Former AFL stars Matthew Stokes and Leon Davis headline VACSAL football and netball carnival in Portarlington

A two-time premiership Cat and a ex-Collingwood favourite were in action as players from across the state locked horns in a First Nations sports carnival.

The Wathaurong team with former Geelong player Matthew Stokes up the front. Picture: Sharlene Vale

They weren’t quite at their brilliant best, but two retired indigenous AFL stars were back on the field down on the Bellarine Peninsula over the weekend.

The VACSAL (Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited) carnival saw First Nations people from across the state converge on Wathaurong Country in Portarlington.

Among them were dual Geelong premiership player Matthew Stokes and former Collingwood livewire Leon Davis.

Geelong goalsneak Tyson Stengle made a cameo appearance for the Wathaurong (Geelong) side last year but this time he was at the South Australian equivalent, representing Koonibba while his mentor, Carlton and Adelaide great Eddie Betts, ran out for former club Mallee Park.

There were 24 football teams and 54 netball sides competing in Portarlington, and it was Davis’ Lake Condah Wanderers who went down in the division one grand final to the dominant Mallee Tigers, led by former Richmond player Derek Eggmolese-Smith.

Stokes, turning 40 next month, and Davis (43) played more of a leadership role for the youngsters, but the mesmerising Magpie still showed some of his trademark tricks for Lake Condah.

Matthew Stokes gets a kick away. Picture: Sharlene Vale

Wathaurong bowed out in the preliminary final which allowed player Jye Walker the chance to catch a glimpse of Davis.

“When the ball is in his area, (Davis) is always doing something. It is not as spectacular as it used to be, but I think he might’ve kicked three or four goals that I saw in the grand final that he played,” Walker said.

“A few snaps around the corner, everything’s a little bit in slow motion for him. Although he’s not as electric as he was, the game slowed down for him a fair bit when it was in his area and he takes his time and has a bit of fun with it.

“With the AFL season seeming to run a bit later, the SA carnival also had theirs on last weekend. A couple of fullas went back home, you go home and play with family. Tys went back to go and play his home carnival.”

Walker said Stokes was also touch slower than in his 200-game career with Geelong and Essendon, but his contribution was invaluable for the rest of the side.

Matthew Stokes speaks to his teammates during the VACSAL sports carnival. Picture: Sharlene Vale

“He didn’t have any electric pace on him or anything, but he sort of just controlled things when he was in his area and helped some of the young kids,” Walker said.

“I remember at one stage he said, ‘just because there are some players here who might have played at a higher level, don’t just listen to them because you think they say the right thing – back yourselves’.

“He was good for the young kids who were probably a little bit in awe of him and just able to give them a little bit of positivity about their own game.

“He was really good, playing around with the boys and just talking them up. I think they went away from it going, it was really nice to have him around.”

Geelong West ball-winner Ethan Liddle, Corio goalkicker Herschelle Carr and retired Queenscliff, St Joseph’s and Bannockburn premiership player Dan Measures were also part of the Wathaurong side.

The VACSAL carnival, which has been running for three decades, is renowned for its quick and exciting style of play.

Ethan Liddle breaks a tackle. Picture: Sharlene Vale

“You take fellas on, it is baulk this way, baulk that way, it is take the 360 turns, it is handball to space and just someone will be there,”

Walker, a Geelong local footy star in his own right who currently plays for Ocean Grove, said that first-time players of the VACSAL carnival are made to look silly.

“It is fun to watch, not so fun to play again sometimes,” Walker said.

“Every year you are trying to tell fellas, if it is their first carnival, ‘this is exactly what’s going to happen’. You go out there and tell them to corral and don’t overcommit, and the first thing that happens is someone falls flat on their face as they try to tackle someone and they’ve just baulked again.

“If there is a tackle that sticks, it is someone that is really good at tackling.”

Corio helped fund Wathaurong’s VACSAL carnival along with the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-Operative and several other sponsors.

Originally published as Former AFL stars Matthew Stokes and Leon Davis headline VACSAL football and netball carnival in Portarlington