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Ant Bear
Swamprat
- Dec 7, 2012
- 37,234
- 86,329
- AFL Club
- Port Adelaide
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- Port Magpies, Swamprats forever,
The OP casts his mind back. Way, way back, to Sweet FA Season 24.
As rookie captain of the Swamprats, we had endured a hell of a lot of heartache already, and were only halfway through the season. From Millky95's mic drop and the desertion of key players Noobz0r, Golumless and spookism, we wondered if the Swamprats would survive. But up from the shadows stepped Dingster; Cloud_ stayed when retirement was on his mind and we recruited heavily. Current skipper philreich came over from the Demons, and we invested in rookies, some of whom had short careers.
But the best of these rookies was drazah, and little did we know how dramatically this recruitment would shape us in seasons ahead.
drazah was sharp, witty and clever. He famously torched the Furies, and spread his wings wide across the league. We could all see that he was a EKA contender.
We had lost the first 8 games of the season. Coupled with the straight sets S23 exit, a club record 10 game losing streak sat on our shoulders, but come round 9 against the Roys - SUCCESS!!! Celebrations were long and loud, and as we embarked on round 10 against the Wonders we were exuberant.
Until...
On the Friday morning, I found out via the Port board that drazah had sadly passed away. We were genuinely distraught, and found solace in the win that week, with drazah famously soaring high in defence to save the game.
In the weeks and months that followed, I kept in contact with drazah's family, through his brother, jackster83, as we planned and executed several memorials to our fallen comrade. We arranged a charity match, with a tidy sum donated to Beyond Blue. Many SFA posters still wear this badge. We named our internal rookie award in drazah's honour; it still bears his name today. And without any pressure, jackster 83 came to see that we were a real club, a genuine team, and he eventually asked to join the Swamprats in Round 6 of Season 26.
Since then, he has played 99 games with the club; risen to a leadership position and won 2 Premierships. Eschewing prime positions, he has prowled the half back flank, half forward flank and been a KPP. Like others, jackster83 took his time to find his feet in the league; learned about his opponents and has become the leader that we thought we were getting way back in S24 with his brothr.
Please congratulate JACKSTER83 ON 100 Sweet FA games this week. Mate, you finally get your name on a cell (and not one of those smelly, COVID-infested hellholes at Abdu!)
As rookie captain of the Swamprats, we had endured a hell of a lot of heartache already, and were only halfway through the season. From Millky95's mic drop and the desertion of key players Noobz0r, Golumless and spookism, we wondered if the Swamprats would survive. But up from the shadows stepped Dingster; Cloud_ stayed when retirement was on his mind and we recruited heavily. Current skipper philreich came over from the Demons, and we invested in rookies, some of whom had short careers.
But the best of these rookies was drazah, and little did we know how dramatically this recruitment would shape us in seasons ahead.
drazah was sharp, witty and clever. He famously torched the Furies, and spread his wings wide across the league. We could all see that he was a EKA contender.
We had lost the first 8 games of the season. Coupled with the straight sets S23 exit, a club record 10 game losing streak sat on our shoulders, but come round 9 against the Roys - SUCCESS!!! Celebrations were long and loud, and as we embarked on round 10 against the Wonders we were exuberant.
Until...
On the Friday morning, I found out via the Port board that drazah had sadly passed away. We were genuinely distraught, and found solace in the win that week, with drazah famously soaring high in defence to save the game.
4 : 23.53 {CHF} - WaLkEr_ThE_StAr takes off.
4 : 23.57 {FF} - That's a real finger-breaker in the direction of dogs105.
4 : 24.01 {FF} - dogs105 is outmarked by drazah.
4 : 24.06 {FB} - The ball is now with drazah.
In the weeks and months that followed, I kept in contact with drazah's family, through his brother, jackster83, as we planned and executed several memorials to our fallen comrade. We arranged a charity match, with a tidy sum donated to Beyond Blue. Many SFA posters still wear this badge. We named our internal rookie award in drazah's honour; it still bears his name today. And without any pressure, jackster 83 came to see that we were a real club, a genuine team, and he eventually asked to join the Swamprats in Round 6 of Season 26.
Since then, he has played 99 games with the club; risen to a leadership position and won 2 Premierships. Eschewing prime positions, he has prowled the half back flank, half forward flank and been a KPP. Like others, jackster83 took his time to find his feet in the league; learned about his opponents and has become the leader that we thought we were getting way back in S24 with his brothr.
Please congratulate JACKSTER83 ON 100 Sweet FA games this week. Mate, you finally get your name on a cell (and not one of those smelly, COVID-infested hellholes at Abdu!)