DURING the early 1990s, Mark Tylor was an imposing force in Port Adelaide’s forward line causing headaches for opposition defences and kicking bags of goals.
However, speaking with former skipper Tim Ginever on Port Adelaide’s new vodcast Timmy’s Time Machine, Tylor revealed it wasn’t before an honest assessment from a club legend that he truly realised his potential with the Magpies.
“In ‘91, Tommy Garland (premiership player and Chairman of Selectors at the time) came to me after a game on a Monday night,” Tylor reveal on the premiere episode of Timmy’s Time Machine.
“He told me ‘look mate, we don’t see you playing league football with us again. We’re happy for you to finish out the year but you’ll be playing in the twos.’”
“Which was a big wake up call. A big slap, but probably one I needed.
“I’d been floating along, happy to be a part of it but not happy to be into it and be part of the people that are driving it.”
It was an eye-opening moment for Tylor, who had entered the 1991 season with the hopes of filling the hole left by the departure of Scott Hodges to the Adelaide Crows.
Tylor had played through the junior grades and starred in Port’s reserves, but was yet to lock down a regular place in the club’s senior side.
“Next week I was dropped to the twos and kicked a heap the in reserves,” Tylor recalled.
“Bugger me dead, I went back into the league side and from then on went through and stayed in the league.”
“Got to ’92, had a good pre-season. I had to start taking myself serious so other people took me serious and do the hard yards.
“Choco played the first few weeks at full forward and he kicked a couple, but then an opportunity came – Scotty (Hodges) was at the Crows – I played and it just clicked and I went for it.”
Tylor would go on to claim his first Ken Farmer Medal that season, booting 97 goals before a broken hand sadly saw him miss the Grand Final win over Glenelg.
He’d claim a second with 90 goals in the 1993 season, before moving to defence to accommodate the return of Hodges in 1994 and finally be rewarded with a premiership medallion of his own.
“Probably telling me I wasn’t going to make it back then, I thought ‘I’m just going to go for it,’” he said of earning his place in Port’s league side.
“It was a fantastic next couple of years.”
A new episode of Timmy's Time Machine with a different guest will be posted to Port Adelaide’s social media and website each week.
