Corey McKernan makes a surprise appearance for Riddell District club

North Melbourne great Corey McKernan laced up the boots on Friday night, making an appearance in the Riddell District Club 18 competition.

Corey McKernan made an appearance for Eynesbury.

It’s always handy when a two-time AFL premiership star pulls on the boots for a local club.

That was the case for Eynesbury on Friday night when North Melbourne great and Carlton best-and-fairest Corey McKernan laced them up.

The 237-game star ran out for the Eagles in the Riddell District’s Club 18 competition against Bacchus Marsh.

Eynesbury claimed a dominant 91-point win over the Cobras with McKernan kicking one goal.

Coach Brad Zahra said McKernan’s appearance came about as a favour to an old friend.

“One of the older blokes, Brad Hopkins, is friends with him,” Zahra said.

“He was meant to play last year but then COVID hit and we went into lockdown and the season got called off.

“It was always in the pipeline, it was a bit of a favour that he owed Brad.

“He went alright too, he kicked a goal, playing predominantly at full forward.

“He was getting up the ground at stages, he played well because I don’t know if he’s played too often of late.”

An ex-AFL star can also draw a big crowd and it was no different on Friday night.

“Yeah, 100 per cent, it was a fantastic night,” Zahra said.

“It was hard to put a number on but it was definitely a big ground and we had the Eynesbury Auskick run around at half-time so there were a lot of families.

“He hung around in the clubrooms after the game, which was good of him.”

The 15.10 (100) to 1.3 (9) victory sees Eynesbury finish second after the home-and-away season.

The Eagles will play a sudden-death semi-final against Wallan for a place in the grand final at Eynesbury Reserve on Friday night.

While McKernan won’t back up, Zahra is confident his team can get the job done.

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“We’ve finished second so now we’re into the finals series,” he said.

“If we can beat Wallan we’re in the grand final, which would be great for the club.

“We’ve beaten them twice this year, we won convincingly in Round 1 and then just got over the line at home, so we’re a good chance.”

Eynesbury currently fields junior teams in the Riddell District competition with the Club 18 team added in recent seasons.