Tara Murray
Hillside star Josh Covelli almost gave football away last year.
The Essendon District Football League division 1 full forward struggled to find the form of the past yeas and the enjoyment that came with football.
Covelli decided to give it one more go.
It would prove to be his best season so far, as he kicked his 100th goal of the season in the Sharks qualifying final loss to West Coburg.
Covelli said he never imagined this would happen.
“It’s pretty exciting, it’s unreal,” he said. “It’s a really special moment as I never thought about kicking 100 goals in the season.”
Covelli said thoughts of kicking 100 first started to creep in at the midway point of the season, when he had 52 goals for the year.
He was able to keep kicking them and fell just two goals short of the milestone in the regular season.
Covelli said it didn’t bother him that he had to wait another week.
“It was only a 16 game season, I knew it would be pretty hard to do it in the regular season,” he said.
“It was nice to have the build up to the moment.”
Covelli kicked one goal in the first quarter before kicking the 100th early in the second. He finished with five goals for the day.
The crowd quickly surrounded Covelli when the special moment happened.
“The club built it up really well,” he said. “The reserves, thirds and fourths were all there.
“My wife and three kids managed to find me which made it more special.”
In kicking the 100th goal, he became the first player since Cameron Cloke did it for Jacana in 2017.
Covelli said he nearly pulled the pin on his playing career last year.
“That makes it even more special,” he said. “The body wasn’t good and I’d had two ankle surgeries.
“I couldn’t get it right and I rushed back. It makes it so much better to be able to do it now.”
Covelli played all his junior football at Moonee Valley.
He gave away the sport for a year as a junior, when he thought he wanted to be a professional tennis player before realising he wasn’t good enough.
Covelli soon returned to football with the Fog. He spent one year playing up at Woorinen in 2015 before returning to the EDFL.
He would move to Burnside Heights in 2017 before making the move to the Sharks in 2022.
Covelli said he wanted to test himself at a higher level when he moved to the Sharks.
“A lot of people said you wouldn’t get a kick and it wouldn’t suit me,” he said. “There were a few messages when I left Burnside… It’s nice to reflect on them.”
While Covelli kicked his 100th, the Sharks fell short against West Coburg.
Covelli said it was a tough loss.
“We felt like we would over run them,” he said. “They did what we wanted to do and we couldn’t get them.”
The Sharks now face St Albans in a knockout semi final on Sunday.
Covelli said they need to play their best football for four quarters.
“We have struggled to do that,” he said. “It’ll be a tough battle and we’ll see what happens.”
