By RUSSELL BENNETT
EMERALD’S Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League clash with Monbulk on Saturday fell on Kade Simpson Medal day – struck in honour of the Carlton star and former Bombers player.
The Simpson name has remained synonymous with the Emerald Football Club since Kade’s transition to the big-time, with older brother Ryan a stalwart of the Bombers’ defence in recent seasons.
Unfortunately for Kade, however, Emerald wasn’t able to get the chocolates over Monbulk, with former Melbourne Demons midfielder Daniel Ward leading the Hawks to a big 10-goal win, 16.13 (109) to 7.7 (49).
In other local footy news, albeit from left field, former Gembrook Cockatoo junior and current North Melbourne fan favourite Michael ‘Spud’ Firrito is one of the AFL figures featured in the league’s ‘Freak Week’ promotion – a light-hearted take on both on and off-field freakish abilities.
Melbourne’s Jeremy Howe has a freakish ability for taking a high grab, for example, but off-field he displays a freakish inability to park his car properly. Greater Western Sydney youngster Nick Haynes shows off his freakish juggling skills in another short video featured on the AFL website, but Firrito’s ’ability’ has raised more than a few eyebrows.
He introduces his special mate, ‘Chip’ – his unusually pronounced right quad muscle – in a clip on the Kangaroos website, with team mates including Brent Harvey, Drew Petrie and Jack Ziebell also weighing in on what they describe as the side’s “19th man” each week.
“We know Adelaide has a 19th man (their crowd) but what a lot of people in the football world don’t know is that North Melbourne has one as well,” Harvey said.
Ziebell said Spud and Chip were as thick as thieves.
“They go everywhere together,” he said, with tongue firmly planted in cheek.
Firrito described Chip as only having been around for a couple of years, adding: “You have to love your body and I’ve certainly grown to love my new little friend.
“He’s pretty well known around the locker room at Arden Street.”
