Collingwood Forever

The win was just the seventh of the season for the Black and White, who ended the season in 12th place. Orval’s four goals saw him play a pivotal role in the win, starring alongside Peter Daicos (four goals), Craig Starcevich (four goals) and Matthew Ryan (three goals), while the Copeland Trophy bound Darren Millane kicked two from 35 disposals.

Sadly, that four-goal performance would remain the high water mark of Orval’s senior career, with nasty foot injuries restricting him to just one more senior appearance. For the record, it came in the final round of the 1988 when he kicked a goal in a win over Geelong at Victoria Park.

It was on that afternoon that foot injuries cruelled Orval’s career.

As he explained to The Footy Show Magazine’s John Cooke in 1999, the injury took place early in the opening term.

“I went to turn and ‘bang’ it (his foot) just snapped. All that artificial bone and the bone taken from my hips just snapped… that was the last I saw of the number 10 jumper.”

In the years since his retirement, Orval has remained involved at Collingwood as a board member of the club’s Past Players Association.

More recently, he has risen to Internet fame as ‘Angry Dad’, as his sons Mitchell and Dylan (who was on Collingwood’s VFL list in 2014 after two years as an Adelaide rookie) perform pranks on their father and record them for the world to see.