PREMIUM
Opinion

Bringing up the ton with a choccy milk

By Oddie
Girgarre mentor and spearhead Damian Cupido on the move against Longwood on Saturday. Photo: Rohan Aldous.
Unstoppable: Girgarre mentor and spearhead Damian Cupido on the move against Longwood on Saturday. Photo: Rohan Aldous. Photo by Rohan Aldous

At Longwood on Saturday, Girgarre had two goals in its Kyabram District League clash with the Redledgs.

First, and probably most important, was to win, and win big — which it did to secure its first finals appearance in two decades.

The second one was to funnel as many forward-50 entries as possible down the throat of coach Damien Cupido, who needed 13 goals to reach his fifth ton in country footy.

When he brought up that 13th major, Redlegs stadium briefly became the SCG earlier this year when Lance Franklin brought up his 1000th major in AFL footy.

Well, nearly — there might not have been as many supporters in Longwood, but one of those who jumped over the fence brought the man of the moment a choccy milk, which he downed in one scull before trotting back to the goal square.

It’s not quite the on-field celebration Rob Osborne reached when he brought up the ton for Rushworth years ago, the key forward downing a ‘shoey’ (a beer poured into a shoe, then drunk from the shoe, for the uninitiated).

It was the second bag Cupido had kicked against Longwood this season.

The former Essendon forward slotted 14.8 on the weekend to go with his 16.4 earlier in the season, for a whopping total of 30 goals from two games.

Numbers aren’t Oddie’s strong point, but that’s a lot of goals.

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a ... military attack helicopter?

Punters from Girgarre — and across the region — should keep their eyes peeled to the skies over the coming weeks.

Military exercises will be occurring at Puckapunyal, so if you see some military gear in the air, in the words of Douglas Adams, don’t panic.