Demons train new generation of Tottenham footballers

Originally published in Dubbo Photo News

The Dubbo Demons Junior AFL club hosted a special training session last Monday for students from Tottenham Central School.

The students were in Dubbo for a class trip last week and asked the Demons for their assistance to run an Aussie Rules skills’ session.

Students have been reading the book Deadly, Unna? featuring the sport as part of their literacy studies and developed an interest in it.

With not much knowledge of the sport themselves, teachers contacted the club to see if they could help out.

Students brushed up on their kicking, marking, and handballing skills, ready for some more matches against their classmates when they return home.

AFL Central West manager Casey White attended the session, that was supported by both the youth girl’s and boy’s teams.

Demons’ senior women’s player Kaitlyn Waldie helped organise the session and said it was great to see enthusiasm for the sport reaching further west.

“We treated it as an extra training session for the juniors and are hoping to see this continue to return to the sport over the coming years.”

Waldie said it was exciting to see new faces finding enjoyment in the sport.

“I think it’s cool they’ve come from such a rugby focussed community and they want to get involved with Aussie Rules,” she said.

“It would be great to help further develop the skills among new and emerging students in Tottenham as they continue to read the book and use this training opportunity as a way to develop a relationship with the kids out there over the coming years.

“Plus, you never know how many of those kids might grow up to move to Dubbo, and we’re always after more senior players,” she laughed.

Back in their regularly scheduled footy sessions, the Dubbo Demons senior sides had a ripper weekend, celebrating wins in all three grades at home.

The men’s tier two side kicked off the day with a solid 8.6.54 win over the Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels 5.6.36.

Bouncing back from a disappointing, and costly, loss against the Bathurst Giants last week the women’s side were back in the winner’s circle.

Loaning players to Orange throughout the game to help boost numbers and provide as much of a competition as possible, the Demons easily secured the win.

Despite the massive score line, 13.13.91 to 1.2.8, by all reports the game was well played and brought some fun back into footy after a stressful week.

The tier one men’s side finished off the afternoon, securing the third win of the day, 17.9.111 to Orange’s 7.6.48.

AFL Central West’s senior competition will have a bye next weekend for what was pencilled to be the Central West v Sapphire Coast representative match.

With the representative match postponed for now, teams will be enjoying a weekend off with a bit more time for recovery before they head back to South Dubbo Oval to face the Bathurst Bushrangers.