Renowned Victorian footy factory hits jackpot with new generation of father-son stars
A renowned Victorian footy factory may have hit the jackpot with a new generation of famous surnames aiming to wow AFL recruiters.
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Non-Geelong AFL fans may want to look away now.
The Cats’ dynasty of the past two decades was largely built around the club’s wondrous bounty of father-son players forming the backbone of their premiership teams.
Think of names like Scarlett, Ablett, Hawkins and Bews who all became premiership players representing the blue and white hoops, just like their fathers did years before.
Now it seems there may be a whole new generation of father-son players ready to assume the mantle for the next generation.
The Geelong Falcons, the region’s Under 18 team which competes in the elite Coates Talent League - the prime pathway for future AFL stars - has this week announced its 2024 list which features three (yes another three!) sons of Cats guns.
Alfie Wojcinski, the son of former Cats three-time premiership star David, headlines the trio having been included in the 49-player primary list.
Meanwhile, Boston Riccardi, the brother of former Cat Osca Riccardi and son of 288-game Cat Peter, and Jagger Mooney, the son of two-time Geelong leading goalkicker Cameron, are also among the Falcons’ development list.
Not content on stopping merely with Cats father-sons, the Falcons have also included River Stevens (son of North Melbourne legend Anthony) and Noah Caracella (son of former Brisbane, Essendon and Collingwood star Blake) on their primary list.
There must be something good in the water down Geelong way.
Speaking of which …
Peake of his powers
The rise and rise of Victorian batting prodigy Ollie Peake continues with no ceiling in sight.
The Geelong product who, at just 17, recently starred for the World Cup winning Australian Under 19 team, has had a summer to remember, seemingly scoring centuries at will.
This week, while batting for his school team, Geelong Grammar, in the prestigious Melbourne APS competition, Peake smacked 154 from just 164 balls against Xavier College to lead his team to victory.
His path towards higher honours for Victorian and Australia seems very clear.
It may also be worth sports fans keeping a close eye on Peake’s partner-in-crime at the weekend, Sam Lalor, who added 79 from just 56 deliveries.
A dual-sports star from Bacchus Marsh, Lalor is expected by many to be featuring prominently on AFL recruiters’ draft boards at the moment and could well be in top ten calculations by the end of the season.
Speaking of multi-talented sportspeople …
Self-proclaimed “unco” kid eyes world titles glory
Not content with merely excelling at two sports, teenage sport prodigy Jasmine Rayward sets the bar high in four different disciplines.
Since 2002 Rayward has represented Australia in world championships in canoe sprint paddling, surf life saving, marathon swimming and ocean paddling which is pretty good going by anyone’s definition.
But the teenager, who admits she only got better at sport as she grew older, has now opted to specialise more, dropping the last two from her sporting repertoire.
And the fine tuning of her program has reaped instant rewards with the 17-year-old winning a round of the Nutri-Grain Ironwoman series this season ahead of her goal of making both the Australian junior kayaking and surf life saving teams to compete at world championships later this year.
We’re not sure how she fits everything into the normally hectic schedule of a teenage girl but we wish her all the best of luck.
Talking about busy schedules …
Super-mum’s shock sporting switch
Kudos have to go to Townsville mum-of-three Genaffer Zahra who featured this week in one of the more unlikely new sporting ventures one can imagine.
At the spritely age of just 53 and after playing Aussie rules for the past eight years in the local Townsville competition, Zahra thought it was time for a change of pace in the next phase of her sporting career.
Bowls, you might think. Or golf possibly?
Not for Zahra who has spent the past three years in the not-so-timid sport of motorbike racing, quickly becoming one of the rising stars of the Road Racing Association of Townsville.
“I found a niche out there and I would say that I’m pretty good at it,” Zahra said.
“Every single time I’ve been on the track I’ve set a new PB – that’s every time, so I’m only getting faster.
“The track is the place to be if you want to hone in on your skills, not the streets of Townsville.”
Hard to disagree with that.
Junior sports star of the week
It’s impossible to look past the efforts of under 14 girls Northern Territory Football League budding superstar Peggy Rock who has just completed the perfect season.
Not only did she just win her third consecutive league best and fairest medal in the age group but she did it in the most emphatic manner possible, polling best on grounds votes in each of the 12 games she played.
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