HE IS one of the most respected and popular players in the competition – and a genuine nice guy.

That is, unless you happen to be the poor bloke he stands alongside at the start of any game against the Casey Demons, because then you know you are in for a nightmare afternoon.

His name is Jimmy “Moose” Munro and last weekend was a celebration of one of the modern-day greats of the Smithy’s VFL, when played his 150^th game at the State league level, fittingly against his original club, Sandringham, at his original home ground in Wilson Storage Trevor Barker Beach Oval.

Munro’s Demons duly celebrated his big day with a comfortable 34-point victory over the Zebras that could only have been better if the man himself had been able to take one of his three goalkicking opportunities – two early on and the last one of the day – and been able to go for a gallop around the forward line with his hands on his head in the now-trademark moose antlers signal.

He finished with 18 disposals, nine tackles and those three behinds, and even after 10 seasons of VFL footy he is still in prime form, averaging a career-best 22.6 disposals and 9.9 tackles as one of the fiercest attackers of the contest we have seen in the modern era – all while juggling a shiftwork career as a paramedic.

His 128 matches for Casey and 22 for Sandringham has yielded two VFL Team of the Year selections (2019, 2021), the past three Demon best-and-fairest Gardner-Clark Medals while being vice-captain to his great mate Mitch White, and the long-coveted 2022 premiership after two previous Grand Final heartbreaks.

It’s a career Munro is extremely proud of and one he will remember with great fondness, having started with low expectations when he stepped up from Sandringham Dragons to the Zebras in 2013.

“Most people who start playing VFL will tell you they just want to earn themselves a game or two,” he told the VFL State of Play podcast before his milestone match last week.

“The next thing you know you look back and there’s a lifetime of memories … it’s been an extraordinary time playing and there’s certainly nothing I would change about it.

“I remember (my first game) fondly, it was at Trevor Barker Oval and I was playing for Sandringham as a 19-year-old and I remember thinking it was going to be an amazing experience – it was bloody good but we ended up getting thumped by about 130 points by Geelong.

“I remember at one stage playing on (Taylor) Hunt for Geelong and I think his arms were three times the size of my legs so it was a pretty quick wake up call to let me know what I needed to do to be better prepared.”

Munro said he loved his two seasons at Sandringham and it was the hardest decision of his career to make the move across to Casey Fields, and the Demons (then Scorpions) will forever be grateful to their former coach Justin Plapp (now with Williamstown) for him making that decision.

“I don’t remember it (the move) being something I took lightly at all – (Sandringham was) a great place to play footy, but when I played under-18 footy at Sandringham my coach was Justin Plapp.

“I was pretty new to footy and he spent a lot of time with me in development and extra skills and knowledge sessions … when he got the opportunity at Casey I was one of the first people he called – he says – and I thought to go and learn for another year or two under his coaching would benefit my own football.

“(The decision) was actually quite easy in itself, but leaving the boys at Sandy was certainly a tough one.”

Like most footballers, their whole career is geared towards winning a premiership, and to finally do it last year alongside one of his best mates in White is something Munro will remember forever, obviously rating it much higher than his three Gardiner-Clark Medals.

“The premiership was unbelievable, even thinking back on it now, Whitey and I often reflect over a couple of beers about how good a time it was and certainly it’s been a huge catalyst for why we came back (this year), to give ourselves another opportunity to play some more finals footy and see where we go from there,” he said.

“The B&F is a great award to win but the old cliché is you play for team success and that premiership was more than enough for me.”

And how much longer will we see the Moose gracing VFL grounds and terrorising opposition midfielders?

“I’m actually not sure at this stage,” he said.

“If you talk to my wife she’ll say I’ve got another 10 years in me so we’ll see where that goes, but I’m very well supported at work and I need to give a shoutout to my team manager in the ambos, who has gone above and beyond to work my shifts out so I’ve been able to play.

“I love the balance of playing footy and shift work with a bit of golf on the side and spending some time with my wife … that will be more than enough for me.”