The former Geelong and Sydney AFL star shares a common bond with the South East Melbourne NBL sharpshooter, equal parts devastating and triumphant.<\/p>\n
Two elite athletes, seven devastating, life-altering knee injuries.<\/p>\n
Menzel booted 143 goals across 80 games, spanning nine seasons from 2010-19. During a final in September 2011, his knee gave out.<\/p>\n
It would be 1450 days before he played another AFL game \u2013 superhuman resilience to fight back from four ruptured<\/a> ACL\u2019s.<\/p>\n Glover, the freak athlete from Wollongong, was a teen on the path to the NBA when he was dealt the first of three cruel blows \u2013 Two before his 20th birthday.<\/p>\n The second struck in 2019, days before one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the world, the Nike Hoops Summit.<\/p>\n Ask most specialists and they\u2019d tell you neither had any business being back on a professional sport stage. Menzel\u2019s had the LARS graft in, then out, then in again.<\/p>\n Glover sprints up and down the court with his dad\u2019s hamstring masquerading as his left anterior cruciate ligament.<\/p>\n What some deem impossible is always possible, in Menzel\u2019s eyes \u2013 and that possible becoming reality is the real kicker that can change others\u2019 lives.<\/p>\n \u201cOne of the best things with Gus\u2019s story is not just that he was able to overcome these injuries, in his case three of them, but to actually play and perform at the level he is at and to reach a milestone like that,\u201d Menzel, whose business Mental Toughness, Mental Fortitude, helps athletes of all levels navigate serious injury,<\/a> said.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of people have the challenge and the doubt of if they\u2019ll ever even return to playing.<\/p>\n \u201cThen it\u2019s \u2018can you perform at that level?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cTo have someone like Gussy, who\u2019s done it and can actually show that, that\u2019s what really gives hope for other players and other individuals that do go through these setbacks.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a constant mental battle. So to be able to have the continuity that he has had and the consistency over a long period of time, these are the stories that I absolutely love.\u201d<\/p>\n After Glover\u2019s third reconstruction, in 2021 while he was at Illawarra, a text arrived on his phone from an unfamiliar number.<\/p>\n It was Menzel.<\/p>\n \u201cJust the fact he reached out when he didn\u2019t have to is enough for me,\u201d Glover told this masthead.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat he\u2019d come back from, to hear that, that gives you hope and it shows you what is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n Menzel\u2019s gesture came years after Aussie coaching doyen Rob Beveridge had connected Glover with seven-time NBL defensive player of the year Damian Martin.<\/p>\n As a teen, Martin \u2013 whose DNA is evident in the way Glover plays and carries himself \u2013 had ruptured his Achilles, then, in his NBL rookie season, wrecked his knee. The two struck up a relationship as Martin became a sounding board for the youngster over many years.<\/p>\n He distinctly remembers his sunken heart when learning of Glover\u2019s third ACL rupture, getting straight on the phone to talk basketball, mindset and resilience as his protege faced another long path back.<\/p>\n \u201cThe last thing most youngsters would want to do is take phone calls with someone to talk about the injuries they\u2019ve just gone through,\u201d Martin said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis 200 should be celebrated like anyone\u2019s playing 400.\u201d<\/p>\n Martin\u2019s kindness, Menzel\u2019s out-of-the-blue message and the countless people who gave of themselves to Glover during his hardest times are the impetus of a chain reaction.<\/p>\n He needed people like them to help him navigate the brutal mental and physical journey back to health.<\/p>\n Now, he is becoming that person for others.<\/p>\n Sometimes, it is a parent whose teenager has just ruptured an ACL. Sometimes it\u2019s someone trying to navigate their own rehabilitation. Between training, games and airport departures, Glover tries to make time for them all.<\/p>\n \u201cIt would be a disservice of me to not reply or reach out back because I was in their shoes once,\u201d Glover said.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve started to do some public speaking regarding my journey and trying to inspire others to overcome adversity.<\/p>\n \u201cMy story is obviously through the basketball route and sport route, but you can use that story in so many different ways.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s something I\u2019m going to deep dive more into hopefully when I\u2019m towards the end of my career and when I finish.\u201d<\/p>\n Using his story to help others doesn\u2019t mean he wants his career defined by it.<\/p>\n There\u2019s another aspect to Glover\u2019s journey, far less told.<\/p>\n Martin remembers a young Glover blowing by defenders like they were parking cones and dunking on opponents with ease.<\/p>\n He\u2019s still athletic, but his weapon of choice comes further away from the basket, the fiery red-head admitting it\u2019s unlikely he\u2019d be one of the best three-point shooters in the country, had he not suffered through those knee injuries.<\/p>\n Unable to do much on the court during rehab, Glover would just sit on a chair and shoot, working on his form, learning his body and mechanics.<\/p>\n The past two seasons have been Glover\u2019s best basketball. A role player for most of his career, the 194cm two-way swingman is now a key cog for the Phoenix, leading the team in plus-minus.<\/p>\n And yet, He remains unsatisfied.<\/p>\n Makes sense \u2013 three knee reconstructions couldn\u2019t stop him from coming back, now he wants to make the most of it \u2014 just as Menzel did, years<\/a> before.<\/p>\n \u201cI got drafted as an 18-year-old to the Geelong Cats and, played three games my first year, played 18 my second year as a 19-year-old but, in my first final for the Cats I tore my ACL,\u201d Menzel, now 35 and still running around in local footy, remembers.<\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t play an AFL game for 1450 days after that, subsequently did three more ACLs, did four in total and so basically from the age of 19 to 23, didn\u2019t play and had real struggles physically and much more mentally.<\/p>\n \u201cI had to put my career on hold but, post my four ACL reconstructions, similar to Gussy\u2019s story, I played another 58 games.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was an absolute a grind but there\u2019s also the perspective around that, to be able to play some reasonable football in that time is something that I definitely look for in others who have gone through similar situations.\u201d<\/p>\n