MEDIA celebrity Dave Hughes has fired a broadside at Merrivale president Wayne Ryan after the Tigers chief made inflammatory comments about the comedian’s football ability in this week’s Under The Auld Pump column.
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Hughes, who is the face of the Gatorade Replay grand final, came under fire from Ryan, who made some cutting remarks about Hughes’ ability and his role in the 1991 Warrnambool and District Football League grand final between Old Collegians and Merrivale.
Hughes said his phone had been running hot since Ryan’s interview appeared in The Standard on Wednesday.
“I’ve been inundated with calls from teammates and from our coach Lee McCluskey. They are all angered by Wayne’s comments,” he said.
“I would say Wayne has basically called me soft. His comments have upset my mum. She reads the paper each day.
“I’m outraged that mum is upset. I was astounded by Wayne’s comments in Under The Auld Pump.”
Hughes refused to take the sledging lying down.
“I’m not one to blow my trumpet but I would like to inform Wayne and his mates from Merrivale that I was always on the bottom and the top of packs when I played,” he said.
“When I played in 1991 I was a combination of Chris Judd and Jonathan Brown. I can’t wait until the last Sunday in August for the big game (August 28 at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval).”
Ryan, who played for Merrivale in the 1991 grand final, said in Wednesday’s in-depth interview that he thought Hughes, who played for Old Collegians, wasn’t comfortable in traffic.
“He looked like a handy player when he was by himself. I got reminded the other day that his nickname might have been ‘here, here, here’ as he was always calling out to his teammates to get the ball out to him,” Ryan said.
“It’ll be interesting to see if his skills have improved when we line up on August 28.”
Merrivale came from six goals down at the five-minute-mark of the third quarter to defeat Old Collegians by 17 points in the 1991 grand final.
Hughes said that loss had haunted him since and he hoped to put a few demons to rest when the two teams lined up in the replay grand final.
“Our boys have trained really well in preparation for the game,” Hughes said.
“We’ve put in the hard yards. I’ve heard that Merrivale are really confident of knocking us over again.
“I must admit to beat Merrivale in the replay grand final is one of my footy dreams — it’s a dream I’ve harboured since 1991. It would be a dream come true if we win the game.”
