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6 months ago
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Brendan Fevola's daughter Lulu has revealed that her AFL great dad is still lacing up his boots to play park footy on the weekends after swearing he was finally retired last year.
The former Carlton and Brisbane forward played his final match for the Diamond Valley Super Rules Football Club in Melbourne's north-east in 2023 - or so he said at the time.
'It was my fourth senior grand final and I am done,' he said.
'I went out on a premiership. After 37 years of the game I've loved so much and has given me so much more.
Fevola smiles with the trophy along with his daughters Leni and Lulu after winning a grand final in 2023
'It's time to say goodbye. What a way to finish with a flag. I'm cooked.'
But now his daughter Lulu has posted a video clip of her beloved 43-year-old dad still playing competitive park footy with the over 35's.
The clip posted to TikTok shows the burly bull forward beat a defender and kicking at goal.
'Us bc (because) this man refuses to retire,' she captioned the video.
Fevola had a chequered AFL career, debuting in 1999 for Carlton and playing 204 first-grade matches, kicking 623 goals.
While he dominated in reserve grade in 1999 - kicking 42 goals - before making his AFL debut in the No.25 guernsey made famous by Carlton legend Alex Jesaulenko, Fevola struggled to translate that form to the top grade.
A string of poor matches, poor body language on the field and a number of off-field incidents had Carlton had senior coach Wayne Brittain ready to trade or delist Fevola at the end of the 2002 season.
It was lucky for the Blues he didn't, as Fevola suddenly found a rich vein of form that led to him becoming a seven-time leading goalkicker for the club from 2003-09, a two-time Coleman Medal winner in 2006 and 2009 and a three-time All Australian.
Fevola (pictured with his family) had a colourful AFL career that debuted in 1999
A fresh-faced Fevola smiles for his team portrait ahead of the 2001 season with Carlton
Off-field issues continued to plague the key forward, though, culminating in him infamously selling his second Coleman Medal to fund his gambling addiction.
It led Carlton to make the shock call to trade him to the Brisbane Lions in 2009.
Fevola would only play 17 matches for his new team in 2010, spending time in a Brisbane mental health clinic and struggling to address his demons.
Spat out of the AFL system at the end of the 2010 season, Fevola would continue playing in lower divisions around the country, including Victoria and Tasmania.
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