Smooch, Corgi, Wombo and Pup: AFL nicknames used by players fans might not know
CORGI, Pokie, Wombo and Pup. These are the great footy nicknames only the players know about — until now.
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BEFORE Tyson Stengle played his first game for Richmond last Saturday night, he received his jumper in the rooms from Tigers champ Neil Balme.
“Wombo, we’re really pleased to invite you into the brotherhood,” Balme said before handing over the No. 44 guernsey to the stocky goalsneak.
Wait, Wombo?
We have it on good authority Stengle’s nickname is short for “wombat” — because if a truck hit him, it wouldn’t stop him.
WOMBO!!!
— JR8 (@JackRiewoldt08) June 15, 2017
Footy nicknames have a great tradition, but the funny thing is the friendly monikers yelled from the terraces aren’t always the same as those used behind locker room doors.
Take Stengle’s teammate Jack Riewoldt. To Tiger fans he’s just “Jack”, but to his mates he’s “Pup”. He has had the nickname since junior footy, when a coach called him “Roo pup” (he’s the younger cousin of Nick “Roo” Riewoldt) and it stuck.
Another famous Tiger, Alex Rance, is @trossman18 on Twitter and goes by “Tross”. Apparently his name went from Alex to Albert, then to Albatross which was then shortened to Tross. Obviously.
Here’s a catalogue of some of the great AFL nicknames you might not be aware of.
Does anyone know a good place to get ur car serviced in the Richmond area?? The miss tross needs her land vessel looked at.
— Alex Rance (@trossman18) August 12, 2013
Mercurial GWS forward Steve Johnson is “Stevie J” to the footy world, but to his teammates — at least at Geelong — he was “Dogger”.
Tom Lonergan — known as “Domsy”, we’re not sure why — related in 2015 his conversation with Johnson the day before the 2011 Grand Final. Johnson was in doubt all week with a serious knee injury but played and kicked four goals.
“I still remember having a chat to him on the Friday on the way up to the parade,” Lonergan said.
“He goes, ‘Dommers, watch out for the Dogger tomorrow. He’s ready to go. The dog’s going to get off the leash’.”
Fremantle ruckman Sean Darcy has made a big impression in his two AFL games, and the 110kg teenager is known as “Hodor” — a nickname bestowed by schoolmates after the giant character in Game of Thrones.
At Melbourne, co-captain Nathan Jones is “Chunk” (in one profile he also listed “Towball” as another nickname) and Jordan Lewis is “Taz”, a nickname given to him by his old Hawthorn teammates, who thought he looked like former Magpie and Docker Chris Tarrant.
Four-time premiership Hawk Grant Birchall has been known as “Beaver” since he lost two front teeth in the 2008 Grand Final.
Essendon midfielder Ben Howlett is “Bobcat” because he does a lot of heavy groundwork and goalsneak Josh Green is known to all at Bomberland as “Corgi” thanks to teammate David Myers.
“I thought he was calling me ‘Corky’, but it’s the royal dog,” Green told Bomber Radio recently. “It’s actually stuck and Woosha’s now using it in meetings, which isn’t great. It is appropriate, (although) I tried to fight it off for a bit.”
Mystery surrounds why North Melbourne ruckman Braydon Preuss is called “Pokie” by his teammates, but it’s believed to have something to do with an awkward AFL induction camp.
Some nicknames are less cryptic than others. Bulldogs veteran Matthew Boyd is known as “Keith” at the kennel because that’s his middle name.
Carlton forward Jack Silvagni is the son of “SOS” but goes by “SOJ” — son of Jo Silvagni.
Hawk Blake Hardwick, the Round 15 Rising Star nominee, was christened “Dimma” by Eastern Ranges coach Darren Bewick, a former teammate of Richmond coach Damien “Dimma” Hardwick.
The Saints call Darren Minchington “Meatball” — courtesy of forwards coach Aaron Hamill: “he reckons I look a little bit Italian”, Minchington told Tasmanian radio — Tim Membrey “Skunk” and Sean Dempster was “Shinner”, a nickname he earnt early in his career for kicking the ball off his shins.
#Skunk🌴 steadies the ship #AFLFreoSaints pic.twitter.com/mjqql1hnJ9
— St Kilda FC (@stkildafc) July 2, 2017
At Sydney Nick Smith is “Smooch” and no one calls ruckman Sam Naismish “Sam”.
“I was living with Shane Biggs and Dean Towers and we were walking to a reserves game and they were making up words that rhymed with my name,” he told the Herald Sun last year.
“Someone said ‘crayfish’ and everyone p-----d themselves laughing. They thought it was the funniest thing on earth.
“They started calling me Crayfish around the club, and then the coaches started calling me Crayfish, and now everybody does.”
Even Naismith himself has come on board — the budding cameraman’s amateur business is called Craytography.
If we open the door to former players this article could go forever, but a couple are worth a mention.
Geelong players called Joel Corey “Smithy” because he didn’t have a real surname, former Bulldog Tom Williams was “Biscuits” to his teammates because he used to crumble easily, and Adam Cooney was known as “Puck”, which has something to do with player drinking games.
Who have we missed? If you know a nickname used inside an AFL club leave a comment below.
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