Dukes of depth - Saturday 22 July 2000
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For some footballers their careers end before they start. The music stops
after the intro. It's not the unfinished symphony so much as the score
never being written. Add to this a delay in joining AFL ranks. All roads
lead to one name. David Ugrinic.
Geelong members and supporters and sponsors had reason to be excited about a wingman that Blighty recommended so enthusiastically. Reports filtered back that at Woodville-West Torrens this guy was a Shostakovich of the Sherrin, a Mozart with the Match II. The story went that he was tall, highly skilled and super quick. The Cats drafted Uginic with with their first pick at number 13 in the 1993 national draft. Yet the SANFL star was reluctant to shift to Geelong because he wanted to complete his tertiary studies in Adelaide. On the one hand you had to admire a bloke that placed such a prioity on his studies. On the other hand there was heightened expectation. The blue and white faithful assumed that he would be literally a clever player. Uginic continued to play in the SANFL. His name often appeared among the combine's best in interstate results published by the footy press. Then you wouldn't see his name for a month or so. But the consensus was that when he did arrive, DU would be a ray of light through the dark clouds of disappointment in grand finals. The youngster shifted to Geelong at the end of 1995. He brought over the border some kind of hip injury that restricted his pre season. But when he ran laps, Cats fans perceived a Caruso of Kardinia. David Ugrinic was allocated the number 35 jumper made famous by Bill Goggin and Robert Neal and Richard Umbers. The new Cat took time to pick up the beat of AFL footy. He played a quarter in a 1996 Ansett Cup match. He ran in straight lines and gave some handpasses. As the season progressed, Ugrinic consolidated in the reserves. Yet he had a horrendous series of injuries that started with hamstrings tight as the catgut of a Stradivarius. The old hip injury returned with the frequency of a Carmen production. The poor fella haunted the club medical room. Probably knew how many holes in each cork tile on the ceiling. His first season amounted to a car in a wrecker's yard - a total write off. Then illness in his family caused Ugrinic to return to Adelaide. He remained there for several months. When he came back to Geelong for 1997, he played a solid brand of footy in the twos. Just as he was pressing for senior selection, he wrenched his knee tackling a St Kilda opponent. It was as though the song wasn't going to get past the title of 'The Shape I'm In'. David Ugrinic spent another year at Geelong. He was unable to forza his way into the seniors. But he was more than handy in the reserves. When on song, his special talents were his pace and his shepherding and blocking. The complete team player. The U boy was released at the end of 1998 without a senior game to his credit. He recorded 35 starts in the rezzies. Then in late '98, Ugrinic headed to the Bellarine Peninsula for a day of fishing. As he was walking towards a beach to throw a line off some rocks, he slipped down a cliff and severely injured his neck. Finito la musica in Victoria. |
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