Tendai Mzungu (Thanks GC Suns)

hedgehog

Club Legend
Apr 19, 2009
1,248
94
WA
AFL Club
Fremantle
Tendai Mzungu

Height: 182cm
Weight: 80kg
DOB: 28/02/86
Recruited from: Perth (WA)
Bio: Disciplined defender with strong rebounding skills. Regularly pushes through the middle and kicks goals as a half-back flanker. Very good endurance with a well built body. His 14.3 beep test and 3.01 sec 20m highlighted his athleticism. A full-time university student.

In his own words
What type of player are you?

Running half-back with the ability to break the lines. Discipline and stick to my role.
Which AFL player do you feel you resemble, and why?
Greg Broughton. A half-back who reads the play well, good overhead mark and good skills.
What are your strengths as a footballer?
Reading of the play, marking skills, flair, spoiling, kicking both feet, endurance and team orientated.
What parts of your game would you like to improve?
Inside work, speed off the mark, tackles per game, looking to improve on all aspects of my game.

http://www.lions.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/5085/newsid/87090/default.aspx

a_200310sptwafl17-160jkli.jpg
 
Dug up a PDF while looking for info on him - off the Perth Demons website. I remembered reading it earlier in the year, cant recall if its been posted elsewhere.

Tendai Mzungu, almost unrecognisable in 2009 since losing his beloved dreadlocks, has continued to rack up possessions at will while setting up play for the Demons off half back. A definite fan favourite, ‘Muz’ has continued on his fine form from the latter half of 2008 and is an important cog in the Demons machine which is hoping to string some wins together in the second half of the season to make a charge for the Top Four.

Take Five caught up with Tendai over a few glasses of red at the local Vic Park Lawn Bowls club.

Tendai, you’ve certainly found your niche running off half back and setting up many of Perth’s driving attacks over the last two or so years. Are you at a stage now where you are comfortable with your style of play and role in the side?

Was definitely a new experience being thrown down there mid way through last year, but I’ve really enjoyed the challenge of the backline. As a defender my main role is to defend but I’ve been encouraged to run and create when we gain possession, which I think has helped a lot with my progression at league level.

What do you see as the Perth Football Club’s major strengths with regards to its performance on and off the field in recent years and where do you see the club in 3 or 4 years?


I think over the past couple of years we’ve designed a game around our strengths which is based on hard running and quick ball movement. Unfortunately we aren’t blessed with lots of talls like some other clubs, so it is important that we use that speed across the ground as our major weapon. Off the field the club appears to be in good shape. The facilities we have would rival any local club. The future looks bright for the PFC, we have the 2nd tier guys starting to notch up 30-40 games along with a quite a bit of experience at both AFL and WAFL level.

You came across to Perth in 2006 with a number of young team-mates from Trinity Aquinas, some of which have moved on. Are you happy with your decision to come to the Demons and what were you hoping to get out of it when you initially came down?

Early on I must admit I did have my doubts on whether I made the right decision. I missed Trinity/Aquinas and was a bit unsure whether I belonged at this level. I’m rapt that I stayed and am looking forward to playing in some finals in the near future with my best mates.

The secret is out that you are in a competition with Kade Lang regarding your skinfolds (For those playing at home, skinfolds are a measurement of body fat taken at 8 sites all over the body and are a favourite of Matty Barber when it comes to testing time). How is this tracking and can you tell us who is currently winning with the lowest skinfolds?

Yeh we’ve had a battle going on since early in the year. Unfortunately the footy trip to Thailand took its toll on my waistline and Langy pounced by challenging me to a “fat off”. He probably took the honours early but since the New Year I’ve reeled him in before speeding past him. The 2 steak and mushroom pies along with his calorie loaded apple danish directly after recovery probably isn’t helping his cause, but he’s adamant the mushroom in the pie counts towards his 2 fruit and 5 vegies quota per day.

In the summer months, you are a budding cricketer and have recently unveiled yourself as being quite handy when playing Lawn Bowls. Are you content playing Aussie Rules with the Perth Demons or does the lure of being the next cricket superstar to come out of Kent Street still tempt you occasionally?

My cricket is certainly going nowhere fast, although the odd fizzing leg break still troubles even the best top order batsmen, and I don’t mind throwing down a few bowls down at the Vic Park bowls club every now and then. A few of the golden oldies down there took me under their wing and promised me some good match payments if I committed for the year but I think I’ll stick with the Demons for a little while longer.

Jars has a number of nicknames for you, such as ‘Toondas’ or ‘Moondas’. It seems that the name Mzungu is quite hard to pronounce. Can you enlighten us as to the background to one of the most indifferent surnames in the league?

Mzungu is a bit of a tricky one. I tend to struggle with the pronunciation from time to time myself, so I’m not too critical of those who also find it hard. The name stems from Eastern Africa and although most people find it hard to believe it actually means “white person”… Yet another thing I’m trying to get my head around.

You recently participated in the Greatest Shave and managed to raise some money for this great cause earlier in the year. Unfortunately it cost you your beloved dreadlocks. How long had you been growing these infamous locks for and was it a little embarrassing copping comparisons to Tiger Woods and Lewis Hamilton after this from all the boys?

I did cop it from every man and his dog for a while there, but it has died down a tad lately. I had the locks for about 4 or 5 years in the end and was happy to see them go, especially for such a good cause.

Some more on Tendai.


Favourite Food: Apricot chicken
Favourite Drink: Red wine
Night before game meal: Spaghetti Bolognese
Any pre match superstitions: Socks before boots
Most annoying team mate: Kane “Milney” Ransted
Funniest team mate: Eddie Brown
If you had to invite 4 famous people to dinner, who would they be?
Matthew Richardson, Vince Vaughn, Jessica Alba, Homer Simpson
Favourite Andrew Jarman quote
“If you can’t kick you can’t play”
 

PantaloonRazorblade

Team Captain
Aug 15, 2012
429
897
AFL Club
Fremantle
Anyone have any news on my buddy The Gu? I've read through the training reports but haven't been able to find any mention of him. I think he is in for a big year. And yes, I believe that he will hold his spot!
 

jedi mind tricks

Brownlow Medallist
Mar 13, 2011
13,548
12,952
Dream State
AFL Club
Fremantle
Anyone have any news on my buddy The Gu? I've read through the training reports but haven't been able to find any mention of him. I think he is in for a big year. And yes, I believe that he will hold his spot!

He has been running well. As you would expect. He is training well without standing out. Seems ot be running off the half back line during match sims. I'm sure he will be in or abouts by round 1 :).
 

Dockernut

Norm Smith Medallist
Dec 23, 2008
7,381
10,303
Perth
AFL Club
Fremantle
Other Teams
Sharks. Anyone playing West Coast.
Anyone have any news on my buddy The Gu? I've read through the training reports but haven't been able to find any mention of him. I think he is in for a big year. And yes, I believe that he will hold his spot!

I have no doubt - looked good at training when I saw him on Friday. Maybe a little bigger muss-wise. RTB loves his hard-working toilers in amongst his talent. Jones at the Saints is a perfect example. Expect him and DeBoer to keep getting games as long as RTB is in charge.
 

KevinTaylor

Senior List
Dec 20, 2014
237
114
AFL Club
West Coast
Dug up a PDF while looking for info on him - off the Perth Demons website. I remembered reading it earlier in the year, cant recall if its been posted elsewhere.
Geez hes been a good/cheap pickup for you guys.

Any ideas where I can read any other good articles on him? (Particularly his African heritage.)
 
Back