Country Game pays homage to junior footy

GEELONG Football Club players will wear their junior club logos on their guernseys as part of this week’s annual AFL Country Game.

Local clubs such as Anglesea, St Mary’s, St Joseph’s and Queenscliff will feature on the jumpers of players on Chris Scott’s playing 22 at the MCG tomorrow (Saturday, June 29).

Geelong’s 2024 Regional Guernsey includes the colours of every Cats AFL player’s junior or local club – whether Australian Rules or Gaelic Football – on the guernseys’ middle hoop, with each player’s guernsey also featuring their junior logo on their breast.

St Mary’s and Sunbury are the two most-represented clubs, with each having three players on the Cats’ 2024 list.

Jack Henry, Ollie Henry and Toby Conway all began their footballing journeys with St Mary’s, while Cameron Guthrie, Zach Guthrie and Mark Blicavs were all juniors at Sunbury.

 

 

Patrick Dangerfield, a junior with Anglesea, said the Country Game was the biggest day on the calendar.

“It’s a great recognition of quite clearly how Australia’s been founded on the core values of farmers and providing for those living in the cities.

“It’s a wonderful game to recognise how many Australians live, which is rurally, we understand that being in Geelong, which is not totally rural but semi-rural.

“It’s always a game that invokes plenty of passion and you learn more about how some Australians live.”

The guernseys feature clubs from the other states as well, including South Australia, Western Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.

Ireland-based Gaelic Football teams are also among the list of clubs representated on the guernseys, with Dingle (Mark O’Connor), Mayo (Oisin Mullin) and Portlaoise (Zach Tuohy) included.