AFL salute for Demons

THE LOCKYER Valley Demons took centre stage for a couple of minutes on Monday, at AFL's Brownlow Medal evening.

Tony and Donna Bowers representing the Lockyer Valley Demons at the Brownlow’s on Monday night. . Picture: Contributed

THE LOCKYER Valley took centre stage for a couple of minutes on Monday, at AFL's Brownlow Medal evening.

Tony and Donna Bowers, president and secretary of the Lockyer Valley Demons, took to the stage of the AFL's night of nights.

They stood on stage in front of past and current players, who heard of the plight they had been through following January's floods.

Mr Bowers said he was pleased to be recognised by the code for the work the club put into AFL in the region.

"It was absolutely fantastic, totally surreal," he said.

The Bowers were on stage along with representatives of clubs from regions affected by disasters across the world, including a Christchurch club and a player from Japan who lost family in the tsunami.

"We were on stage with people from these clubs and it was just a thank you from the AFL to all of us.

"They were saying the clubs wouldn't exist without us so that was really nice.

"It was really cool, standing up there in the spotlight."

Mr and Mrs Bowers were flown down to Melbourne by the AFL for four days in the AFL mad city.

The Demons were given a mounted football signed by all the past winners of the Brownlow Medal who were present on the night.

The football, sure to take pride of place among the club's possessions, included the signatures of Sydney Swan Adam Goodes, Gold Coast Sun Gary Ablett Jr, Carlton Blue Chris Judd, and the Brisbane Lions' Simon Black and Michael Voss.

Mr Bowers said while his hope to get some top grade support for the Demons hadn't come to fruition, he had made some strong contacts to help the club in the future.

"I did meet with some people and got some great contacts for other people to talk to," he said.

Mr Bowers said his trip down has seen interest in the sport at a peak in the Lockyer Valley.

"The whole of the Lockyer Valley was watching and I know a fair few guys in Toowoomba were watching too to see us up there.

"So the AFL might have got a few viewers who they normally wouldn't have."

The Demons play in the Darling Downs competition in which they field a number of junior teams and one senior team.

The Brownlow Medal is awarded to the best and fairest player of the AFL season as voted by the field umpires after each game.

In one of the tightest medals in recent memory, grand final bound Collingwood Magpie midfielder Dane Swan took out the 2011 medal, pipping St Kilda midfielder Nick Dal Santo by six votes.

Originally published as AFL salute for Demons