Anyone who keeps a close eye on the SANFL competition, would have likely noticed “the leg sleeve guy” from Central District. 

Now, “the leg sleeve guy” is a Port Adelaide player, and an AFL-listed one at that. 

Two weeks ago, Mani Liddy was a full-time tradie when literally overnight, his dream came true, and his name was called in the mid-season rookie draft. 

“I was an air conditioning mechanic on the tools, five days, or six days a week,” he told club media this week. 

“And then two weeks ago on Wednesday, I was off the tools straight away and straight to the footy club Thursday. And still it hasn't really sunk in. 

“My boss was very understanding. It's a pretty rare scenario. They were more excited for me than anything. I think they were pretty happy to let me go!” 

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It’s been almost a year since Liddy suffered a serious injury during a game for his former club. One which could have seen him lose his leg if he hadn’t acted upon it quickly enough.  

On a cold, rainy day at The Parade in the depths of winter, the then-22-year-old copped a sprig to the knee during a goal-saving tackle.  

The tough ball-winner could have never predicted what would happen next. 

“It put a nice hole in my leg,” he recalled. 

“It was a pretty muddy night, it was the middle of winter. I went down to the rooms at three-quarter-time, got it cleaned out, stitched up, and then went back out and finished the game. I was put on antibiotics the next day, but they weren't strong enough.  

“My knee blew up and by Tuesday, I was in a lot of pain. And then the Wednesday morning, me and mum looked at it, and the redness was going up my leg and I thought ‘this isn't good’. I went straight to emergency.” 

Liddy would spend three days in hospital with sepsis, a serious condition which can develop when the body responds poorly to infection. 

He had his wound flushed out, then underwent surgery to properly check the extent of the damage. 

“I had to sit with my leg straight for 10 days,” he said. 

“I couldn't move it because of how the stitches were. And then I missed five games of footy, played the last two games of finals, but I just wasn't the same. That's when I wore the leg sleeve first.” 

For Liddy, the leg sleeve was born out of necessity, rather than a fashion choice, although a love of NBA encouraged him to take the plunge.  

“I get them from Temu – three for $40! They’re not the best quality but they do the trick. Maybe I need a Skins sponsorship,” he laughed. 

“We tried strapping it and that was way too uncomfortable, because it was rubbing on the back of my leg. I'm a big NBA fan and you see everyone running around with leg sleeves and I was like, ‘I’m just gonna rock it’.  

“Because the skin's really thin (on the scar), whenever I fall on it without the sleeve, it just splits open and bleeds. So I wore it at training, and I fell on it a few times, and I lifted it up to check if it split, and it hadn’t. So it's the best solution, and it's working.  

“It's become a bit of an icon for me. I’m the leg sleeve guy.” 

Despite the traumatic incident, Liddy feels lucky. He was told by specialists the prognosis could have been far worse if he’d left it much longer. 

“If I left it and kept on just doing life, I could have lost it,” he said. 

“You sort of look back at everything, and you're like, I could have lost my leg, so I might as well try to play footy at a pretty high level while I can!” 

Perhaps it was a turning point for Liddy, who spent the off-season improving his fitness and running capability, and then went on to produce some of his best footy in the first half of this year.  

It was enough to turn the heads of Power recruiters, who selected Liddy with their third pick in the recent mid-season draft.  

As a teenager, he was left on the table for two national drafts (2020 and 2021), but maintained faith that an opportunity may still come his way. 

“I didn’t think my time had passed, I just don’t think I was ready back then,” Liddy said. 

“I think my body and my game is ready right now. And I worked pretty hard, and now I am where I am. The first half of the year is the best footy I've ever played, and better to come.” 

The black leg sleeve had its first home game outing at Alberton on Sunday, alongside new teammates and fellow draftees Harry Ramm and Ewan Mackinlay, in a thumping 63-point win for the Magpies. 

Despite admitting he felt out of sorts early, Liddy managed a near best-on-ground performance with 25 disposals, eight clearances and a goal. 

“It was really fun. First half was a little bit hard to get into, just with a new bunch of guys and different game plan, but the second half was really fun and enjoyable, and we had a good run in the last quarter.” 

Full-time footy at a brand new club is a surreal change of lifestyle for the Kersbrook local, but one he’s grabbing with both hands. 

“It still hasn't sunk in yet,” Liddy said. 

“It feels like I'm doing a week of work experience and I should be going back to work soon!”