Milestones

I would like to think that all milestone matches will be as memorable as that one was on Thursday night.  “Adelaide v Collingwood in front of 50,000 screaming fans.  The noise was loud, it was an amazing atmosphere, I couldn’t want for anything more,” said an elated Heath today as he walked with his wife Danielle and son Harrison into the Adelaide zoo.  He had brought his family, including his mother and father across to Adelaide to help celebrate his milestone.

It soon becomes obvious after chatting with Ben Ryan that there haven’t been many AFL products that come from Capricornia or Central Queensland as we know it.  Ben can name three, ex North Melbourne player Gavin Urquhart, current Suns player Zac Smith and himself.  That makes him pretty unique.

As Matt Leppard walks onto Etihad tomorrow night in his 50th AFL game he is hoping they will not be playing the song by chumbawamba “I get knocked down” because the last time Essendon and the Bulldogs met at Etihad in 2012 Matt did indeed get knocked down; three times, by players coming out of a field bounce.  “Yeah I felt like I had a target on my back that night,” exclaimed Matt today.  “But it wasn’t as bad as the hit I received in my first year when I was really cleaned up in the Essendon v. WCE match and really didn’t know where I was for a while.”

Congratulations to Scott Jeffery, who has been appointed to officiate in his 250th match on Sunday 4th May, Geelong v Richmond at the MCG.

By the time you have amassed 150 AFL games including an AFL grand final, you could be excused for thinking that you had seen it and experienced it all.  Not so for Chelsea, her milestone match between St Kilda and Brisbane in Wellington, New Zealand threw up a number of firsts that add to the uniqueness of the event.

Elite sportsmen and women are driven by many factors. They are all high achievers hungry for sustained success, to prove that their first victory or moment was not a fluke.  Some like David Dixon are also driven by a fear of failure.

AFL goal umpire, Mark Canning becomes only the sixth goal umpire in VFL/AFL history to be appointed to 300 games. Mark is looking forward to walking out onto the Etihad surface at the traditional time of 2.10pm Saturday afternoon when North Melbourne plays Hawthorn in what could be a shoot out.