Little Auskick legend steals the show at AFL match, sends crowd wild

Essendon fans don’t have much to smile about these days but a little legend tried to lift the mood at the MCG on Saturday night.

Richmond fans had plenty to cheer about on Saturday night but one of the biggest roars at the MCG was saved for the halftime entertainment.

The Tigers beat Essendon 11.14 (80) to 7.6 (48) to heap more misery on Ben Rutten and his troops in what’s been a season from hell. But even disillusioned Bombers fans would have smiled as one young gun took centre stage during the main break.

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As Auskick kids took to the field at halftime, one player stood out. A clip shared to Instagram by The Highlights Club shows the tiny tot beating one defender, taking a bounce, zipping past another would-be tackle, shrugging off another challenge then booting the ball through the sticks for a goal.

The crowd loved the little legend’s attacking flair and showed its support with a huge cheer — but that was only the beginning.

The kid wheeled away in celebration, signalling to fans in the stands to rev up and they did just that. The next roar was even louder during another passage of play when the Auskick star stepped inside a defender then bombed the ball through for another goal, sending the Sherrin over the fence.

CHECK OUT THE AUSKICK LEGEND IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ABOVE

A future AFL star in the making?

Meanwhile, Essendon came under fire for an “embarrassing” display of aggression a week after being criticised by club legend Matthew Lloyd for not taking a stand after Sydney Swans co-captain Luke Parker taunted Dylan Shiel.

Port Adelaide great Kane Cornes told the Sunday Footy Show: “Don’t ever let players tell you they don’t listen to the media, because this is purely on the back of media conjecture and media speculation.

“It’s a little bit embarrassing they’ve come out and responded just on the pure media (talk).

“It is embarrassing. It’s Round 10. Why has it taken someone in the media to highlight an issue for them to respond?”

AFL journalist Damian Barrett agreed with Cornes, saying the aggression was “a little bit fake”.

However, Sunday Footy Show host Tony Jones defended Essendon and took exception to his colleagues’ criticism.

“They can’t win, Kane. So if they hadn’t have done it, you would have lampooned them, now they have done it and you say it’s embarrassing,” Jones said.

“They responded.

“Seriously, come on fellas. Back off a little bit. They’re damned if they do and damned if they don’t.”