Quick Kicks: All the quirky talking points from local footy
A footy club in Melbourne’s southeast has poked fun at the local council for a spelling error the world can see on its club room facilities which are receiving a $10m upgrade. See what happened.
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Welcome to Quick Kicks.
Quick Kicks is our new weekly column that looks at the lighter side of local footy.
Whether it be a funny exchange, a good stat or an action that’s laughed about after the game — it’s all here.
WE MIGHT NEED TO SPELLCHECK THAT ONE
The upgrades at Alexandra Park, the home of the Mornington Football Netball Club, are progressing well but with a slight hiccup. The pavilion at the ground is getting a $10m upgrade and it seems the money is going towards adding an extra letter to words when they’re not needed. A Facebook post from Mornington club revealed the new building had been labelled “Alexandra Park Pavillion”, an extra L for those playing along at home.
“Someone forgot to spellcheck here,” the club said.
HELLIWELL THE ICE MAN
Josh Helliwell’s job is usually to stop goals for Yarraville Seddon, not kick them. But in the two of the last three games he has come to the rescue with goals after the siren after drifting forward. First he salvaged a draw against Werribee Districts before kicking the winner against Point Cook Centrals on the weekend. The grab before the set shot wasn’t half bad either...
A TOP RECRUIT … TO ALL OF US!
A piece of advice to players: coaches talk to each other. A star player sent a message to a few coaches on a Saturday night expressing his desire to play at their club next year. Little did the player know … all three coaches he sent the message to were out for a friendly dinner together. The coaches had a laugh and discussed how each would respond to the player. Seeing as though the message from the player looked like a copy and paste job, it’s understood the coaches did the same.
TON WATCH
Could the Eastern league see a centurion this season? Scoresby’s Adam Amin leads the Division 4 goalkicking with 62 – just ahead of Whitehorse’s Tom Young on 59. Four home-and-away games remain for Amin’s Magpies and Young’s Pioneers, which each has a bye in the run home. But with both sides sitting first and second respectively, finals could be the moment to crack the ton. And in Division 3, Coldstream’s Darcy Fritsch (67) and Donvale’s Ethan Duncan (66) are in a hot race with both clubs bound for September.
‘KICK THIS, AND …’
It’s believed a forward was offered a prize if he was able to squeeze through his set shot on Saturday. “Kick this and I’ll buy you a beer,” a defender said. The confident goal kicker replied: “Mate, if I miss it, I’ll buy you whatever you want.” Much to the delight of the defender, the forward eventually kicked a behind. Whether a purchase was made after the game could not be confirmed.
SOUND THE SIREN, PLEASE!
Reports that a final quarter in a Mornington Peninsula league match on Saturday went on. And on. And on. After 38 minutes, someone went to the timekeeper’s box to check if all was okay — and found it empty.
HEY, I REMEMBER YOU
Jackson Weatherald’s retirement was short lived as he made a return for Eltham on the weekend. The Panthers’ 2023 premiership captain was best afield in his return as the Panthers went down to Greensborough in Division 1 of the Northern league. A pretty handy pick up.
RAISE IT, SAINTS
St Kilda City has astonishingly raised the bat for senior players used this year — and it’s not done yet. City has used 55 senior players so far this season … yes, 55! They’ve had injuries, players juggling work and of course that golden European summer that bites every club. If any club wishes to complain about the injury or unavailability toll, they are encouraged to reach out to whoever is in charge of player registration at the Peanut Farm. The Saints are an excellent story of resilience after coming down from Division 1 last year, becoming a place to play with your mates. St Kilda City re-signed coach Jason Hamilton and have made big inroads on some players.
MAD MONDAY SHENANIGANS
Joel Hillis is having a standout season for Devon Meadows, so much so that his coach Ryan Hendy has labelled him “as good a local footballer as I’ve ever seen’’.
Many would have noticed one thing about Joel this season — no helmet, which he’s worn throughout his career.
And the reason?
Well, it can be revealed it stems from some Mad Monday shenanigans.
Seems the Devon Meadows boys got their hands on Joel’s helmet, taking turns to wear it, and somewhere along the way it went missing.
When Joel went to Darwin to play for Waratah earlier this year he went helmet-less for the first time and felt comfortable. His best season of footy has followed.
STAR RETURNS
Still at Devon Meadows and word is Paddy Ryder will slot back into the Panthers side for their MPFNL Division 2 clash with Seaford on Saturday. The ex-AFL star kicked 11 goals for Devon Meadows in round 2 but hasn’t appeared since April 27, with a sore achilles keeping him sidelined.
“He didn’t want to come back too early,’’ Hendy said. “And he’s feeling really confident now. He’s still been doing a lot of training and touching the footy.’’
DOING THE ONE-PERCENTERS
When you’ve kicked over 1000 goals you’re probably entitled to sit back and relax. Not Corbin Sutherland, the Yea Tigers spearhead who tops the Outer East league’s Division 1 goalkicking chart with 53 snags in 11 games this season. He continues to impress on — and off — the field.
“The best thing about Corbin aren’t the goals he kicks,’’ Yea coach Mitch Skelly said. “Every Saturday morning he’s at the footy club at 9 o’clock sweeping the sheds, marking the lines, doing whatever he has to do, so he’s a really good club person as well as a gun footballer.’’
MESSAGE RECEIVED
One Southern league coach delivered one of the fiercest sprays at the first change on Saturday. A silence hushed around the ground when he got going and his long-winded feedback echoed to every crowd member. We’d love to quote it, but huddles are sacred and there would be more asterisks than words.
KICK IT TO US
Got your own quirky tidbit from the weekend’s footy or a player who deserves recognition? Send it to us at: leaderlocalsport@news.com.au or hit us up on Facebook.
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