Quick Kicks: Calls to ban interleague dodgers, all the fun of local footy

Interleague returned for two metro competitions on the weekend but some stalwarts weren’t too happy with one side, calling for suspensions or fines for those who simply can’t be bothered.

Calls are growing for bans to be handed down. Picture: Andrew Batsch

Here at Quick Kicks we look 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.

DISCOMFORT OVER INTERLEAGUE

A bit of Southern discomfort with the result of last Saturday’s interleague match against Western Region. It’s fair to say a few SFNL stalwarts were staggered at the number of players who were unavailable for the game, with the result that the league turned out something like a third-string side. One long-time official contacted us to say Southern

needed to take interleague seriously or withdraw from it. He suggested players should be fined or suspended if they had no good reason for not playing. He said it was a shame Southern sent such an “ordinary’’ side to Werribee because the standard of Divisions 1 and 2 had improved sharply in the past two or three years. One for league CEO Lee Hartman to ponder in the next few weeks.

SPEAKING OF INTERLEAGUE...

The concept has been brought together by several competitions across state in recent years and it’s had varying degrees of success. The days of bringing the big names out isn’t always guaranteed. We’ve been told one club went as far as offering up cash to their players to enjoy the weekend off. We wonder if that counts in the salary cap.

CALL ME THE GENERAL 

The good thing about going to a new club in a different league is that no one knows much about you. When former Emerald sharp shooter Cal White joined Rosebud this season, he saw an opportunity to go by a new nickname, and requested all members of the club call him “The General”. It didn’t take long for the boys to work out he’s never been given that nickname in his life and he came up with it on his own.

WHAT A MARK! 

Mooroolbark’s Harrison Keeling sucked in breaths from the stratosphere on Saturday, pulling in an absolute screamer against Beaconsfield. In fact, it was so good, it even featured on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show, earning the praise of Chompers himself, Tony Jones. See for yourself ...

PICKLE JUICE, PLEASE 

Bonbeach’s Brayden Chapple suffered the dreaded double cramp last week, and if he was after sympathy he was mistaken. His Sharks teammates thought it was hilarious, while his dad, ex-hard man Jason, reckoned he was being soft.

LOVE IS THE WINNER

Tyabb’s Kate McCallum found a unique way to propose to her girlfriend, Pearcedale’s, Bec Strickland last weekend. The couple were opposing each other in the Mornington Peninsula Division 3 women’s match on Saturday at Bunguyan Reserve. After the contest, as both clubs were shaking hands, McCallum got down on one knee in the middle of the ground to ask Strickland to marry her. Thankfully, the answer was a resounding yes to the delight of both teams. Strickland had double the reason to celebrate with Pearcedale winning by 41 points. Congratulations to the couple.

GONE EARLY 

A player informed his club of his 250-game milestone recently, and the milestone was duly celebrated. But it later emerged that the proud player had counted junior games.

OUCH! ANOTHER DEFENDER DOWN 

Sorrento reckons it has a full-back curse. The Sharks have lost three key defenders in the first six rounds to long-term injuries. In Round 1, co-captain James Brigden injured his ankle. Jared Risol then went to full-back and did his knee...done for the season. And last week Micky Walker suffered a nasty jaw injury and will be out for three months.

PLENTY TO CHIRP ABOUT

Logan Wright created a little bit of country footy history over the weekend as he played for Leongatha’s reserves in the Gippsland league. Wright played against Warragul and became the first player in history to play for the two Parrot clubs in Australia. Leongatha and his current club, Bridgenorth in the Northern Tasmanian Football League, are the only two AFL clubs in Australia to be named after the bird. Over the past couple of years both clubs have come together to celebrate the unique similarity with Leongatha and Bridgenorth getting together two years ago to exchange guernseys. But the duo are not alone when it comes to Parrot teams. There is a third club, called the Suncoast Parrots, who are based in Florida in the United States.

SLOW AND STEADY?

Old Eltham Collegians joined an exclusive club on Saturday but not in a good way. The Turtles scored just one behind for the entire match, suffering an 87-point loss to Mernda. To make matters worse, it was at home. Just seven teams have scored 0.1 (1) in the 30-odd years Local Footy Stats has been keeping records. Three have finished a match without troubling the scorers at all, so it could have been worse.