FAMILY THE BACKBONE OF THE CHAMPION

Originally from country Victoria, Delahunty grew up playing for Minyip-Murtoa. His hometown was a modest population of 800. For him, it meant family was the most important thing in his world. As a result, football became a large part of his life. His parents made sacrifices when he was growing up, sending him to boarding school so he could pursue football.

“When you’re an immature 15/16 year old, and Mum and Dad rock up to school one day saying ‘we’re going to take you two and a half hours down the road because we want to give you an opportunity to explore football,’ it’s daunting. Boarding school was something deep down they couldn’t afford, but they just wanted to give me the best opportunity in life, be that Football or education.’

He said his parents never missed a TAC cup match or a VFL game, where he lined up for Frankston. He added they would always make the trip west after he got to the Lions to see him play on a few occasions throughout each season. If they couldn’t, Delahunty guaranteed they would be near a radio or a TV to tune in. To say they have meant the world to him would be an understatement.

“I speak to Mum and Dad literally every night. After training I’ll be on the phone to Dad to give him a summary of what’s happening, how the week was, how the injury was. There have been some tough times over these past nine seasons. With all the success comes a lot of hard work, disappointment, and injuries. Without a strong backbone like my Mum and Dad, my sister Rachel, my brother Josh and Georgie, I never would have made it through the journey.”

Delahunty continued, saying it could’ve been a very short stay in WA, had it not been for his family.

“It could have been a really short lived journey. To be honest, for the first 12 months, although we had such on-field success, it was a really tough year for me. I was so far away from home. It was because of them, particularly mum and dad, Rach and Josh that kept me motivated to stay another year. And then with their support, I was able to thrive in Perth, not only with Football, but with work and life in general.”