Bristow in VFL ‘Baptism of Fire’ (Paul Amy Article)
Mackenzie Bristow’s VFL debut happened quickly.
So quickly, in fact, that he was selected in Port Melbourne’s team before he had actually signed a contract for the club.
Both occurred last Thursday, and two days later he was taking his place in the Borough side to meet its fierce rival Williamstown under lights at Point Gellibrand.
Talk about a rapid rise for Bristow.
Seven days earlier the 24-year-old was playing for his local club, East Malvern, in the Southern league, lining up against Dingley.
He couldn’t have imagined his next match would be in the VFL’s most enduring and appealing fixture, Port and Willy.
As one Port official observed, Bristow had gone “straight into the Port-Willy pressure cooker’’ for a “baptism of fire’’.
“We just want you to compete,’’ coach Gary Ayres told him before the game, and he did just that as a tall defender.
Bristow gained an appreciation of the Port Melbourne-Williamstown rivalry when Borough great Toby Pinwill addressed the players after training.
“When they went into the history of it, yeah, I thought, ‘This is a huge game to debut in’,’’ he said.
“Pretty crazy, actually.’’
Needing to add some height to an injury-hit squad, Port called Bristow two weeks ago and invited him train.
He was happy to do so but he said he never expected to play so early.
When Ayres announced his selection, “I was stoked, but a bit shocked’’.
“Didn’t think it would come around that quickly, especially against Willy,’’ he said.
“I actually hadn’t signed anything when I was picked. They said, ‘Geez, we better sign you’.’’
Bristow was nervous before the game, but Ayres and his former Gippsland Power teammate Nash Holmes spoke to him about his role and it released a few butterflies from his belly.
“After speaking to them I realised there were no real expectations,’’ he said.
“They just wanted me to go out and do my thing. I felt pretty good really.’’
Playing in defence, he was taken aback by the pace of the game – “It was a hot and obviously a lot quicker than Southern’’ – in the first quarter but felt he adjusted.
“I went OK. I thought I held my own,’’ he said.
“I played on Billy Myers a little bit and Joel Ottavi a little bit.
“It was a good challenge. There was a big crowd down there and all the supporters were going off. It was good fun.’’
Bristow is the son of former Footscray ruckman Neil Bristow, played junior football at Sale and went through the Power in the TAC Cup.
In 2018 he had a stint with his brothers James and Tim at East Fremantle in the WAFL.
He trained at North Melbourne VFL ahead of the 2019 season.
“It’s always been in the back of my mind to have a crack at better footy,’’ he said.
“It was good to finally get it.’’
Injuries have hit the Borough hard early in the season, and it continued in Saturday night when young Jeremy Lucas went down with a knee injury and Tom Cameron hurt his quad.
Ayres pointed out that the team that played Williamstown had 13 players under the age of 22.
Bristow came into the side to help cover the unavailability of former Western Bulldog Fletcher Roberts.
“I don’t reckon he would have played in a hotter game than Saturday night, that’s for sure,’’ Ayres said of his newcomer.
“All we asked him to do – and I know this sounds fairly fundamental – was to compete and plug a hole.’’
Port Melbourne has the bye in Round 4. Ayres said he hoped Patrick Kerr, Tom “Junior’’ O’Sullivan, Declan Watson and Mac Rivett would be available for the Round 5 clash against Coburg.
ARTICLE: Paul Amy.
IMAGE: Sam Wharton.
