Geelong legend returns Premiership Cup to school roots

GEELONG Football Club legend Cameron Ling has brought this year’s AFL Premiership Cup back to his school footy roots.

Ling showed the cup to some lucky Grade 1 to Grade 4 students at his former school, Fyans Park Primary School in Newtown earlier today (Wednesday, September 17).

The students got their hands on the AFL’s most prized piece of silverware ahead of Preliminary Final weekend and posed for photos with Ling, the 2011 Cats premiership captain and 2007 and 2009 premiership player.

“It’s a good time to have [the cup] here, I hope it stays here for for another week and a half,” he quipped.

“Preliminary Final weekend is my favourite sporting weekend of the whole year – the four best teams, the two best games, all of that, and of course it had to be Geelong and Hawthorn just to make me nervous as hell, sick in the stomach, but really excited about the game.

“For one of the clubs to have the chance to win this thing is pretty special, but to then have it back in Geelong, my local community where I grew up and played all my footy – it’s always special when this particular cup comes to visit. Hopefully it stays here permanently.”

He said his favourite memory or moment of any Premiership Cup was Geelong’s 2007 win.

“I know for neutral footy fans, everyone says: ‘Oh, it was a blowout Grand Final, how boring’. It was the greatest day of my life.

“I was a Cats fan growing up, I went to all four of those losing grand finals – 1989, 1992, 1994, 1995 – so to finally have this particular piece of silverware back at Geelong, all those long-suffering fans, my family, me, all Geelong fans to finally have our hands on it, it was so special.

“It was amazing and I didn’t really want to let it go on the day.”