 |
| Steve 'Thumper' Bandy (centre right) interviews Josh Hill (centre left) while Marshy (left) films. |
So, let's jump back to Thursday.
The West Coast Eagles decided to celebrate Indigenous round a week before its actual date, because they were drawn an away game, so they wanted to celebrate the contribution the Aboriginal community has made to the Eagles at home. On Thursday, we held a press conference with Aboriginal players Sharrod Wellingham and Josh Hill and were also joined by North Melbourne players Lindsay Thomas and Daniel Wells. I was given the camera and had to take a few snaps of the players during the press conference, before we moved outside to take a few photos of the boys plus Aboriginal greats David Wirrapanda and Phil Narkle. After the whole thing was done, I headed home to write an article on the press conference. We were told early on in the week that we would push the fact that the Eagles were having a celebration of Indigenous round, so I had to include this heavily in all my articles during the week.
 |
| Sam Butler remembered who I was and we had a real good chat with him. |
Friday was game day against North Melbourne. After a big day at uni, I was tired and wasn't really feeling like going to the game, but what a game it turned out to be! Nic Naitanui kicked a goal after the siren, and the Eagles won by two points. It was insane and everyone in the office was jumping around and the players after the game were over the moon. It was still business as usual as we delegated players to the media and attended John Worsfold's press conference. After getting home really late, I still had to write my report from the game.
 |
| The ballroom at the Perth Convention Exhibition Centre was phenomenal and was an experience I will never forget. |
On Saturday night, the Eagles held the annual gala auction night which was a huge success. I was not sure what to expect, and at the start was a bit of a loner in the corner because I didn't know anyone. That is when it hit me that I only work with the same three people every day!! Then heaps of Eagles people came and introduced themselves and new friendships were formed and it was really good. I even had Ross Glendinning and Karl Langdon introduce themselves which was fantastic. We had to make sure people had bidding devices on their tables and that was when I entered the ball room for the first time. It was like the Brownlow Medal! I genuinely could not believe how amazing it was. The night was Egyptian themed, so there was an amazing sand castle pyramid with the Eagles logo carved into the side. After ensuring everything was set to go, the people started arriving. I got a real rush when Sam Butler actually remembered who I was and shook my hand. I spoke to some of the players for a while and had an in depth chat with a high school mate who got drafted to the Eagles, Murray Newman. We filmed a bit for Eagle Vision and that will be up on the website soon. As the night drew on, we ate and chatted about footy and then had to pack up all the silent auction items, all 300 of them. These included TVs, which were set up and plugged in, golf clubs, blenders and basically anything else you can think of. It was great to see some of the live auctions, seeing some things like a trip to the Brownlow Medal including walking on the red carpet for $17,000!!!! I didn't get home until 1am and was well and truly spent especially after having work at 6am that morning.
Until next game,
Nathan Drudi :)
