The Score: How Dustin Martin’s boots helped Kamdyn McIntosh turn a red paperclip into a boat in Richmond’s AFL hub
Inspired by the story of an American who traded a red paperclip into a two-storey house, Richmond’s Kamdyn McIntosh has decided to see where a small piece of stationery can take him in the hub. And he’s done extraordinarly well so far.
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Players have been forced to find new things to amuse themselves inside the AFL hubs.
Richmond wingman Kamdyn McIntosh has embraced the new world-wide fad the “paperclip challenge” and is aiming big.
It‘s all on the back of the story of the ’One Red Paperclip’. For those who aren’t across it a man in America, through a series of 14 trades (no money involved), traded his way from the one red paperclip to a two-storey farmhouse in Canada.
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This notorious trading adventure has inspired a movement with people all over social media, even having swap parties, as they attempt to trade their way from a single paperclip all the way to their ultimate goal.
McIntosh decided to get involved back in July after the Netflix documentary about the ‘One Red Paperclip’ was brought up and how something like that would be good to document in the hub.
“In bed later that night I thought bugger it, I‘ll just chuck it up on Facebook market place and see if we have any interest,” McIntosh told RSN 927.
“I quickly had over 2000 views and 30 conversations. It was ridiculous and some guy said he‘d trade a Rubik’s cube and a deck of cards for my paperclip.
“I thought that‘s all right, it will get me off the ground.”
Boredom is a major issue in the hub so McIntosh approached Dusty Martin with a proposal regarding his next potential trade.
“I asked him if he had a spare pair of boots he was going to throw out and that I‘d give him a Rubik’s cube and deck of cards to have some fun with in exchange for the boots. He said, ’No worries’.
“So then I traded Dusty‘s boots for a boat, a 2020 Polycraft boat. I’m currently working on my next trade, I’ve had a fwe offers but nothing too interesting yet.”
McIntosh‘s ultimate goal is an ambitious one, he wants to go from paperclip to a red Ferrari.
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Turf war erupts over MCG-Gabba sacrilege
A piece of the MCG is on its way to Queensland and will take its place at the Gabba to ensure the traditional home of the AFL Grand Final remains a part of the biggest day on the football calendar.
It could be called a Grand Final stunt, but it’s been months in the planning between curators at the two grounds ahead of the historic first ever AFL decider player interstate.
On Wednesday morning a refrigerated truck backed in to the bowels of the MCG to collect a special bit of turf that will be transported to Brisbane, then laid at the Gabba ahead of the October 24 decider.
A section of the MCG goalsquare, which has witnessed some of the Grand Final’s most famous moments, was expertly lifted out by ground staff for replanting at the Gabba next Monday.
The piece of turf, measuring 3m by 1m – the AFL goalsquare is 9m by 6.4m – will be kept alive through a 24-hour journey from Melbourne to Brisbane before being re-laid at the Gabba.
Why??? Crazy waste of more money! The Grand Final belongs at the MCG and will continue their next year.
— Blues4flag (@Blues4flag) October 14, 2020
Very sorry to announce I went around a corner too fast and have tipped the truck carrying the patch of the MCG. Hallowed ground blocking three lanes.
— James Colley (@JamColley) October 14, 2020
Alright, who was it? Who was the one that decided some @MCG turf should be transported to Brisbane for the #AFLGF. Report to the principals office now!!
— Shaun Warburton (@ShaunWarburton) October 14, 2020
You could use the MCG on grand final day, perhaps...just watch out for the big hole where the goal square used to be!!
— Jonty Smith 🎶🔄 (@TheOnlyJonty) October 14, 2020
The MCG has been empty since Round 1 when the AFL and most of its teams had to escape to Queensland to keep the 2020 season alive. The Gabba was granted hosting rights to the Grand Final as a reward.
A team of people across Victoria and Queensland, including grass curators, transport experts and horticulturalists, have come together to make the move possible.
“As we’re moving plant material from one climate to another, we needed to ensure the turf extraction was done in a delicate way not to damage or cause stress to the roots to ensure it survived its long journey to the Gabba,” MCG turf manager Michael Salvatore said.
“We called in our turf provider, HG Turf, to oversee this process with us and to ensure our turf arrives at the Gabba in tip-top shape. Temperature controlled transportation will ensure our hallowed turf will be ready for Brisbane’s climate ahead of the AFL Grand Final.”
After helping remove the turf, Salvatore has handed the next part of the job over to ground staff at the Gabba to make sure the patch finds its place in the goalsquare.
Mystery: Collingwood’s case of the missing grope
It’s the mysterious case of the missing hand.
Two different pictures of Collingwood‘s end-of-season celebrations at their Sunshine Coast hub were sent out by the club on its social media platforms.
They were clearly taken a few seconds apart at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort but with one very notable difference between the photos.
One falls into the ‘Year of the Grope’ category which has been a disturbing trend this season while the other is where Inspector Clouseau is required to figure out what happened to the offending hand in question.
It didn‘t take long for eagle-eye fans to notice in the first photo the placement of a hand on the groin of Irishman Mark Keane in the front row.
But then in the second shot it has either been expertly photoshopped or caught at a very bizarre angle.
Players being a bit too touchy feely with their teammates has become a common theme throughout the year.
It first hit the headlines when Richmond pair Nick Vlaustin and Jayden Short were forced to apologise for groping ruckman Mabior Chol during the post-match singing of the theme song.
The AFL issued a statement condemning the players‘ actions and reminding them of their responsibilities as professional athletes to set an example.
But then shortly after former Tiger Dan Butler was also caught groping one of his St Kilda teammates.
Carlton was next, issuing an apology after small forward Michael Gibbons was found to have touched the bottom of an Amazon cameraman during the singing of the theme song.
And then Melbourne were in the spotlight after footage emerged of Christian Petracca and Jayden Hunt touching each other while coach Simon Goodwin addressed the team.
Once again a statement was released with the Demons promising the “juvenile” behaviour would not occur again.
While “boys will be boys” used to be the way these incidents were handled the goalposts have changed in the ‘Year of the Grope’ and clearly the players still have some catching up to do.
THE WHISPER
The Gold Coast hubs have been a gift that keeps giving when it comes to gossip. The latest has two tall forwards from rival clubs going to toe-to-toe over some late night shenanigans.
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Originally published as The Score: How Dustin Martin’s boots helped Kamdyn McIntosh turn a red paperclip into a boat in Richmond’s AFL hub
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