Milestone Games – Round 7

We wish to congratulate Patrick Lunn who will play his 150th game this weekend against Old Ivanhoe! A fantastic achievement for a great clubman, we wish Lunny the best of luck for the upcoming game.

On behalf of the Marcellin Old Collegians Football Club and wider Marcellin Community, we congratulate Lunny on his 150th game against arch rivals Old Ivanhoe this Sunday.

Lunny has been a well respected and loved member of MOCFC over the past 10 years. Lunny arrived to the club as a skinny, immature 18yo, who quite literally only cared about 3 things, being Richmond FC, KFC AFL SuperCoach and Marcellin OCFC. Not much has changed 10 years on, with exception to his girlfriend Alice, who also shares similar interests.

One thing you always know about Lunny, is that he will always give his all every time he steps on the field. He has always worn his heart on his sleeve, and always bleed for this football club. He was an integral member of the 2014 Under 19s team that made the Division 2 Grand Final (coming top 3 in the B&F), as well as winning the B&F as a 20yo in the 2015 Reserves team that made the Premier C grand final (both falling agonisingly short of tasting the ultimate success).

Whilst making his Senior Debut in Under 19s during the 2014 Season, from 2016 onwards, Lunny began to make his mark as a regular seniors player, and was critical in the clubs Premier C survival during the 2016 Season. Whether playing on the wing or a half back flank, you just knew Lunny would rack up big possession numbers and use the ball efficiently every time he touched it, making him a reliable contributor weak in weak out.

In more recent times, Lunny has found himself in and out of the senior side. As a Senior mainstay during the mid-late 2010s, Lunny could have easily spat the dummy and decided to play Senior football elsewhere. But to his credit, he has remained as loyal and passionate as he was in his early days, and still remained a fantastic contributor. This can be highlighted by Lunny finishing Top 5 in the 2022 Reserves B&F, with playing just over 50% of the total games.

Lunny additionally has really grown as a leader the last few years. He always sets the standard at training and on match-day with his professionalism, and his endeavour to get the best out of himself. This has been rewarded with a Vice Captaincy position in this years Reserve Leadership group. This is a testament to the maturity that Lunny has shown and developed over the years.

As good as Lunny is on the field, I would say he is even better off the field, giving the boys plenty of laughs over the years. During his time at the club, Lunny has some of the funniest off-field stories from nights spent at Club Functions. Some of them can’t be shared on this forum, but I can share a couple of personal highlights.

The first being after the 2015 Reserves Grand Final at the Harp of Erin. Lunny infamously had a few too many frothies to help ease the pain of a devastating loss. To compound the pain of the loss, Lunny ordered a Parma for dinner, which actually never showed up. Serial Club Pest Nick Watty stole Lunnys Parma (unbeknown to Lunny), and by the time Lunny had clued onto Wattys antics, the Harps kitchen had closed. This meant that Watty could only repay Lunny by purchasing a Jug of Draught, which certainly did not help the situation.

The second being a Silly Sunday at the Harp of Erin. Dressed up as an Australian Cricketer (Steve Smith if memory serves me correct), Lunny and the rest of the playing squad had made it into the early hours of the night. Lunny was having a good old time on the dance floor, until Tim Roberts and Serial Pest Nick Watty proceeded to remove Lunnys drawcord from his pants. Lunny was furious, and after close to 15 minutes getting the drawcord back in place, Nick Watty proceeded to remove the drawcord again. Lunnys pants proceeded to fall down and stay down, and suffice to say his time at the Harp that night would come to abrupt ending.

Lunny, it has been an absolute pleasure being apart of your journey at MOCFC the past 10 years. As good as you are a player, you are an even better mate, and I’m honoured to have shared so many great memories both on and off the field. I’m shattered that I won’t be there to watch your 150th on Sunday, but that just means you’ll have to hang around another couple of years so I can watch your 200th.

I know your parents Tim & Louise, siblings Daniel & Mara and girlfriend Alice would all be very proud of what you have achieved on and off the field since being a member of MOCFC. On behalf of everyone at the Club, we wish you all the best in your 150th this Sunday, and what better place to do it, than the Bray Oval. Go well mate.

Joel Cunningham

It is an honour and a privilege today to write about Patrick James Lunn, otherwise known as Petito, Purple Patrick, The Eastlink Oracle or Lunn Porchetta, as he is set to reach the significant milestone of 150 games for the MOCFC.  Patrick is a modest man who I’m sure would want me to keep this brief, though I will endeavour to give his milestone its just desserts, whilst hopefully nestling in some fun along the way.

Patrick Lunn: The Competitor

Anyone who has played football with Patrick before, would know how seriously he takes his footy.  With a lifetime training attendance estimated to be over 96%, he has always been a leader to others on how we should approach our footy.  Patrick in all other areas of his life is without a doubt the most unpunctual person I have ever met.  I have seen the man rock up 2 hours late to events with relative frequency, but he’ll always be on time for one engagement without fail – footy.  He drives standards among his teammates – but always fairly – and without a doubt demands the most from himself.  Part of what makes Patrick such a great footballer is how high a standard he holds himself to with his play, along with his quiet competitiveness in getting the job done for his side.  Occasionally his competitiveness however, has got the better of him.  Early on in his MOCFC career, after suffering a gut-wrenching Grand Final loss, Patrick was understandably a bit flat at the post-game function.  The night unfortunately went from bad to worse for Patrick, as he had his parmigiana unabashedly stolen by a teammate.  When it came time for said teammate to buy Patrick a replacement parma, the kitchen at the Harp had closed.  Patrick hadn’t eaten that day and unfortunately had had his parmigiana replaced with a couple of pints, no doubt contributing to his foul mood.  He later posted an inflammatory comment on the opposition team’s premiership post questioning their dodgy team selection.  He escaped without sanction.

Patrick Lunn: The Teammate

With Patrick being such a high achiever on the football field from a young age, the gulf in our respective abilities has seen us play fewer games together than I would have liked.  Nevertheless, what is obvious to anyone who has played a minute alongside Patrick is how great of a teammate he is.  Patrick is the sort of teammate who’ll notice you’ve had a quiet start to the game and will look laterally to get you that easy touch.  He’s the sort of teammate who’ll know you like to wheel around on your left and will handball to you accordingly.  In fact, Patrick has a savant-like ability to not only recall which foot any player kicks with that he’s either watched or played with, but also in most cases what boots they wear! With his Podiatry background, I can divulge that he has always preferred, and recommends Asics boots himself.  Truthfully, he’s a joy to play alongside, and with the #SafestShoeInTheVAFA, you can always back him in to hit you with a nice drop punt.  

I also need to make mention of his incredible durability.  Patrick’s professionalism and willingness to play through pain has never ceased to amaze, and has sometimes borderline alarmed me.  I recall instances of him playing through dodgy hamstrings, achilles tendon injuries, a broken thumb and countless other injuries that would probably sideline others for weeks.  Once I recall in U/19s Patrick iced and elevated his heel for so long so he could get up for next week I thought he was a frostbite risk. This approach has assisted him in racking up 150 games so quickly having just turned 28, where he was not assisted by losing a season and half to COVID lockdowns as well.  Fun fact: Patrick has actually played 150 of a possible 155 games in his time at Marcellin!  Awesome, reckless, extraordinary – however you categorise Patrick’s preparation – it is no doubt another example of his ongoing commitment to do always do the best thing by the team.

Accolades

• Senior debut in first U/19s season.
• A ridiculous total of 18 times in best in the one season.
• A career high season-goal tally of just the 4 goals.  He is more of a back-half facilitator.

Patrick Lunn: The Man

Finally, a little note on Patrick’s character.  Patrick has always been welcoming and fair to all, it wouldn’t matter if you’d played 200 senior games or it was your first day at the club, you’d just receive the same old Lunny regardless.  Just last week I witnessed him split an Uber with a young player after a function despite the player living a good 20 minutes away and Patrick just living in the next suburb.  He is always placing others’ interests over himself which makes him not just a good teammate, but mate to all.

Lunny, I’m super proud and elated for you in bringing up such a huge milestone in 150 great games for the club this week.  I know you might think at times you’ve lost a yard of zip here and there, but you consistently find ways to impact games for the better so I’m sure there’s still a heap of good footy in those legs yet.  Go well legend!  #Lunn150

Timothy James