Brothers ready to play 100th game at AAMI StadiumTHEIR paths may cross only at the toss of the coin, but post-match is where it will all be at for Port Adelaide's Daniel Motlop and Melbourne's Aaron Davey regardless of the result in tomorrow's clash at AAMI Stadium.
The Northern Territorians, who are cousins and good mates, will play their 100th AFL games for their respective clubs tomorrow in a match that is crucial for their two sides. Melbourne is winless after two rounds and Port Adelaide are coming off an embarrassing loss to West Coast.
The path to the 100-club for both men could not have been more different -- Davey, an immediate hit with Melbourne as a rookie in 2004 and Motlop via two clubs and three extra years to get there, and a last-gasp win at the AFL Tribunal during the week to make sure he could play it
Davey said this week he wouldn't have minded it if all of Melbourne's Indigenous players could share in his milestone match tomorrow. While injury and experience will conspire against Davey's dream, happen it eventually just might.
With the debut of Jamie Bennell and Neville Jetta, Matthew Whelan's and Austin Wonaeamirri's return from injury and Liam Jurrah continuing his solid contributions with the Demons' VFL-alinged Casey Scorpions, the day when the oldest, continuous football in the world has all of its Indigenous players in the first 22 may one day come.
"I'm still trying to come to terms with it," Davey said. "I was sitting around with my brother (Alwyn) the other night and was saying, 'I can't believe it's my 100th game'. It sort of gets you in a way and you wish that Austin (Wonaeamirri), Matty (Whelan) and all six of us (Indigenous players) could be a part of it, because it is a special day for me and my family. In saying that, I will be more rapt if we go out there and have a fair dinkum crack."
"As the years have gone on I've gotten to know about the oldest club in Australia and one of the oldest clubs in the world, so it's something I am really proud of (to play 100 games)."
Davey said he has come to embrace the 'pioneer' role he's played his 99 AFL games thus far: basically rewriting what a small-ish forward should do without the ball -- that is, the ability to run and chase down defenders inside the forward 50 and beyond. But he's also mindful of the changing nature of football and how players must adapt when their teams change.
"I like hearing it, but times have changed and I've moved up the ground a bit more and we haven't got a David Neitz-type who is going to bring the ball to ground," he said. "It's also good to see other Indigenous guys like my younger brother (Essendon's) Alwyn and (Hawthorn's) Cyril Rioli -- guys who are really going on with it -- and it'd be nice for it to be known as an Indigenous thing."
Motlop this week recalled his journey to his 100th game that took a while to get to.
"I think it's my ninth year in the AFL system now, so to play 100 games now is pretty special," he said. "The most special thing about it is that I get to share with Aaron Davey, who is my best mate. Aaron is godfather to my son and I'm godfather to his daughter. I got off at the tribunal (on Tuesday) and I'm just happy to be playing against Melbourne. Aaron and I actually spoke about our milestones a few months ago and knew that we would play our 100th games against each other."
Thompson set to make debutFRESH from his elevation to senior ranks, Port Adelaide's Wade Thompson is set to make his AFL debut tomorrow.
The strongly built midfielder type, who provided a hint of his talents in the NAB Cup, was named in the Port Adelaide line-up to play Melbourne tomorrow. Thompson's elevation from rookie to senior follows that of Hawthorn's Cameron Stokes last month.
DARREN MONCRIEFF
Darren@AboriginalFootball.com.au
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Last Modified on 11/04/2009 10:45