The phones in the News office rang hot last Friday, as excited readers from across the country reached out to congratulate the newsroom on its exclusive story.
Geelong’s Joel Selwood, West Coast’s Josh Kennedy and Fremantle’s own Seymour export David Mundy were all coming out of retirement for the weekend of AFL action — according to the team lists in Friday’s paper, that is.
Alas, Oddie’s colleagues had to deliver the bad news that the favourite sons of the Cats, Eagles and Dockers were not pulling on the boots at the weekend — there had simply been a mistake with the page.
Some further investigation had the finger pointed directly at the calendar, with the page dated June 2, 2022 appearing rather than the 2023 version.
It was very Y2K-esque of the system, Oddie would add.
Taking up the challenge of getting dunked
The GVL Data stats are in for Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell’s weekend across the region.
Thirty-five effective snags cooked, three loaves of bread efficiently buttered and one shivering ice bath.
Mr Birrell was the first person to be dunked into the icy water at Kyabram Recreation Reserve on Friday night, for the local club’s Big Freeze fundraising event.
He backed up the effort on Sunday at the Kyabram Netball Association’s annual tournament on Sunday morning.