Eddie’s country kick to kick
Eddie Betts was in Western Australia this week to attend the funeral of his Grandfather. In typical fashion, Eddie was able to turn a very sad time for himself and his family into a positive for the local community. The in-form forward delighted players and staff of the Boulder City Football Club by turning up to training on Wednesday night. The Tigers, who play in the Goldfields Football League, were rapt to have Adelaide’s leading goalkicker on the track with them.
Coach Brad George said the players were in awe of the Crows star.
“Eddie was in town, sadly, for a family funeral, and asked if he could train with us. We said, ‘Yeah, sure!’ I asked him if he wanted to do an exercise but he said, ‘No, I just want to run around with and chat to the guys’.
“A few of the guys shook his hand and wanted to put their hands in plastic bags afterwards and not touch anything else ever again! That’s the way it is with a superstar like that. It was fantastic.”
Don’t worry Crows fans, Eddie will be back for the Club’s Indigenous Round clash with Fremantle at Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
Brodie’s Bears
Wingman Brodie Martin also got involved in footy at a grassroots level recently.
Martin, who has been recalled to Adelaide’s AFL team for the Dockers clash, took advantage of a bye in the SANFL last weekend and headed home to Meningie. Not content with spectating, the line-breaking Crow assumed goal umpiring duties for the club’s B-Grade side.
Martin also proudly donned his ‘Bears’ jumper when the Crows players had a throwback to their junior years during training at Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night.
I said ‘Yolmen!’
If you’re heading to the game on Saturday night, keep an eye out for the hoodie doing the rounds in the change rooms at West Lakes at the moment. Nathan Thompson, who is the brother of FIVEaa Sports Director Cam, runs his own merchandise company called ‘Slingshot’ and has been experimenting with the concept of artists and footballers. Nathan has created a jumper design with emerging midfielder Cam Ellis-Yolmen depicted as the members of the Village People. It features the phrase, ‘I said Yolmen’ in reference to the line, ‘I said young man’, in the song ‘YMCA’. The jumper was brought to Curly’s attention on social media and after a quick search he was able to locate the owner of the jumper. No word yet if there are plans to mass produce the clever design!
The Bull’s other white meat
Confusion reigned when a parcel containing a goat’s leg arrived at the Adelaide Football Club reception desk recently. The package had no recipient name and no staff members came forward to claim the unusual delivery. After initial suspicions the delivery was a prank, a wide-spread investigation of the administration and football departments was launched and eventually revealed promising young defender Jake Kelly, nicknamed ‘Bull’, to be the rightful owner. It turns out Bull had received the goat leg as part of a meat tray for a media appearance. The goat leg, which is a delicacy in some countries, is now stored in the freezer of the ‘Performance Centre’ otherwise known as Patrick Dangerfield’s house, where Kelly is a tenant. However, the goat leg doesn’t take the mantle as the most bizarre food spotted with a Crow. That title goes to draftee Mitch McGovern, who munched on a whole red capsicum at half time of one of the Club’s SANFL games.
Singapore sling
Before entering the latter stages of his rehabilitation from a knee injury, Andy Otten jetted to Singapore last where he held a football clinic for about 250 kids of the Singapore Sharks. Otten and his partner Emmalyn also enjoyed four days in Bali as part of the trip, which was a good circuit-breaker for the defender, who had to train throughout much of his offseason break.
“The kids are super-energetic and really love AFL. They have a massive Aussie-expat crew over there. It was great fun,” Otten said.
“You never get to getaway at that time of year … I don’t think I have my whole life, really, because of footy. I landed and went to a pub straight away to watch the boys play. I really enjoyed it and came back really refreshed mentally and physically. I think I kind of needed it at that stage.”
