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TOMORROW will be more than just a game of football at the Queen Elizabeth Oval for South Bendigo’s Brad Wright and his sister Emma Tomlins.
Twins Brad and Emma are two of the children of Graeme Wright, who will be honoured tomorrow night when Bendigo Football League clubs South Bendigo and Sandhurst play for a memorial cup in his honour.
The Graeme Wright Memorial Cup is now in its 16th year and is played for each season between QEO co-tenants South Bendigo and Sandhurst.
Brad will be a part of the Bloods’ senior team that will be aiming to win the cup back off the Dragons, while Emma will line up with South Bendigo’s B-grade netball team.
Graeme played 138 senior games for the Bloods, mainly as a key defender.
He captain-coached the Bloods in 1983 and 1986 and was described as a player who played “hard and fair.”
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His playing career was prematurely cut short in 1986 after suffering a knee injury, but he maintained a strong involvement in the game.
He also coached the Bendigo Football’s inter-league team twice, as well as the Bloods’ under-18s and served various off-field roles at South Bendigo.
Graeme was also heavily involved with the Bloods’ junior teams.
Graeme died in February, 1998, four years after being diagnosed with a brain tumour.
As well as the cup being struck in his honour, the Bloods’ juniors have a loyalty and leadership award named after Graeme, with recipients over the years including his son Brad, Aaron Connaughton and Michael Leech.
“It’s always a special day for the family,” Emma said yesterday.
“It makes you remember that he played with the club and you want to play well for him.
“The day is also a bit harder, but the family is there to support.”
With a strong contingent of family at the game each year, the annual match acts as somewhat of a Wright family reunion.
“It’s great to see the amount of people and family turn up to support your old man... that’s fairly special,” said Brad, who like his dad, wears No.36 for the Bloods.
Added Emma: “It means a lot to mum (Pam) and nana (Joyce), who gets to come along and support her grandchildren playing.
“The day is a bit of a celebration for the family. We’ve got some relatives coming down from Queensland this year for it.”
Brad – a key defender with the Bloods – says it was tough early in his career playing in the games in honour of his dad.
“It was a bit difficult early to get away from it, but I know now I can put it to the side a bit more now and just go out and play a normal game of footy,” he said.
South Bendigo general manager Mal Balnaves, who was a team-mate of Graeme’s, said Wright was integral in laying the foundations during the ’80s that led to the club’s phenomenal success in the early to mid-90s when it was a super power of the Bendigo Football League.
“Graeme’s contribution to South Bendigo was enormous,” Balnaves said.
“He was involved at the club at a time when it was struggling during the ’80s, but he stuck through thick and thin.
“He was instrumental in his years as coach in 1983 and again in 1986 in bringing in young people, like myself, who were coming through the juniors.
“He certainly helped mould the future for the club when we became successful in the ’90s.
“He was only about 23 when he first coached, so he had leadership ability at an early age, which always stood out to me, and he was a very fierce competitor... fair but fierce.”
But Graeme wasn’t just a strong leader and footballer.
“He was also a good friend with everybody... he was one of those blokes who had empathy with the players and was friends with everyone,” Balnaves said.
“And he was certainly a larrikin as well. He was always a good one for practical jokes and pranks – he had a great personality and really enjoyed having fun.
“I’ve been involved with the club in administration and coaching the seconds and so forth, but I’ve got no doubt if he was still here that Graeme would have been that person in front of me doing this.
“If he was around today, he’d be still leading the club.
“It’s just fantastic we are able to continue to honour and remember Graeme with this game against Sandhurst each year.”
Sandhurst holds the Graeme Wright Memorial Cup after its 22-point win over South Bendigo in round three last year.
“Obviously, it would be great to win it back on Saturday night,” Brad said.
“We’ve started the season off well (38-point win over Gisborne last week), so if we could get another win on Saturday night, it will hold us in good stead.”
As well as being the Graeme Wright Memorial Cup match, tomorrow night’s game between the Bloods and Dragons also doubles as the VCFL’s Game of the Month.