Troy only played 21 games in his first four years at the Swans but then he clicked under new coach Rodney Eade in 1996 and was a key player in the run into the club’s first grand final for 51 years.
Alas North Melbourne were to prove too good for the Swans on grand final day but it remains Troy’s biggest thrill in football and at the same time his greatest disappointment. “From the time we won the Preliminary final up until game day, it was just an exciting week. The parade through Melbourne was so exciting, I even took my own camera to capture the moment” he told me in an interview for this piece
In fact, Troy played in 10 losing Grand Finals before he finally won a flag in 2019. Playing for UNSW-Eastern Suburbs third grade team he also topped the competition goal kicking with 69 majors and won the club best and fairest award at the tender age of 49!
Troy Luff played 155 games and kicked eighty-five goals for the Sydney Swans from 1990 until 2001. He became a fan-favourite at the Swans and he fondly recalls his retirement game in 2001, “We had a huge 80 point win over St Kilda and I ended up with the ball in my hand when the siren went. The whole crowd was chanting “Luffy, Luffy” throughout the game”.
“I couldn’t stop smiling. But the biggest thrill of that day was walking a lap with my two children, Mitchell and Olivia, and waving, high fiving and hugging the supporters who had all stuck around to say goodbye”, Luffy told me.
In 2002 he took up the appointment as captain-coach of Balmain in the Sydney Football League. He had an outstanding season winning his first Phelan Medal. He crossed to coach UNSW-Eastern Suburbs in 2005 and won his second Phelan Medal in 2006. He went back to Balmain as a player in 2011-2012 and then back to the Bulldogs, 2012-
2014. Then back to Balmain from 2015-2018. He was named centre half-back in Balmain’s Team of the Century.
Troy returned to the Bulldogs in 2019 where he has continued to play on. And on.
When I asked him how does he do it, he responded, “To be honest, I think I must have good genes! The body is certainly aging but for some reason I manage to get onto the field week after week. I think my work as a landscape gardener has contributed to keeping the body active as it is a physical job and I can walk up to 10kms a day pushing a lawn mower!”
However, he does limited training during the week once the season starts, “I am pretty sore after a game, so limiting training helps the body heal for the next game”.
Troy’s longevity in football is not just confined to playing football as he has been part of Sydney’s Triple M radio commentary team alongside former team-mates Brad Seymour and Jude Bolton for the past twenty-one years.
Well done Luffy!
(Acknowledgement Mick O’Connell Editor Bulldogs Bulletin)
