FRASER Thurlow’s 100th NEAFL/VFL game represents his football life turning a full circle.
While his dreams took him away from his beloved Southport Sharks at times, it seemed inevitable he would always return.
A Sharks junior from the tender age of five, he remembers watching the legendary older generation of black and whites claim four consecutive QAFL premierships from 1997 to 2000, and three more in 2005, 2006 and 2008.
“I’ve been proud to progress from a junior player, to a fringe senior player, to a good senior player, and now playing well in the VFL,” Thurlow, 29, who reaches his milestone in the Sharks’ clash with the Northern Bullants at Preston’s Genis Steel Oval on Sunday, said.
“That progression across my career is the most rewarding part, particularly (remembering back to) when I was a young kid, standing on the fence, watching the Sharks senior players run around.”
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FRASER THURLOW
Southport (NEAFL/VFL, 2012, 2016-21): 78 matches/43 goals
Labrador (NEAFL, 2013): 16 matches/8 goals
Essendon (VFL, 2014): 5 matches/1 goal
Total NEAFL/VFL: 99 matches/52 goals
Woodville-West Torrens (SANFL, 2015): 9 matches/1 goal (plus 4m/5g reserves)
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With a father from Victoria, Thurlow threw himself into football and was consistently a high performer, representing Queensland often in his junior days.
Starting as a key forward, a growth spurt in his late teens and early 20s pushed Thurlow into the ruck, where his 198cm and above average vertical leap was used to full advantage.
Thurlow’s football trajectory until 2012-13 seemed to point to a potential AFL career as he played well in representative games, draft combines and as a young member of the senior Southport team.
There is a lingering feeling of what might have been had he played in a traditional Australian Rules state.
“Growing up in Queensland, particularly around that time, there wasn’t much exposure – there wasn’t the (Gold Coast) Suns and (Brisbane) Lions academy like there is now,” he said.
“Looking back, it might have been a good idea (to) go down to Victoria and get into the private school system.”
The Lions showed some interest before going in a different direction and Thurlow returned to the Sharks in 2012 and joined Labrador in 2013 to continue his development.
He saw the upside of playing against grown men when he was still in his formative years.
“It meant I started senior football at a young age and that experience, (which) in different ways helped prepare me for senior football and competition against bigger and older players” he said.
Thurlow’s persistence paid off and he was selected by Essendon at Pick 9 of the 2013 AFL Rookie Draft.
He played for the Bombers in the 2014 AFL pre-season competition, but developed stress fractures in his back before Round 1 and missed most of the season, only being able to participate – in pain – in five VFL games.
Essendon was also in a tumultuous period in its history with sanctions from the supplements saga taking effect, and Thurlow had to make way as the Bombers focused on recruiting experienced players to get them through.
“To just get one year in the system after getting drafted is disappointing, particularly after I had been injured for that season,” he said.
Thurlow headed to the SANFL and Woodville-West Torrens in 2015, with the Eagles topping the ladder and only losing three games for the year – albeit one of those being the Grand Final to West Adelaide.
He returned home to Fankhauser Reserve in 2016, for football and also to pursue his academic dreams.
Spending so much time in high performance environments had sparked an interest in the role of strength and conditioning in the elite sports ecosystem. He knew he had found his lifelong pursuit.
“When I was at Essendon and (saw) what the strength and conditioning coaches and sports scientists did, (I knew) that is what I want to do if I can’t be an AFL player,” he said.
Thurlow is completing a PhD in Sports and Exercise Science at Brisbane’s Australian Catholic University, where he is also a lecturer.
In addition to providing life balance, Thurlow believed his academic pursuits had helped him on the field and he hoped to help others after his career ended.
“(I would welcome) the potential (opportunity) to work in an AFL team, or any other sports within that high performance area … I feel like I have a lot to provide in that space because of what I have learned as a football player and providing that as a practitioner,” he said.
Thurlow credited coach Steve Daniel and assistant Matthew Lappin with changing Southport’s culture when they arrived in 2018 after two lean years, but said former Port Adelaide AFL star Matthew Primus had had a particular influence on him.
“He’s been massive for my game over the past two seasons,” he said.
Thurlow missed the Sharks’ 2018 NEAFL premiership after pursuing another dream of travelling abroad and living in London, a decision he thought would end his State league career given he expected to stay in the UK for a prolonged period.
But academia again called Thurlow home to Queensland in 2019, luckily before COVID-19 locked most of the world down, but too late to rejoin Southport as it lost the NEAFL Grand Final to an elite Brisbane Lions team that went through that season undefeated.
Thurlow was always confident the NEAFL clubs would be able to compete with the VFL teams from the traditional heartland when the leagues combined in 2021.
“The standard of the NEAFL was underestimated by the general public and people who watch football,” he said.
“(It was) probably a lot higher standard than people realise.”
The Sharks were well placed in second on the ladder when the 2021 VFL season was cancelled and find themselves in familiar territory again, trailing only the unbeaten Casey Demons after 12 rounds.
“We have our sights set on a top-four finish, which will give us a really good chance in the finals, particularly if we can play at home where we have not been beaten in a long time,” Thurlow said.
“It’s a really exciting time, particularly coming towards the end of my career.”
Through his journey through football, work and education, Thurlow knows how to get the best out of himself.
“I always love to have a specific focus and work towards achieving that,” he said.
“When I was in London, I was meandering a little in the job I had, so when the opportunity to do the PhD came up, it was a great challenge.”
Sunday’s match against the Bullants will see the player judged to be best-on-ground awarded a commemorative medal struck in honour of Alex Aurrichio.
Aurrichio, who played for the Northern Blues (when the Bullants were aligned with Carlton) and the Sharks, died when he was hit by a car while cycling near Darwin in 2020.
The much-loved American chased his AFL dream in Victoria (Northern Blues), South Australia (South Adelaide), Queensland (Southport) and the Northern Territory (Waratah) and left a legacy of kindness, laughter and friendships along the way.
