Geelong Advertiser |
BRENDAN Fevola is the travelling roadshow who walks the talk.
Earlier this month, the former Carlton spearhead played a match for Yarrawonga on the Saturday, drove six hours to East Gippsland and kicked 15 goals the following day to single-handedly lift Lindenow to a massive upset win over premiership fancy Wy Yung.
It will be a similar situation confronting Fevola on Sunday when he lines up for Geelong West against reigning GDFL premier North Geelong at West Oval.
“I love it, it’s right up my alley, meeting so many different people,” Fevola told the Geelong Advertiser this week as he prepares for his marquee appearance for Geelong West Cheetahs against reigning GDFL premier North Geelong.
“Instead of sitting in an ice bath 10 minutes after a game like I would have in the AFL, I’m sitting in the rooms having a stubby talking to someone I don’t know after having a bit of fun out there on the ground.”
Fevola has done his research on the Cheetahs. He knows the Magpies will take some beating and scouted his expansive network of players for anyone willing to join him for the one-off appearance.
Former Richmond goalsneak Kayne Pettifer had committed, only to injure his back. Setanta O’hailpin then flew on to the radar before club commitments with Albury scuttled that idea.
Pettier will still be on hand to watch and Fevola has big plans if he can help drag the Cheetahs to an upset victory.
“We’ll probably head off to Lamby’s after it,” Fevola said.
“I’ve been to that joint once, after Geelong Cup Day a few years back. I walked in and Cameron Ling was behind the bar and I thought ‘oh this is going to be a good night’.”
Geelong West president Simon Cavallo was the mastermind behind luring Fevola for the one-off game and it took a solid year of groundwork.
Cavallo wanted to make West relevant again after a decade in the GDFL wilderness by doing something out of the ordinary.
The day was never about making money, which is why the club aligned itself with the EJ Whitten Foundation. All gate proceeds from the $10 entry will go to the foundation.
It was also not necessarily about loading up for a win either, but the club wanted to attract a quality midfielder to ensure Fev had the supply that people had come to see.
“The focus here was to get our name firmly back on the radar. We’ve made some ground in the past two years but it was about ‘how can I put us on the back page of the Addy and get our name in lights’.
“This jumped out at me. It’s an opportunity that couldn’t be matched.
“Our biggest focus now is rejuvenating our junior program because it’s the lifeblood of every local club and it’s the most important aspect of our future.”
