Hold onto your Sherrin footballs, AFL superstar Adam Goodes is not only heading to the South West Slopes tomorrow but in fact Young itself for a special meet and greet session.
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The Sydney Swans captain – who has not yet returned to full training due to a knee injury – is using his rehabilitation as a chance to meet some of his fans.
His trip to Young is all thanks to Donges Supa IGA entering into a competition with Kraft to secure a visit from an influential sports icon.
The submission from IGA staff, which focused on Young being a country town with a fledging AFL club, was enough to entice judges to award them the honour of such a visit.
They were also the only NSW store to have a senior AFL player head this way.
“It’s an absolute bonus for us – it was a comp IGA won and we just happen to be benefiting from it,” Young Saints AFL Club president Mark Silk said.
“It’s a bit of a coup for us but it wasn’t initiated by the club at all – full credit goes to IGA,” he said.
Goodes will be at Donges Supa IGA from 3.30pm until 5pm tomorrow signing autographs and posing for photos.
Silk also said the visit was the perfect opportunity for the club to hold their first junior AFL registration day at the premises.
“We thought it was a great opportunity and we’re taking full advantage of it by holding a junior sign-up day,” Silk said.
“It will also allow us to talk to people who didn’t know there was an AFL club in town,” he said.
Goodes holds an elite place in AFL/VFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, dual premiership player, four-time All-Australian and member of the Indigenous Team of the Century.
He has also represented Australia in the International Rules Series.
Goodes was first drafted by Sydney into the Australian Football League as the number 43 pick in the 1997 AFL draft, Sydney's third round draft pick.
In Round 7 2006 Goodes played his 150th consecutive match.
By the end of the 2007 season, he had played 191 consecutive matches.
Goodes broke the Sydney games record when he played his 304th AFL game for the Sydney Swans in its Round 5, 2012 victory over Hawthorn at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania.
He suffered a quad injury in Round 6, and was expected to miss up to six games as a result.
Goodes guided his team to victory in the 2012 AFL grand final, defeating Hawthorn by 10 points.
The 33-year-old has now clocked up a massive 319 games in total and has every intention of doing whatever it takes to be ready for the Round 1 clash with Greater Western Sydney Giants at ANZ Stadium on Saturday, March 30, at ANZ Stadium.
