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Having being told not to continue playing football at Mentone Grammar due to continuing shoulder problems, Courtney Lai turned his mind to waving the white flags and enjoyed it so much, that after a stint at the Southern Football League, he was promoted to the VFL and in the space of four years officiated in 2 TAC and 2 VFL grand finals.  This last weekend, Courtney officiated his 50th AFL game at the MCG between Collingwood and Gold Coast.

Ask Gerard what his best trait is and he fires back his answer with no fuss, “My consistency.  I have umpired 22 games every year without failure.  I was never injured and I am always putting my hand up for selection.”  

“I felt so relieved when the game was over, I never realised I was that tense,” admitted a normally relaxed Chelsea Roffey who umpired her 200th AFL game in the Western Bulldogs v North Melbourne game at Etihad Stadium.   

It doesn’t matter what time you ring Shane the voice always says, “G’day mate, how are you going?” The voice is always chirpy and the question sincere.

Field umpire, Matt Stevic becomes the 21st field umpire and 40th umpire in the history of the game to officiate in 300 VFL/AFL matches.  Matt commenced umpiring on the AFL panel in 2004.  His games total includes 25 finals and three grand finals (2012, 2014 and 2015). Matt was All-Australian field umpire in 2012, ’14 and ’15.  He represented Australia in the 2013 Ireland tour.

“In this business over 13 years if I’ve learned one thing, it is to take nothing for granted.  At the start of the season I was looking forward to my 200th game.  An injury almost put paid to that,” reflected Dan when we spoke to him about his milestone.  “It is humbling and at the same time a good reality check.”

Marketing and Communications Co-ordinator, Peter Kelly and CEO Peter Howe spent three days in Perth prior to round 21 catching up with our Perth based members. They are an extremely resilient group probably because of their isolation.  “They are an extremely dedicated and committed group of people.  They work together as a team to get things done,” said Kelly, after meeting with the guys for the second time this year.

The AFLUA recently visited Perth to catch up with its members and attend training.

Congratulations to all of our milestone achievers this week.  Chelsea Roffey 200 games, Shane Thiele 150 games and Ben Ryan 100 games, have all made unique contributions to the game and made many sacrifices to get there.