Boom industry: The inside story on the ex-AFL players helping to save local footy
Ex-AFL stars have created their own blossoming micro-industry by making cameo appearances across the nation. However, it’s the clubs who are truly reaping the rewards.
AFL
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Tasmania’s New Norfolk District Football Club seems an unlikely birthplace for a cultural change in local footy which has since benefited hundreds of battling clubs across the country.
Yet it was there, nestled on the banks of the Derwent River northwest of Hobart, in June 2012 the then recently delisted AFL star Brendan Fevola played what he thought would be a once-only cameo appearance for the New Norfolk Eagles.
In front of a bumper crowd of around 5,000 people – roughly 50 per cent of the entire local shire’s population at the time – Fevola kicked a club record 18.6 from 29 kicks and 18 marks as the Eagles soared to a 146-point win.
The size of the win was only matched by the size of the windfall into the club coffers.
Despite suggestions Fevola was paid between $5000 and $10,000 for the appearance, the Eagles themselves pocketed a reported $40,000 profit and received national media attention.
Not surprisingly other battling local footy clubs across the country were watching on with great interest as they were seeking innovative ways to survive in increasingly tough economic times.
In the following days and weeks Fevola’s phone lit up as offers for cameo appearances
around the country flooded in.
While the former Blue and Lion was playing regular games with Yarrawonga he still managed to slot in further cameos with Griffith in NSW, New Norfolk again in 2013, Rockingham in WA and Edenhope-Apsley in the Horsham District Football League.
Big crowds and big crowd takings followed him around the country.
It was the birth of a new industry – the Fevolution of local footy.
Twelve years later and Fev is still turning out. Just last weekend, he pulled on the boots for Masala Dandenong’s Thirds Division 5 VAFA team as part of his radio show The Fox’s Fifi, Fev and Nick. Later in the day he was back playing for East Sunbury, his local club this season.
“Local footy is the heart of the game. When you’ve got a club like the Masalas — only two blokes turning up to pre-season, copping a 229-point loss the week before — how do you not get around that,” Fevola said.
“Fifi, Nick and I just wanted to do something real on The Fox and help the underdogs out, and then 2500 people rock up, the club smashes their fundraising record. It was unreal.
“One of the great things I love is supporting grassroots footy and seeing people that are passionate to rock up each week and play the game we love.
“I love footy, I love the people, and I love the energy of local games – in the mud, A couple of meat pies, old blokes giving it to you from the boundary. That’s where the game really lives.
“We have got to keep backing the underdog, always, because this is what footy is all about.”
As the world emerged from the Covid pandemic and buoyed by the success the travelling Fev show had brought around the country, the concept of the big-name cameo once again became more popular, presenting opportunities for ex-AFL guns for hire to travel across the country.
Among them are names including Brownlow Medallists Dane Swan and Gary Ablett Jnr, Stephen Milne, Mitch Robinson, Harley Bennell and Heath Shaw.
Footy traditionalists may see it as a cash grab or as yet another way of making competitions unfair, but the concept has proven crucial in helping to secure vital funds for clubs.
Corporate giants have worked their way into the market including Carlton Draught which launched the Carlton Draft in 2022 — an initiative which sends AFL players to country clubs.
An analysis by Carlton Draught of last year’s concept, which included six games, found more than $100,000 was raised, an average of $16,500 per club.
Robinson, the former Blue and Lion with a mass following on social media, has played for Northern league club Eltham in the last two years in its traditional Good Friday clash with local rivals Greensborough.
Panthers coach Tim Bongetti, who is a close friend of Robinson’s, said having the “aura of someone who played 200 AFL games” walk through the door was felt right throughout the club.
“It creates excitement within the playing group, getting to play with someone of his calibre, then all the fans get to watch him,” Bongetti said.
“Knowing the importance of the game, you want a big crowd. We had a couple of thousand people there on the day and it’s an opportunity to help get clubs back in front financially.
“Those funds can be so vital to buy new footies when they get heavy in the winter months, they can help pay the trainers who are so vital to ensuring we get out on the ground.”
2011 Brownlow medallist Swan has been a popular guest player since he retired in 2016.
And while this will “probably” be his last year travelling the country to play, Swanny has loved every minute.
“Footy clubs are something I love. While I’m able to still do it, if people are silly enough to keep having me I’m silly enough to keep doing them,” he said after an appearance in Cairns last month.
“To be honest, I’ve probably seen way more of Australia doing this over the past three to four years than when I was playing AFL. I actually like going to the more obscure places, more than half of the places I’ve been I’ve never even heard of.
“I’ve gone out to towns of 300 people and wondered how many were going to show up, and you get there and there’s 3000 people at the ground to watch on a Saturday.
“The people in these rural areas work so hard during the week, and footy is their release on the weekend. It’s given me an understanding of what footy can mean and how powerful it is to regional communities.
“If I have the ability to come into a footy club and have an impact by raising some money or putting a smile on some faces, I’m more than happy to do it.”
The Carlton Draft has returned for 2025 and is broadening its horizons into New South Wales and Western Australia for the first time.
This year’s participants include Tom Hawkins, Brett Deledio, Will Schofield, Matthew Pavlich and Travis Cloke.
Carlton Draught marketing manager Jessica Johnson estimates last season’s games were attended by up to 2000 people.
“Local footy brings together communities across Australia. However, the pandemic left many clubs struggling,” Johnson said.
“Each selected club has faced hardship and that’s a key reason why they were selected. But beyond that we don’t focus on the struggles, it’s more about how we can create a positive and memorable event.
“Participating clubs have told us so many amazing stories about the impact a Carlton Draft match has made: big crowds, great memories, finances boosted and even some droughts broken. It’s been a privilege to be part of.”
The market around the cameo appearance is becoming big business beyond just the ex-AFL players.
Suiting up alongside Fev last weekend was famed musician Guy Sebastian while social media identities such as Tom “Prime Train” Baulch are also attracting big crowds and big bucks to local clubs.
“At the end of the day, you want to get more people through the gates, and you can only do that by driving interest,” Baulch said.
“That’s all I’m really trying to do and helping these local football clubs is what I really enjoy doing. It’s been a heap of fun.”
Originally published as Boom industry: The inside story on the ex-AFL players helping to save local footy
AFL’s race to the bottom flipped on its head
A fallen AFL dynasty has suddenly turned its fortunes around as a massive gamble looks set to blow up in a rival club’s face.
Watch: ‘P****d off’ Voss unloads after Blues capitulation
Carlton’s second-half woes were exposed again by Sydney on Friday, leaving coach Michael Voss to concede he was “p****d off” about another costly fadeout.