Australian Football

Josh Francou was without doubt one of Port Adelaide's most influential and important players during its first decade in the AFL, but his story is ultimately one of heartbreak and tragedy in that he was prevented by injury from contributing to the club's greatest moment to date, the 2004 Grand Final win over Brisbane. 

Francou's calibre was clear right from the outset of his career. He won the Magarey Medal with North Adelaide as a 22-year-old in 1996, and made the transition from SANFL to AFL the next year with a conviction and confidence that made even the sternest Victorian critics sit up and take notice. Always hard at the ball, and typically using it with unerring precision, his status as one of the pre-eminent on-ballers in the game was emphasised with consecutive top three finishes in the Brownlow voting in 2001 and 2002. 

Then the aforementioned tragedy struck in the form of a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in the left knee, sustained at training in January 2004, and Francou had to watch from the sidelines as his team mates surged to September success without him. The 2005 season saw him return to the fray, but he seemed to have lost his edge and at season's end, after 156 AFL games, he opted to retire.

Author - John Devaney