bornadog
11-07-2015, 03:14 PM
Link (http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/3202889/wheeler-presentation-a-special-moment/?cs=63) by Jordan Roughead
http://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/mTvP5NhWJFQFv7uTytgxtB/a00a6ba3-1a64-4f50-97af-931cc9fddacc.jpg/r0_63_2337_2850_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg:
Jordan Roughead in battle with Ben Hudson in a Western Bulldogs intra-club match. Hudson presented Roughead with his jumper on debut. Picture: Getty Images
THE moment an AFL footballer is presented with the guernsey he will wear in his first game is a moment that stays with him for the rest of his life. I’m not sure how other clubs present their colours to their debutants, but inside the Kennel we’ve developed a rather special and meaningful handover.
It was once an on-field presentation by a senior player. The presentation now occurs a day or two before the game. Ben Hudson presented me with mine. It was a truly humbling moment. I remember looking around at the faces that were in that huddle – Brad Johnson, Barry Hall, Jason Akermanis, Lindsay Gilbee, Nathan Eagleton, Ryan Hargrave among others.
In the mix of emotion, nervousness and anxiety, I cannot remember a word that “Huddo” said. I imagine it was along the lines of: “Well done kid. Good luck. You’ll be right.”
This year we’ve had seven players make their debut with us. Five have lined up for their first game in the AFL. On each of the seven occasions a former player who wore the same number has been invited back into the inner sanctum to tell us what it meant to him. As a Dogs supporter growing up, just being in the room with a former idol makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but to hear them speak about what the jumper and the football club meant to them is indescribable.
Few jumper presentations have the impact that Terry Wheeler’s had last week. A 157-game player and later coach of the Footscray Bulldogs “Wheels” was invited back to present Caleb Daniel with number 35. Every person in that room – player, coach and or support staff – was enthralled.
In part, this is what he left us with: “I remember the absolute sting of the game – the marks you’d finish a game with all over your body, the reds and cuts, the burns and hits. And then there’s the pure burning pain inside your muscles, the effort that the game demanded, every muscle and every fibre of your body was called upon to do it. There’ll be enough advice, enough assistance, all of it given to you. At the end of each day, you’re the one who has to filter through it and at the start of every day you’re the one who has to stand up in front of the mirror and say whether you did it to the best of your ability.”
Time will be the measure of this year’s debutants. This week we welcome another into the fold in Josh Prudden. Few have worked as hard as he for their first opportunity.
http://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/mTvP5NhWJFQFv7uTytgxtB/a00a6ba3-1a64-4f50-97af-931cc9fddacc.jpg/r0_63_2337_2850_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg:
Jordan Roughead in battle with Ben Hudson in a Western Bulldogs intra-club match. Hudson presented Roughead with his jumper on debut. Picture: Getty Images
THE moment an AFL footballer is presented with the guernsey he will wear in his first game is a moment that stays with him for the rest of his life. I’m not sure how other clubs present their colours to their debutants, but inside the Kennel we’ve developed a rather special and meaningful handover.
It was once an on-field presentation by a senior player. The presentation now occurs a day or two before the game. Ben Hudson presented me with mine. It was a truly humbling moment. I remember looking around at the faces that were in that huddle – Brad Johnson, Barry Hall, Jason Akermanis, Lindsay Gilbee, Nathan Eagleton, Ryan Hargrave among others.
In the mix of emotion, nervousness and anxiety, I cannot remember a word that “Huddo” said. I imagine it was along the lines of: “Well done kid. Good luck. You’ll be right.”
This year we’ve had seven players make their debut with us. Five have lined up for their first game in the AFL. On each of the seven occasions a former player who wore the same number has been invited back into the inner sanctum to tell us what it meant to him. As a Dogs supporter growing up, just being in the room with a former idol makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, but to hear them speak about what the jumper and the football club meant to them is indescribable.
Few jumper presentations have the impact that Terry Wheeler’s had last week. A 157-game player and later coach of the Footscray Bulldogs “Wheels” was invited back to present Caleb Daniel with number 35. Every person in that room – player, coach and or support staff – was enthralled.
In part, this is what he left us with: “I remember the absolute sting of the game – the marks you’d finish a game with all over your body, the reds and cuts, the burns and hits. And then there’s the pure burning pain inside your muscles, the effort that the game demanded, every muscle and every fibre of your body was called upon to do it. There’ll be enough advice, enough assistance, all of it given to you. At the end of each day, you’re the one who has to filter through it and at the start of every day you’re the one who has to stand up in front of the mirror and say whether you did it to the best of your ability.”
Time will be the measure of this year’s debutants. This week we welcome another into the fold in Josh Prudden. Few have worked as hard as he for their first opportunity.