It’s 10 years since Paul Medhurst won the ANZAC Day Medal for his six-goal performance against Essendon in 2008.

It’s a further eight years since he last represented the Magpies, also against the Bombers, as it turns out, back in round 20, 2010.

But fan favourites don’t slip from memory easily. In fact, for some, their deeds loom larger as the years pass by.

Medhurst, now 36, still occasionally gets stopped in the street by football fans who can’t help but say his name.

“I wouldn’t say I get stopped in the street too much at all (but) there are mad football people out there, not just Collingwood,” Medhurst told Collingwood Media ahead of the tenth anniversary of his Medal-winning match.

“Now, because it’s been eight years since I finished playing, you often wonder why someone might be staring at you and then they’ll kind of blurt out ‘MEDHURST’,” he smiled.

“It’s nice. You’re brightening someone’s day. You don’t blurt someone’s name out without a smile on your face, so the way I look at it is you’re bringing joy to someone, maybe just because they recognise someone they used to enjoy watching on the field.

“It happens occasionally, and when it does, it’s great.”

The first five years of Medhurst’s nine-year career were spent at Fremantle, before kicking 108 goals in 69 games in the Black and White stripes.

Finishing several months shy of his 29^th birthday, Medhurst travelled overseas before completing his career with a best-on-ground display for his old club, Claremont, in the 2012 WAFL Grand Final.



Paul Medhurst speaks with Collingwood Media, 10 years on from his ANZAC Day Medal-winning performance against Essendon.

He says the years since have been about transitioning into the non-football world. It’s a well-worn path, but that doesn’t make it simple.

“There’s quite a bit written about adjusting to life after footy, and the challenges that come with that. I’m still adjusting, to be honest,” Medhurst reflected.

“All I ever wanted to do from when I could talk was be an AFL footballer, so to reach that goal is incredible, because you know you’re living your dream.

“But when it finishes, it’s like, well, I’m 29 or 30-years-old and I need to find something that I can get excited about and wake up passionate about.

“Being here and being part of it is part of that. It’s still a work in progress. I think you reflect on your life, and footy was a part of your life.”

The ‘here’ and the ‘it’ Medhurst refers to is his new workplace, Beyond Rest, a float tank centre based in Rokeby Street, Collingwood. It’s aimed at helping people find a way to relax and disconnect from the intensity of their day-to-day lives.

“A good friend of mine from Claremont, Nick Dunin, came up with this idea about five years ago in Perth,” Medhurst explains.

“I got involved in it, because when I came to Collingwood, my life direction took a little bit of a change. I started to look at ways I could get involved in more productive things with my time – not just footy and Play Station and other things that you do at that time.

“I started to meditate and to look into mind-body connection, in terms of the way I was feeling mentally and emotionally, and how that was affecting my football, my relationships with people and how that was all impacting my body and my profession. That momentum carried on when I finished footy.



A look inside Medhurst's workplace at Beyond Rest. Photo: Collingwood Media.

“Now, a lot of what I learned in footy why I am involved in this float centre. I think it’s really important for work-life balance and body-mind balance, which is so important, and often you only realise it when you’re out of balance because you’re sick or hate what you’re doing.

“We provide the float tanks to give people an opportunity to come in and check in with themselves and see how they’re feeling, and then go back out to normal life and integrate the rest they have had and take it with them.

“This is part of my transition out of footy and finding things that I am excited about, such as this area and this centre.”

Medhurst remains in touch with several friends from his Collingwood days, including former forward teammate Chris Dawes.

“I was chatting to ‘Dawesy’ only a few weeks ago.

“He was saying ‘remember that pass you took when you played on near the 50m and squared it to me in the Elimination Final over in Adelaide in ‘08?’, and I do remember it. You do remember those things.

“There was definitely a feeling that something was building after ’07 (when the Magpies lost an epic Preliminary Final against Geelong).

“I think we were really lucky at the club at the time to have Dale Thomas – I loved watching him play, he was in his absolute prime – Alan Didak, Leon Davis, Heath Shaw, just real personalities. It really felt like there was some colour and excitement on and off the field, which you really need. It was a great time to be at the club.”



Paul Medhurst celebrates with Tarkyn Lockyer, Heritier Lumumba and Dale Thomas after Collingwood's upset win over Adelaide in the 2008 Elimination Final at AAMI Stadium.

Medhurst, of course, finished his career in 2010. His final match, in round 20, was just six games prior to the famous premiership victory over St Kilda. He, like many other experienced senior stars, missed the flag by a whisker.

“We were clearly building towards something. I didn’t know how soon it would happen, but was a fantastic time to be at the club.

“It was a time of growth for myself, personally, to be at a club when it wins and premiership and to not be a part of it. There’s a lot of reflection that goes on with that.

“I didn’t play football to win a flag. I played football because I loved playing football. But in retrospect, would I want to be part of that team, of course.

“It’s just a learning process. We learn about life.”