Resumes don’t come much longer than that of celebrated Morningside Panther Nathan ‘Kinchy’ Kinch, nor do accolades come more glowing from those around him.
The collection of awards is impressive, a Grogan medal, three premierships, three Morningside best and fairest wins and numerous appearances for Queensland. Trying to get him to elaborate on the subject is an impossibility though; Kinchy’s a team oriented guy, through and through.
“I don’t really look to much into that, I just go about my business and do what I’ve got to do,” said Kinch.
“It’s the mateship that you get out of footy that I take with me the most.
“The best and fairests at Morningside are probably the ones that hang out in my mind more, because it’s the club environment.”
‘Kinchy’ played mostly as a midfielder as a Coorparoo junior, and credits former Morningside senior coach John Blair with the move to switch Nathan to half back.
“John Blair was the one that sort of pointed me in the right direction. He’s my first senior coach and he coached me for a good few years,” said Kinch.
From a playing perspective, support was also around in the form of many different teammates, among them Nick Clarke and Kent Abbey.
“Definitely those two blokes, they’re the ones that sort of took me in. Nothing was ever a hassle for them,” said Kinch.
“Nothing was ever too much for them, they were happy to go of their own way to help you out.”
There’s a good reason as to why Kinch values his Morningside achievements above any of his others; he loves the club environment.
“It’s the same place mate, for years and years, the culture of the place has just been second to none,” said Kinch.
“I think that’s why the club has so many milestone players, because it’s sole focus is developing the juniors to come through and ultimately play senior football.”
It’s a good thing Kinchy values mateship in footy, because there’ll be plenty of that around when he runs out for his 200th at Jack Esplen Oval on Saturday, to take on the Gorillas.
By Sean Melrose
Follow @seanmelrose
