Ross reaches 150 game milestone with Kangas

Decorated North Albany defender Graham Ross will add another accolade to an already glittering football resume when he runs out to play his 150th league game for the Kangas against Albany at Collingwood Park on Sunday.

Ross will become the first Kangas player to reach the individual milestone since 2006, the same year he won the first of his five league premierships.

After moving to Albany from Jerramungup as a teenager, Ross has been part of a highly successful era at Collingwood Park, where he has played in seven Great Southern Football League grand finals and won five of them.

He played in three of the Kangas’ famous four-peat premiership triumphs from 2005-2008, missing only 2005 when he badly injured an ankle which ruled him out for most of the season, yet he still managed to play in the reserves’ grand final win.

In 2009 ,the reliable defender was awarded the GSFL’s highest individual award, the Kleemann Medal, after a sensational year in the back half, but the Kangas fell to Royals in the decider.

A second grand final loss, this time against Railways in 2013, spurred Ross on as the Kangas bounced back in 2014 before he became a premiership captain last season in their epic win over the Tigers.

Ross missed playing in 2010 and 2011 while he was travelling, but his incredible success in the game continued, winning a premiership for Streaky Bay club West Coast Hawks and then losing a grand final in 2011 in Mildura.

The 30-year-old said he had been privileged to play in a successful Kangas period.

“You never think you are actually going to make it (to 150 games),” he said. “I am lucky to get this far with the success I’ve had. Last year was great (winning) in such a tight season, but the first one in 2006 felt like I could actually contribute to the league side.”

Ross said the losing grand finals were hard to swallow, while the deaths of former teammates Stephen Liddiard and Jukka Guy along with the 2011 car accident of Warrick Proudlove, had been tough moments.

He labelled Leith Edwards, Sam Lehmann and Zak Hortin his toughest opponents during his time and said he had always tried to run off and create from defence.

Wife Jess and six-month-old son Ollie will be there to watch Ross reach the mark and receive life membership for the Kangas.

“The main priority is to get the four points,” he said. “For me, it is another game of footy and I just want to win with my teammates.”