Reliable Mal reaches 200 for Dragons

While crowds come to the footy to see star midfielders and glamour forwards, there’s no underestimating the importance of a reliable key defender.

And that’s what Borchard has been to Sandhurst for the past 12 seasons in the Bendigo Football League – reliable.

He’s taken on the best forwards in the competition of the past dozen years and made them earn every goal kicked on him with his no-frills, no-fuss work on the last line of defence.

Tomorrow marks a significant milestone for 32-year-old Borchard when he lines up for his 200th senior game for the Dragons against South Bendigo at the Queen Elizabeth Oval.

Borchard’s journey to 200 games began back in July of 2000 when he moved from Kerang to Bendigo to be with his now wife Joanne.

After moving to Bendigo during 2000 he joined Sandhurst, debuted for the Dragons in a one-point loss to Castlemaine in round 13 and the rest is history.

“I was looking for work down here and a guy I knew (Ian Prendergast) had two sons, Brendan and Mark, playing at Sandhurst and it just went from there,” Borchard said yesterday.

As well as his reliability in defence, one of Borchard’s great traits has been his durability.

Since joining the Dragons he has played 199 of a possible 211 games.

“I’ve been very fortunate in that I haven’t missed too many games,” Borchard said.

“The only major injury I’ve had since I came to Sandhurst was doing my medial a couple of years ago, but the rest have just been bumps and bruises.”

During Borchard’s 12 years at Sandhurst he has seen both ends of the spectrum – the ultimate success of a drought-breaking premiership in 2004, but also the tough rebuilding season that was 2008 when the Dragons finished just 0.6 per cent away from claiming the wooden spoon.

“We’ve had our ups and downs, that’s for sure,” Borchard said.

“There was the premiership in 2004, we’ve finished top three a few times, but there was also that year in 2008 when we were less than one per cent from the bottom of the ladder.

“Obviously, 2004 is the standout year. It was a great bunch of guys who had an enormous amount of ability.

“We had a really good blend of youth and experience in that side, so it was terrific to beat Gisborne in that grand final, especially at a time when Gisborne was at its most powerful.”

Coached by David Collins, Sandhurst defeated Gisborne by 29 points, 15.14 (104) to 10.15 (75), in the 2004 grand final, with Borchard among the Dragons’ best players as they won their first flag in 21 years.

Eight years on from that last premiership triumph, Borchard is confident the Dragons have the building blocks in place for another genuine tilt at the flag before his playing days come to an end.

“Most of our group is no older than 21 or 22 and they are all skilful, young kids with a lot of ability and potential to develop further,” Borchard said.

“We’re off to a bad start this year (0-2), but there’s no doubt we’re looking to turn that around and have an impact this year and for years to come, so it’s pretty positive.

“There’s a great bunch of players at Sandhurst at the moment, and I’ve also been fortunate to play alongside some fantastic players like Tony Graham, Ben Sexton, Keiran Nihill, Wayne Mitrovic and Rick Andrews... I could talk all day about the great players I’ve played with.”

Tony Graham was Borchard’s first coach at Sandhurst when he arrived in 2000, and Graham is once again Borchard’s coach after returning to the helm of the Dragons last year.

“Full-back is a tough position to play and he has played it for a long time, so he knows his stuff,” Graham said.

“He can be pretty physical at times, but he can also play on the mobile players, so he’s capable of playing on a variety of forwards, which is always a bonus.

“We’re pretty young with our group at the moment, so he provides some really valuable experience and real leadership.

“When he first came to Sandhurst he was most suited to defence, but he was playing out on the flanks.

“As he has built up and got stronger and found his niche down there it has meant that every week for whichever coach he’s had, they have been able to say, ‘I’m right, I’ve got that position covered,’ which is always good.”

As well as Borchard’s milestone, tomorrow’s game will also be Sandhurst and South Bendigo’s annual battle for the Graeme Wright Memorial Cup.

While the Dragons are winless, the in-form Bloods head into the game unbeaten on the back of wins over Eaglehawk (58 points) and Kangaroo Flat (67).