Sunday Shout: Billy Gowers’ NFL dream a step closer, AFL v NRL war continues

A former Bulldog and Blue is one step closer to achieving his NFL dream, but he’ll have to stop in Hawaii along the journey. Meanwhile, Australia’s code war continues to heat up in SUNDAY SHOUT.

Jon Anderson, Glenn McFarlane, Fiona Byrne, Gilbert Gardiner and Matthew Forrest

8 min read

March 30, 2025 - 11:00AM

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Billy Gowers is off to the USA. Picture: Michael Klein

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Billy Gowers this week became the latest mature-aged AFL player to be lured as a punter to a US college.

Gowers, 28, the goalkicking barber who played 33 games and kicked 39 goals for the Western Bulldogs from 2018-20, will join the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors in May as their sole punter.

JA: How did you go from Aussie rules with Port Melbourne (Gowers was the VFL’s leading goalkicker last season with 50) to punting for the Rainbow Warriors?

BG: I’d never watched the game or been interested in it, but I had a conversation with my old man (Andy, president of Hawthorn FC) in July last year and ended up going for a trial kick with Prokick’s Nathan Chapman at Glenferrie Oval in August last year.

JA: Tell me about your journey since leaving Xavier College in 2014?

BG: I was at Carlton for two years after school but ultimately wasn’t good enough. Then I went to the Western Bulldogs in 2017 and got drafted. I played for three years and then got delisted during the Covid hub, so I went to Southport on the Gold Coast for two years. I moved back to Old Xaverians in the VAFA for a few games before playing with my mates at Moe and then Port last year?

Billy Gowers. Picture: Michael Klein

JA: Having watched you since your school years, I have never worked out why you didn’t play more AFL, given your obvious X-factor explosive qualities?

BG: I probably fell out of love with the game for a multitude of reasons. But I’m in a really good spot now and have learnt not to put all my eggs in one basket. Owning a barber shop was my nine-to-five job and training for footy at Port became my fun time. At AFL I didn’t have enough from outside to focus on.

JA: Was there a catalyst for change?

BG: I was diagnosed high level ADHD, which explains why coaches had issues with my concentration during games and meetings. Self-discovery made me a far better player over the last three years than during my time with the Bulldogs. I wasn’t mentally mature enough. If I started my AFL career knowing what I know now, I feel I would have done a lot better.

JA: You have made fast inroads with Prokick?

BG: I don’t feel like that given I have a super impatient personality. But you are right, my route has been quicker than most although being older I’ve already done a lot of strength work, development.

JA: How does someone with an impetuous personality go with punting, where you might only be involved once a game?

BG: While I love action, that will be going on around me and I’m a moments person where I like the idea of being called upon to produce. I’ll get my chance to show some flair. But it will take a while to get used to not always being involved.

JA: Have you picked up the nuances of your new code?

BG: A lot of it’s hang-time. I kick mainly spirals (torpedos) rather than rollouts (drop punts).

JA: How cool to get a placement with the Hawaii Rainbow Warriors at the University of Hawaii?

BG: My partner Ava has been to Hawaii and loved it so I can’t wait. My way to break down some barriers will be to offer some free haircuts (laughter). We’ll move in May with the first game in August.

JA: Tell me about Prokick.

BG: I have reached out to as many people as possible for information, something I wouldn’t have done when I was younger. Prokick is really well run, so specific in terms of biomechanics with your actual kick. The number of placements they get for their punters is crazy.

JA: Your long-term dream is the NFL?

BG: Yes, but that is a long way off and I have to learn so much about the game, which I’m doing every day. Playing last year with Port got my mindset into a professional way. It does also feel like I’ve been training for years for it.

KOUTA SCOFFS AT PARKIN’S HAWKS LOVE

– Matthew Forrest

Carlton premiership coach David Parkin says the 2025 Hawks are one of the best teams he’s ever seen do it, but one of his former players has laughed off the comparisons.

Blues legend Anthony Koutoufides, who played in the 1995 flag under Parkin, says Carlton had more “greats” of the game in that premiership season.

“I’m sure there will be a few of those players going, ‘What are you talking about Parko?’” he laughed.

“We didn’t just have Carlton superstars, we had AFL greats – Greg Williams, Stephen Kernahan, Stephen Silvagni, Craig Bradley, we had an elite team and a remarkable year.

“It’s hard to compare to the current Hawks team, if you talk skill they’re way above us but if we talk talent and the stars we had in 1995 it was just unbelievable.

“Their ball movement is special … Once they get the ball out, they look like another level of a team.”

Anthony Koutoufides and David Parkin.

Koutoufides still follows the Blues religiously, but admits he is “no footy expert”, with his political aspirations and family life taking precedence.

He is running for the seat of Melbourne in the Federal election, with the voting date set for May 3.

“It’s going to be a full-on time for the next five weeks to get in front of people’s faces and run a great campaign,” he said.

“My goal is to get in and get the city moving forward again, and make it a place where everyone is excited about, and make it a showpiece for the world.”

DILLON FIRES BACK AS CODE WAR ESCALATES

– Glenn McFarlane

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon has fired back at his NRL counterpart Peter V’landys, dismissing the rugby league chief’s claim to code supremacy in Australia.

Dillon said the facts were clear that AFL football was the premier code in the nation on all metrics, including being the most popular sport, saying V’landys' comments were factually incorrect.

While the AFL boss did not want to personally attack V’landys, it’s the latest in what has been a war of words between the two sports since the start of their 2025 seasons.

“AFL is the No. 1 sport and it is the No. 1 sport by a long way,” Dillon said at a function in Perth.

AFL CEO Andrew Dillon. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

NRL boss Peter V’landys. Picture: Richard Dobson

“If you measure attendances, (the AFL’s) average crowd is a tick under 40,000. We have 400 million hours viewed, which is 40 per cent more than any other sport in Australia.

“Participation is at record highs, revenue at record is at record highs, (as well as the) net assets to the AFL.

“On all those measurements, we are the No. 1 sport.”

Dillon also detailed how State-of-Origin football – with the traditional states under consideration – could return to Australian rules as early as next pre-season.

He said Opening Round was here to stay, though discussions on potential modifications were underway.

“But ultimately we are just about making sure our game can be as good as it can be, to make it affordable and accessible (to the fans), and we want to it to be a game that people want to play and to come and watch,” Dillon said.

V’landys took a swipe at the AFL earlier this month, saying: “We have worked very hard to get the game to be the most watched sport in Australia.

“We are No. 1 in Australia. We have the premium product, that’s all that matters … we have got the game that is the most watched.”

Dillon has set the target of reaching 10 million in annual crowd attendance for AFL and AFLW games and events combined. It currently sits at 8.2 million.

He is also chasing 2 million club memberships. The AFL also wants 1 million registered participants by 2033.

NORTH BALYWN’S STUNNING TRIBUTE TO FALLEN FRIEND

– Jon Anderson

When all is said and done, North Balwyn Cricket Club was last weekend the greatest premiership certainty the Eastern Cricket Association has seen.

The reigning premier was travelling sweetly in late February, sitting on top of the ladder as it entered the second day of its match against cellar dweller Canterbury. And then the unthinkable happened – much-loved club figure and player Nick Fahey died in his sleep aged just 31.

Fahey’s death on the night of February 28 was relayed to North Balwyn’s senior XI just 10 minutes before their game was due to start. Not surprisingly they were in no mental condition to play.

Nick Fahey.

That’s when the ECA came into play, deeming under Rule 16.3 that a refusal to play constituted a forfeit, meaning North Balwyn went from first to second on the ladder.

To say North Balwyn was disappointed in the ECA’s ruling would be an understatement, but the decision galvanised a club that on form hardly required any extra motivation given another extremely popular Bulls figure in Simon Elsmore had also died during the season after a short battle with an aggressive cancer.

When the finals played out, North Balwyn won its semi-final against third-placed Old Carey, with top-placed Mont Albert winning through to the grand final. In the Dunstan Shield decider, the Mont Albert boys scored just 115, as Zain Latif and Luke Stacker shared nine wickets between them, a total North Balwyn successfully chased for the loss of five wickets.

‘G’ MARKS THE SPOT

– Gilbert Gardiner

Port Adelaide sharpshooter Mitch Georgiades has a score to settle next time he slots a goal.

It also did not go unnoticed last Thursday night that Georgiades neglected to make a ‘G’ symbol after two early majors in his side’s loss to Essendon.

Georgiades lost a friendly bet with a high-profile guest at teammate Connor Rozee’s wedding last year and must oblige with a ‘G’ goal celebration after every major he kicks.

The ‘G’ is not for Georgiades or goal but Gillon McLachlan, the former AFL boss-turned-Tabcorp chief executive is best friends with Seb Packer, the father of Rozee’s bride.

Mitch Georgiades takes a hangar

In conversation at the wedding reception it came up that McLachlan used to ride a horse to school, which he did from the family farm to Mount Pleasant Primary School in South Australia.

Georgiades scoffed at the idea strongly enough to put money – or goal celebrations – on the line.

The horse-to-school story was confirmed by McLachlan’s brother and Channel 7 broadcaster Hamish, and Georgiades lost the bet.

DOUG’S WISH FOR JAMARRA

– Jon Anderson

Footscray’s Team of the Century wingman Doug Hawkins has watched the Jamarra Ugle-Hagan circus from afar with levels of both frustration and disappointment.

The frustration stems from his belief the club has missed a golden opportunity to appoint former Indigenous player Michael “Magic” McLean as a mentor to Ugle-Hagan, in the same way Geelong employed Eddie Betts to help Tyson Stengle settle at the club in 2022.

GOUT GOUT, KENNEDY LEAD NEW GOLDEN ERA

.- Jon Anderson

Saturday night’s sellout crowd (estimated 10,000) at Lakeside Stadium for the Maurie Plant Meet was indicative of a golden era in Australian Track and Field according to Nic Bideau, someone who has been involved at the pointy end for five decades.

“We are now attracting athletes with multicultural backgrounds, Athletics Australia is really well run by a young group and the Brisbane Olympics is an obvious carrot for every Australian athlete,” Bideau said. “We have never had such depth in virtually every event.”