In the late 50s, Australian singer-songwriter Geoff Mack flexed that there was nowhere he and his guitar hadn’t been.
While born and raised in Melbourne’s leafy east, the oft-forgotten country star told the world of his treks through Darwin, Gin Gin, Deniliquin, Muckadilla
Wallumbilla, Boggabilla and Kumbarilla, just to name a few.
Mack’s journey would eventually end on the Gold Coast, passing after 94 laps around the sun in 2017. Yet, some four years later, just down the Scenic Rim, footy’s answer to the travelling troubadour plonked down his well-weathered swag.
Although only AFL level, the tide turned on Friday night after Fort announced himself under the game’s brightest lights.
Despite pipping Richmond at the post last Thursday to commence a thrilling first week of finals, Brisbane made their voyage south to face reigning premiers Melbourne sans their match-winning forward,
On a night where Berry combined to dampen the Redleg’s star redhead, Gawn and
However, the 204cm journeyman with the patchy beard eventually wrangled the man who spruiks trimmers on primetime TV, keeping Gawn to just seven further touches for the remainder of the night.
But what was the message delivered to Fort from the fatherly
Simple; just feed those at his feet.
“For me, it’s just about trying to play my role and get the ball to ground and just try and follow up,” Fort told Zero Hanger amongst the chaos of the Lions’ victorious rooms.
“I just needed to make it a contest and let the guys who we’ve got there like Lachie (Neale) and that go to work. They did a great job.
“I just try to take it contest by contest. Once the ball is on the ground, we’ve got great mids and great guys around the ball who have proven they can do the job.”
While humble to a tee, it proved tough to wipe the smile from Fort’s dial, with the unsung hero feeling the love from each and every soul basking in Brisbane’s stellar win.
And although unwilling to toot his own horn, Fagan jumped at the chance to pay his praises as the dust settled on the satisfying smash and grab.
When quizzed about whether there were any specific mechanics employed to bring Gawn and Jackson down to size, the bespectacled steward opened up his playbook.
“There was nothing special there, that was just
“He’s a man of great character, and against all odds tonight, I thought he battled really well and gave us the contest we needed.”
For Fort, going about his role quietly has proven fine in the past. But even the understated have rights to exclamation points, with the curly-haired cult hero’s coming in the shadows of three-quarter time as his set shot from range pierced the Punt Road sticks.
“It felt pretty good,” Fort said through a chuckle.
“I’m not sure I had it in me when I was walking in, but I flushed it alright, and it went through.”
Although endearing, Fort’s modesty will be seen as false to those who have watched him fledge over the years.
While the notion of big men being bad set shots has become concrete lore, for those with a finger on the pulse, or an eye on the stats sheet, Fort’s mammoth major is far from an anomaly, with the behemoth having slotted 15.1 across the course of his 26 games at the level.
Those with longer memories will recall Fort’s debut in May of 2019, an evening that ended with the mature-aged recruit slotting three-straight down at Kardinia Park.
September has always been a month where threads are woven into rich tapestries as the eyes of followers watch on in awe. Narratives, both good and bad, lie at the heart of our indigenous game, with redemptive arcs hailed and unlikely heroes often forged in fire.
Although winning has always been the name of the Australian game, tales of grit and glory become embossed when an element of revenge is stirred into the mold.
While VFL and SANFL whistlestops were made along his path to the elite level, Brisbane’s preliminary final will take on extra meaning for the ruckman given the Lions’ opponents, Geelong, rank among Fort’s fleet of former teams.
Having spent three seasons in the supporting cast at the Cattery, the Geelong native is more than familiar with his latest foe. But after being punted by Geelong at the trade table last season, Fort will have more fuel than most on Fagan’s roster.
Next Friday, Brisbane will again be asked to travel to the MCG for a do-or-die date. And again, they will do so as the bookmaker’s outsiders.
But at a time when others would be calling on bottled disdain and dismay, Fort pressed a team-first approach to Brisbane’s upcoming battle, one that may, sadly, prove prophetic.
“It’s exciting for the team,” Fort professed.
“They’re obviously a great squad and have had a great year. They got us earlier in the year, but I think we’re full of confidence at the minute. We’ll go and have a look at them and do what we can to come back here and have a win.”
Despite his semi-final heroics earning him acclaim from all and sundry, the life of a backup ruckman is a fickle one, with Fort no certainty to see his magnet on Fagan’s whiteboard.
With Brisbane’s preferred big man, Stanley and
Throughout his 2022 campaign, Fort has donned a maroon, blue and gold guernsey on 18 occasions, spending an average of 71 per cent of each game on the ground.
These opportunities to shine in the Sunshine State arose earlier this season in Daniher back from his dash to the maternity ward and McInerney primed and ready, it may well be a case of last picked, first out for Fort.
However, if the dreaded tap on his shoulders comes, Fort’s fresh scalp claimed against his far more heralded opponent will be proof enough that no stage is too big, or too small.
As a civil engineer by trade, Fort is sure to understand the lay of most lands.
And as a journeyman who has played for a plethora of sides along the way, he will have seen much of this terrain firsthand.
But as a career understudy, there will be few in footy circles better versed and keeping themselves ready for when a more welcome tap on the shoulders inevitably arrives.