“Pretty amazing” is how Matt Konetschka described his AFL journey to date, before taking the field for his 150thAFL game at the Adelaide v Gold Coast Suns game on Sunday 21 April 2019.
Matt acknowledges that in order to umpire 150 games, you need an amazing network of support off field. These include our families who give us the time, coaching and fitness staff, physios, other umpires to get you through the cold winter training nights.
Matt’s career highlight to date was umpiring the 2017 AFL Grand Final with memorable games including the ANZAC Day clash in 2014 and the first showdown at the redeveloped Adelaide Oval early in the 2014 season with Port Adelaide defeating Adelaide by 55 points.
Being able to play a part in the game he loves is what motivates Matt each week. He enjoys the hard work with the amount of running required each week, which is challenging but very rewarding, especially when you walk off the ground after a good game.
Matt admits he does possess some weird routines in preparing for each match, which have now become habits, most of which resolved around food. Salmon 2 nights before, pasta the night before and a chicken sandwich on game day.
Something that most people wouldn’t know about Matt was that he played table tennis through high school and went to China for a month of training which involved 8 hours a day for 6 days a week on the table. He admits it’s no surprise the Chinese dominate this sport!
Congratulations Matt on another fantastic milestone!
Article written by: AFLUA Marketing and Communications Coordinator, Peter Kelly