Only a week after one of our Club members reached the 150 game plateau, the Hamilton Wildcats AFC are pleased to announce that another long-time Wildcat looks to reach a personal milestone. This coming weekend, veteran 'Cat Nick "Nicco" DiRago will play his 100th OAFL game v the Toronto Dingos at Humber College South on Saturday, August 20th, 2011 @ 12noon. The entire Club couldn't be happier for one of the most well liked players to even dawn a Wildcat jumper.
Nicky has been one of the toughest competitors for the Club, and is well known throughout the OAFL for his hardness at the footy and passion for the game. Nicky's footy resume is definitely a very impressive one, not only just with the Hamilton Wildcats, but also adding several International matches & achievements playing for the Northwind (Canadian National Team) on several occasions. Nick joined the Wildcats at the start of the 2003 season, and immediately started to pay dividends for his new Club, kicking 2 goals in each of his first 3 OAFL games. Due to his impressive marking abilities and knack for finding the goals early on in his career, he picked-up the nickname of "Nicky 2-goals", which he surprising lived up to for the remainder of his rookie season (finishing with 18 goals in 9 games) & capturing the Club's "Rookie of the Year" award for his efforts. In 2004, he proved to everyone on the Wildcats and throughout the OAFL that his accomplishments in his 1st season were no fluke and continued to not only help Hamilton offensively, but also showed that he was an extremely valueable player no matter where he played on the oval. Over his current 9 year career, Nick has represented Canada at the National level 6 times; including helping Canada to defeat the US in Vancouver in '07, was even named as Vice-Captain to the Northwind squad in 2008 and was named Captain of the Wildcats squad in 2009. Overe the years Nick has come to be one of the fiercest competitors to ever wear the "yellow & black", and although injuries are not something that can be avoided when the game is played at such an intense pace; Nick has done well to take care of his body, continuing to be a massive contributor on the field and definitely has been one of the keys to helping the Wildcats reach the 9 win mark on the 2011 season to date.
Everyone here at the Hamilton Wildcats AFC would like to congratulate Nick for reaching such an incredible milestone, not only with this Club but as a member of the OAFL (Ontario Australian Football League). As anyone who has ever played this sport knows, hitting the century mark and beyond is something that is very deserving of praise and should definitely be celebrated. The Wildcats hope not only to give Nick the kudos he deserves this coming weekend, but also to send him off the pitch on Saturday with a win over the Toronto Dingos and continue their tremendous 2011 season as the Finals series approaches. The Club can't thank Nick enough for all his efforts over his incredible career to date, and we look forward to seeing him take the pitch with the 'Catters for another 100 games!!! Congrats mate.
Last Modified on 14/10/2011 02:43