Bush and ‘Burbs: Fremantle Dockers legend David Mundy reveals why he chose to play for Dunsborough Sharks

Fremantle legend David Mundy has revealed why he chose to play for Dunsborough later this year, despite harbouring no intentions of returning to the game when he retired last year. Mundy played the last of his 376 games for the Dockers in their semifinal defeat to Collingwood last year and says playing another season held no appeal for him. But the “romantic” prospect of featuring in Dunsborough’s first ever season in the South West Football League — a part of the world he spends as much time as possible — was too good to pass up. The 37-year-old will play for the Sharks in their June 11 home game against the Eaton Boomers as part of the league’s Think Mental Health round, but hasn’t ruled out extending his stint. The club are hopeful of smashing the league’s home-and-away attendance record of 1600 for the clash. “I’m a bit nervous about having to get a kick now, with a bit of hype around it,” he said. “It came a bit out of the blue, it wasn’t something I’d thought a lot about but spend a lot of time in the South West and know a few people down there so I think it all started as a bit of a joke and then it got some legs pretty quickly and got serious. “I had abandoned that (playing) to be honest, especially in a full-time season arrangement. “Just the romantic idea of it being their first season in the South West footy league and me being able to be a part of that history, has a few ties for me. “I can’t wait to get down there.” While Mundy said he had queried the club on how many games were needed to play finals, he won’t be committing to a full season any time soon — at least not on a football field. “I’d love to play a couple, I actually flagged that when they first asked me about it,” he said. “I decided many, many years ago that when I finished I wouldn’t play football again in terms of committing to a season, because I’ve been doing it since I was six and wanted to try something new. “I played a little bit of hockey with some mates before Christmas last year and I was really looking forward to jumping into a hockey season this winter but just with work and everything that was going to be a bit ad-hoc as well.” Mundy will play alongside former western derby rival Pat McGinnity when he hits the South West and revealed long-time teammate Hayden Ballantyne had a cheeky sledge for the ex-Eagles defender. Another former Eagle, premiership player Chris Masten, could also feature after being cleared to Dunsborough this week. “I mentioned to Hayden Ballantyne who I ran into last week that I was playing at Dunsborough and Pat was down there and he asked me to remind him that he kicked six on him in a derby once,” Mundy joked. Dunsborough plays its first ever SWFL game against Donnybrook on Sunday.