Portarlington Football Netball Club is expecting at least 2000 spectators to attend this weekend’s Bellarine Football League clash against Ocean Grove and a large percentage of them are going along for one reason.
Former Melbourne captain and 306-game player Nathan Jones is pulling on the boots for the Demons as part of Carlton Draft – a Carlton United Breweries and Foxtel initiative to boost community clubs off the back of COVID-interrupted seasons.
Portarlington selected Jones with the first pick in the draft primarily because his one-off appearance will see him pulling on the red and blue once again. Portarlington plays in Melbourne’s traditional blue jumper with a red yoke.
Portarlington president Steve Cogger said the club is looking forward to welcoming the former Dees midfielder to the playing group and the town.
“What was a game of footy is now a community event,” he said.
“The community has gotten behind us. The Lions Club are helping with car parking, the cricket club is helping with the gate.
“Foxtel and Carlton Draught tell us we should expect 10 times our normal gate and that would give us 4000 people. I reckon if we got half that we’d be doing pretty well.”
Mr Cogger said he has had enquiries from people who have no affiliation with the Bellarine Football League or Portarlington.
“I had a person from Geelong who wanted to pre-purchase a ticket and she asked if there will be car parking available,” he said.
“I asked her why she was coming and she said she had barracked for Melbourne all her life and loves Nathan Jones and they have 10 families coming.”
Mr Cogger said the club would make around $15,000 from the event and that the young, but winless, Port side was “quite nervous” about it.
“It’s an experience for our guys and we are a very young side,” he said.
“We’ve had a tough year but to run out onto the ground with someone like him it will be an opportunity for them to learn something.
“We’re investing in our juniors and our junior program to get ourselves out of the situation we’re in.
“We’re a proud community club. We’re not just a footy club in the country, we want to represent our community with pride.”
Mr Cogger said Portarlington’s opponent for the round, Ocean Grove, had been supportive and the communication from Foxtel had been “almost daily”.
