He'd hoped to kick a few more goals but a win for Old Collegians, in likely his last game of football, is something Essendon great Matthew Lloyd won't be forgetting anytime soon.
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The 46-year-old, appearing for the Warriors as part of the Carlton Draft, was all smiles after a gritty 6.8 (44) to 4.8 (32) Warrnambool and District league win against Kolora-Noorat on Saturday, June 29.
Lloyd, who retired from the AFL in 2009 after 270 games and 926 goals for the Bombers, finished with a major and had some classy moments in wet and windy conditions not suited to key forwards.
"It was a great experience, a bit nervous obviously at 46 years of age coming out there to play and I saw pretty early what a good standard it was," Lloyd told The Standard.
"Tricky conditions, it was a very tough, contested game so I would have loved to have kicked more goals but I understood pretty early it was just going to be a grind of a game."
Despite not converting, a highlight was when the Bombers legend brought the packed Davidson Oval crowd to its feet in the third quarter with his trademark grass-tossing set-shot routine.
He also successfully turned to roving late in the fourth quarter, setting up the match-sealing goal with a quick snap off his non-preferred right boot which was marked by Jacob Hetherington.
"We were kicking against the wind, a howling wind in the last quarter, so I just wanted to try and get a bit more involved in that last five or six minutes and try and hang onto the victory," he said of the goal-assist.
"And then it was nice to get a crumb and set up a goal in that last five minutes."
Despite all his accolades at the highest level- which include an AFL premiership with the Bombers in 2000, three Coleman Medals and an AFL Hall of Fame induction - Lloyd understands the importance of grassroots football.
The Avondale Heights Football Club product loved seeing the huge turnout from the community for Saturday's game.
"I was just a boy growing up and became a local footballer and then to see now 20, 30 years on the impact you can have on a sporting team/community, I'm absolutely pinching myself to be honest," he said.
"One person, like myself, who was just a boy growing up can have an impact like this."
Lloyd suffered a sizeable cramp in his calf during the last quarter and said his hamstrings were also feeling tight.
Still, he has no regrets about playing in what he anticipates will be his last game.
"It's worth it, I'm not playing again," he said.
"The boys will be able to watch themselves on telly tomorrow on the Sunday Footy Show and it's a moment they'll never forget."
The popular Sunday Footy Show, of which Lloyd is a panellist, will show highlights from Saturday's game.
Lloyd expects there might be some jokes made at his expense although that won't detract from his experience with the Warriors.
"They'll probably take the mickey out of me but as I said I've loved the experience and I'm glad I did it," he said.
Matt Petherick was a standout for the ninth-placed Warriors while the reliable Stephen O'Connor was dominant for the seventh-placed Power.
Warriors coach Ben Van de Camp was delighted with the win, describing it as a "mature performance" from his side.
He was full of praise for Lloyd and his approach to the one-off game.
"(From when he was drafted) he's sort of just been touching base and keeping an eye on what we've been doing," he said.
"From the moment he rocked up today you could just see that he had a bit of a point to prove and did so really, really well."
Matt Hughes
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
Matt is a sports journalist at The Standard.
