NORTH Melbourne rookie Ben Cunnington had a special interest in the under 18 contest at Bushfield Oval last Saturday and his younger brother Sam didn’t disappoint. Ben’s mid-season AFL break gave him a rare opportunity to see his 16-year-old sibling in action for Cobden against North Warrnambool Eagles. Sam was named Cobden’s second-best player in a narrow loss for his contribution on the ball and at centre half-back. He also showed the type of courage which led to his brother re-arranging his facial features against Port Adelaide, running with the flight of the ball towards his team’s attacking 50-metre arc — oblivious to three oncoming players — to attempt a mark Jonathan Brown would be proud of. “It’s the first game I’ve seen him play (this season) and he played well,” Ben said.
THERE was another high-profile Kangaroo at Bushfield for the North Warrnambool Eagles-Cobden match but it had nothing to do with Ben Cunnington’s attendance. North Melbourne assistant coach Brett Allison chose the match at random during a visit to Warrnambool, blissfully unaware of Cunnington’s earlier presence for the under 18 contest. Allison, who is responsible for North Melbourne’s forwards, explained his wife Neita (nee McKenzie) is a former Warrnambool girl and the couple were in town during the AFL mid-season break to see her family. Allison did a good job of remaining incognito, mingling with spectators in front of the change rooms, before being identified by a Cobden reserves player at half-time. The former North Melbourne forward spoke highly of Cunnington’s contribution in his first AFL season. A young player involved in Saturday’s match also caught his eye in the first half — North Warrnambool Eagles defender Tom Batten, who is having a break-out season.
LAST week’s atrocious conditions would have had uniform washers cringing. Panmure Recreation Reserve was the worst ground of the matches which The Standard covered photographically, proved by several Bulldogs and Russells Creek players being so covered in mud that they could not be identified by spectators. Some footballers even tackled their teammate. The ball was also grimy, as one runner at Panmure noticed. A Bulldogs player marked in the 50-metre arc, then as he was walking back to line-up for his shot, threw the ball to the runner. The runner gave the ball a wipedown with a towel for at least five seconds, then returned the footy to the forward. But who needs a towel when you can use a teammate? Koroit coach Joe McLaren chose to get rid of some of the dirt on his hands at the huddle by wiping them on young Levi Geebung’s jumper. Or maybe McLaren’s actions were actually some marking advice for the under 18 player....
STILL on mud, the Hampden Schoolboys could not get enough of it on Wednesday. After winning their final match to claim the division two state under 15 championship, the boys completed a mudslide on Central Reserve in Glen Waverley. Hampden region development manager Alan Thompson said the boys got to keep their uniforms after the carnival — something he was pleased about seeing how dirty their shorts were. Thompson believed with three straight titles to its name, Hampden was a chance of being promoted to division one at next year’s championships.
THE victorious Hampden Schoolboys side was treated to a tour of North Melbourne’s redeveloped facilities at Arden Street on Wednesday morning. The youngsters’ visit was thanks to former schoolboys representative and now Kangaroo Ben Cunnington. He chatted to the aspiring footballers, who gave the former Cobden player a surprise when they belted out Happy Birthday as he turned 19 on Wednesday. Hampden coach Peter Banks said Hawthorn footballer Luke Hodge also visited the side during this week’s championships. “The boys were just in awe of him,” Banks said. “You could hear a pin drop for around an hour. He spoke to them about coming from the country to playing AFL footy.”
WHEN he’s not contesting ironman triathlons, Marty McDonald makes a super fit reserves footballer for Cobden. He clocked up his 100th game for the Bombers in round 11, earning a banner for his loyalty. Cobden also ensured it was a game to remember, winning 20.16 (136) to 5.6 (36).
HAWKESDALE-MACA RTHUR Football Club welcomed a special guest to its training last night. Former AFL player Dean Rice took the junior and senior training at Macarthur Recreation Reserve. Rice is still heavily involved in football, working as the VCFL’s training and education manager. The 42-year-old’s career spanned 234 AFL games — 116 with St Kilda and 118 with Carlton. His stint at the Blues included being involved in the 1995 premiership , a year he was able to add some bite to Carlton’s half-forward line after returning from a knee injury. Eagles president Peter Neild said Rice’s visit was through Landmark’s sponsorship of both Hawkesdale-Macarthur and the VCFL. “They contacted us so we decided to go along with it and bring the Auskick kids and the juniors into it,” he said.
JUST over a month ago Western Bulldogs’ Jason Akermanis was a walking headline after his controversial comments suggesting gay footballers should stay in the closet. Following the news he was going to attend Kolora-Noorat’s training session last night, The Standard was looking forward to chatting with the colourful character. Despite the outspoken star’s reported self-imposed three-week media ban being finished, unfortunately he was unavailable for an interview.
FORMER South Warrnambool footballer and current Brisbane Lions captain Jonathan Brown has never been one to mince his words. On Wednesday night, Australian Associated Press (AAP) reported on Brown’s reaction to rumours that he and fellow Lions forward Brendan Fevola had a punch-up. AAP reported that Brown claimed unsubstantiated rumours being spread about Fevola and himself were designed to damage the AFL club. Brown angrily denied there was any fact in a story spread in AFL circles that himself and Fevola fought at a team barbecue, after the former Carlton spearhead made inappropriate comments to a teammate’s girlfriend. “People always say where there’s smoke there’s fire,” Brown told the Nine Network’s AFL Footy Show. “I can guarantee there’s no fire and there’s no smoke coming out of my place, because if I’d have whacked Fev or we’d punched on, it wouldn’t have taken 10 days for it to get out, that’s for sure. It’s just an absolute crock of shit and we’ve obviously had enough of all of the stories. There’s been plenty of those stories this year and obviously a bit’s been connected with Fev. We know there’s parties out there that are no doubt trying to bring the footy club down and bring Fev down.” Brown said it was pointless trying to track down the source of the story and there had been no issue between Fevola and the partner of any player. “There’s absolutely no problems, the rumours are just absolutely ridiculous, so I don’t want to keep silent and keep adding fuel to the fire by not saying anything,” Brown said. “I’ve just come out now to knock this square on the head.” Brown and Fevola both missed last night’s match against Carlton at Docklands stadium through injury.
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