Sport
4 July, 2025
Natte Bealiba’s Trent Mortlock set to play his 400th game against Navarre
Natte Bealiba club legend Trent Mortlock has reached a significant milestone in his already storied career in red and white, set to play his 400th game for the club this Saturday.
The Mortlock family has been a staple around Natte Bealiba for generations, and Trent has been no exception since he first put on a Swans jumper in the under 14s when Natte was still in the Lexton Plains Football League.
His resume speaks for itself — multiple junior club best and fairest, countless junior interleague selections, MCDFNL leading goal-kicker in 2017 and two-time senior premiership player, first in 2019 and then in 2024 when he was also coach.
After nearly two decades and 399 games at his boyhood club, Mortlock said there are plenty of fond memories as a key member of the Swans.
“I’m happy that I have spent all my time here playing in two premierships, all my junior footy, a lot of finals series with the seniors and I’ve made a lot of good friends,” he said.
“I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else, it’s like a second home virtually, I’ve spent a lot of time here over the years and still do.
“Coaching a premiership was pretty special last year, obviously 2019 when we won, even watching the under 11 boys when they won back to back in 2022 and 2023 was pretty cool too.”
Even after some tremendous campaigns, Mortlock is arguably having his best season yet in 2025, a constant nightmare for opposing defenders with 40 goals in just nine matches this season.
While he has continued his astonishing impact on the field, Mortlock somehow matches his contributions off the field, assisting in various roles.
Alongside his role as football director which includes being senior coach, Mortlock is also the club’s social media manager, merchandise organiser and leads player registration and sponsorships.
According to Natte Bealiba president Ben Williams, Mortlock’s dedication to assisting in any way he can makes him “indispensable”.
“The club is largely successful because of people like Trent, the importance of him to this club can’t be overstated,” he said.
“He will take it on himself to organise things, when we had Dane Swan out last year, Trent organised that. I’m sure it helped that he’s a Collingwood fanatic, but he just does things like that and helps raise money for the club.
“There’s a board in the clubrooms with life members on it, and not discounting what previous life members have done because you have to dedicate a large portion of your life to get it, there’s no question he’s a future life member, he’s done enough already in his 20’s.
“To have someone like that who’s achieved so much in a relatively short timeframe is amazing, in short of being club president he’s done everything else.
“Every club would be lucky to have people like Trent, we would have to get a lot of people on board if he decided to step back from all these roles.”
According to Mortlock, the reason he volunteers is simple, to ensure the next generation has the chance to play for his beloved Swans.
“I want to see the young kids come into a strong senior side and hopefully play finals and be lucky enough to play in grand finals,” he said.
“When I grew up as a junior, I loved to watch the senior players like Stephen Ross and Brent Mortlock and I feel like the kids now have that same connection with Jai Howell and Austin McKenzie.
“It’s a very family-oriented club and I think it’s a great culture and people enjoy their time at Natte Bealiba.
“That’s the main thing, you want people enjoying their football and netball and I think we create an environment where people can do that.”
Mortlock’s 400th game will be up against a familiar foe, as the Swans travel to Navarre to take on their old Lexton League rivals.
Mortlock said he hasn’t given much thought to his milestone moment, more focused on getting a big win against a fellow finals contender.
“I played my 350th against Navarre a few years ago, they are old rivals and someone we love to get the better of so it should be good fun,” he said.
“At the end of the day, it’s just another game, and hopefully there will be plenty more.”