IT has been another big year in Bendigo sport. Addy sports reporter Luke West lists his five favourite yarns from 2017.
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1. DUSTIN MARTIN’S MEMORABLE SEPTEMBER WEEK
There was no bigger name in the AFL in 2017 than “Dusty” – he’s now reached the status where the only introduction needed is his nickname.
Having come through Campbells Creek, Castlemaine and the Bendigo Pioneers, Dustin Martin’s 2017 for Richmond will go down in the history books as one of the greatest in the game’s history, culminating in a memorable five days in late September in which he won the Brownlow Medal, Norm Smith Medal and a drought-breaking premiership with the Tigers.
While Tigers’ fans revelled in his exploits on the field, his family and those who had played a part in his footballing journey couldn’t have been more proud.
Clearly there was too much to cover in one story, so below is a link to a memorable week in which Martin dominated the pages of the Addy.
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2. “THE WIZARD” WEAVES HIS MAGIC ON THE MCG FOR STARS
“A crazy few hours” was how Bendigo’s Liam Bowe described his Big Bash League debut with the Melbourne Stars at the MCG in January.
Less than a year after he had still been playing in the BDCA with Sandhurst, Bowe was at one stage trending nationally on Twitter when he took 1-21 off three overs in the Stars’ win over the Adelaide Strikers and quickly became known as ‘The Wizard’, with his glasses drawing comparisons to Harry Potter.
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3. LACHLAN SHARP – STILL AS SHARP AS EVER
When season 2017 in the BFNL is reflected upon in years to come, one name is bound to spring to mind – Lachlan Sharp.
The Strathfieldsaye forward became the BFNL’s king of bling this year by winning the Michelsen Medal, Ron Best Medal, a premiership medal and the AFL Victoria Country grand final medal.
And he did it coming off a knee reconstruction in a season where he initially wasn’t expected to take to the field until May.
But as he said in late May on the one year anniversary of his knee reconstruction: “When you do a knee it certainly wakes you up that you can’t take footy for granted.”
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4. SHOUT OF HOWZAT HEARD AT SERPENTINE ONCE MORE
There’s a sentiment that once a sporting club goes into recess, it ain’t coming back.
That’s not true of the Serpentine Cricket Club though.
Serpentine hasn’t had a cricket team since 2006-07… until this season.
Through the work of Wayne Wilson – running effectively a one-man committee – the sound of “howzat” is once again being heard on a summer’s Saturday in Serpentine.
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5. HARROWER’S BASKETBALL AUSTRALIA HALL OF FAME HONOUR
She’s one of Bendigo’s greatest sporting products and has now taken her rightful place in Basketball Australia’s Hall of Fame.
“I never dreamed that I’d ever be inducted into a basketball Hall of Fame, so this is up there with playing in the Olympics and my Spirit championships,” Kristi Harrower said following her induction in October.
With two young children and running two businesses, Kristi doesn’t get much time to reflect on her outstanding basketball career.
But her induction was an opportune time to do just that.
