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BENDIGO Gold coach Aussie Jones says Tyrone Downie’s rookie draft selection by the Gold Coast Suns will put a massive smile on the faces of all involved with the defunct VFL club this year.
Downie - the Bendigo Gold’s leading goalkicker this year - was selected by the Suns with selection No.59 in Wednesday’s AFL rookie draft.
“A lot of people put a lot of long hours and hard work into the club and for the way in which it ended... I think there will be a lot of people with massive smiles on their faces today,” Jones said.
“But what I reckon the biggest thing to come out of today is Tigga has shown all those blokes who are a little bit older and may have missed their opportunity earlier to go and have a crack with a VFL club down in Melbourne with their dream still alive because a 26-year-old from their region has just done it and been drafted.”
Jones was full of praise for the work of the Gold’s fitness coach Paul Seery and physiotherapist Theo Kapakoulakis in getting what had been Downie’s previously battered body up every week and in a condition where he played football good enough to be rookied.