Victorian Country Football League win against VAFA
Last week I went to Ballarat with the VCFL where they conquered the VAFA in a thrilling game. We arrived in Ballarat on Saturday.
Off to training in a bus with coaches and players and staff. We were driven to a small barren ground and the driver bundled us out. In the bus we had the Collingwood and Geelong game blaring on radio in front of a huge crowd and what we stepped out onto under this mountain could not have been further removed from the MCG. It was freezing and eerie and very quiet. I think it was right next to Mt Helen but it was so cold and misty it could have been Kilimanjaro.
Anyway this ground was just a little kids ground and was overun by shrubs. The rooms were well too old to be given National Trust rating and anyway we couldnt get in and I think if we opened the door a few skeletons would have fallen out. I saw a small human being on the other side of the ground and ran to him hoping he could get us in but it was a kid with a Geelong jumper on. He ran away! Wonder why? What had happened was that the driver had dropped us off at the wrong ground.
There was no water tap for the bottles so I ran into a front yard over the road and filled the bottles up. Anyway the boys were very positive and trained and to be honest it looked like a scene from the TV AD for AFL footy with kids “gimme that thing” .
On Saturday night the boys had a dinner, team photo and coach Kevin Morris spoke to them. Nathan Bower presented a video to the players that was very motivating on the difference between country and city players.
The game on Sunday was tight all day and really my main function was to hydrate the guys and make sure they were well nourished and warmed up. This is an area that is always lacking at anywhere below elite level. Like last year in Queensland Brett and Shaun Connell gave me everything I needed.
Great result on the siren with Saad Saad marking and kicking the vital point. I had to leave on the siren and drive straight to Green Gully to warmup the soccer team prior to a draw with South Melbourne. Long day and really Green Gully could have used Saad Saad to get over the line. Should have put him in the car. After all he is a Brunswick boy!
Anyway I think I should also document last years final in QLD with Colbert and CO because that was an amazing sporting experience.
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loris bertolacci 
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