Paul Donahoo 100th Senior Game
If Paul Donahoo were a racehorse in a Ready To Run sale and trainers saw his ungainly gait, without being too unkind he wouldn’t exactly have owners fumbling for their cheque book or credit card.
But looks are a small part of a racehorse or for that matter a footballer’s make-up.
In the case of Donahoo, known to all at Two Blue land as “Choppa," it’s about the one defining quality you can’t manufacture- heart.
You can trot out all the old footy clichés- ‘hard as nails’, ‘’harder than cat’s head’, tough as an old boot’- Choppa answers to all of the above.
Simply put, if you want someone in the trenches for football warfare, Choppa is your man.
His contested ball work is elite standard, as is his tackling and his kicking, especially set shots for goals, is often underated.
Every Two Blues teammate stands taller when Choppa is in a contest and he’ll be in the thick of the action as usual this Saturday June 14 for his 100th senior game for Prahran Assumption v unbeaten Therry Penola.
Choppa’s football career began in the Noble Park midgets where he played until the 2004 premiership winning season.
From 2005-08 he was overseas and a member of the London Wildcats team (several of those teammates are also at the club).
Choppa struggled with a knee injury in his first seasons at Prahran but like a vintage wine has kept improving with age.
A member of the Prahran Assumption premiers and champion team of 2011, he won the club best and fairest in 2012.
And just to prove you’re never too old to show some new tricks at age 34 his blind turn and left foot snap goal in the last quarter v Melbourne High this season had his teammates in awe and was capped by a celebratory salute to his mum Janine!.
A mentor to so many of the younger players, there is no more admired player in the club for his whole hearted and caring attitude.
If you watched Choppa hobble into the medical room each Monday night after a match you would marvel at the way he keeps coming up each Saturday.
"For the love of the game" is the VAFA’s catch-cry and that certainly applies to Paul Donahoo.