■ The Fevolution came to the west with spectacular results on Saturday, when Brendan Fevola made his WRFL debut for Deer Park. And I have to say it was not his 10 goals that caught my eye, although some were brilliant. It was his interaction with his teammates and supporters that was worth whatever he is being paid by the Lions. It was reminiscent of the Tony Lockett days at St Kilda, when the crowd would move from behind the goals at one end to the other just to watch Plugger kick. Fev high-fived the kids after goals and posed for photos and signed jumpers and autographs after the match. I watched him on the ground during the warm-up and he was genuinely having fun with his new teammates.
■ While Fev was running riot in Deer Park, another former AFL star, Mark Williams – now playing coach of third division side Newport Power – was also on his way to 10 goals in the team’s first senior home game. It’s certainly a star-studded start to the WRFL season.
■ Junior football in the west is in an interesting position and the dynamic is different as you go from suburb to suburb, club to club. I’ve received several emails regarding the state of junior footy and there’s no clear-cut solution. A club like St Albans is looking for players to fill out a team in the under-9s and under-15s and if they don’t do it soon, these kids will be lost to footy. Contact the club if you have potential players. Wyndhamvale can’t field an under-17 team yet are in a huge growth area. Is it the fees, the scheduling of games or the commitment of training and playing and the availability of parents to be the taxi? There’s a huge push for girls’ and women’s football, which I think is good and healthy for the code. My concern is the drop-off in numbers in the older boys’ age groups and the standard of the competition, which, in my opinion, has plummeted.
■ The Western Bulldogs have been hit hard by injuries early in the season and while we won’t be seeing the likes of Bob Murphy and Jason Johannisen for a while, we may see Lukas Webb, Bailey Dale, Tom Campbell, Will Minson, Fletcher Roberts or a dozen others, and that’s not a bad thing. It was great to see Dale Morris captain the side last week, a very fitting accolade for a true team man.
Any news, let me know on email kevin@howdypartnersmedia.com.au. Follow me on Twitter @KevinHillier, plus check out the Howdy Partners Media website as well.
