GERARD WALSH | WARWICK DAILY NEWS | 23 MAY 2013
TWO siblings from Warwick have made Darling Downs school teams in Aussie Rules for the first time.
With the parents of Montana and Jaiden Fidge born in AFL states Western Australia and Victoria, the odds were high the pair would play in the footy code with the most players on the field.
While Montana has played in state championships already this year, her younger brother Jaiden is about to line up for the Darling Downs primary school side.
She was part of the Darling Downs team which was eighth in the state under-16 schoolgirls championships.
Montana played in the back pocket for the regional team which finished fifth out of eight teams.
They lost their games on the first day before beating Wide Bay and South Coast on day 2 to snare fifth.
Montana was a foundation junior at the Redbacks and is now in her seventh season.
"AFL is awesome," she said.
"This is my last year of juniors and I then want to play women's footy."
She was a foundation player for the Redbacks women's side lining up in the same team as her mother in the first Aussie Rules game in Warwick for the fairer sex.
As well as being a player, Montana is keen to further her career as a boundary umpire but isn't eyeing off a spot in AFL footy like some women.
"I want to study physiotherapy," she said.
A year 10 student at Warwick State High School, she is a Freemantle Dockers supporter, a team from the state where her father Andrew hailed from originally.
Her younger brother Jaiden isn't a Dockers supporters, he backs the Brisbane Lions in the AFL.
But on June 8-12, he won't be thinking about his AFL team but the performance of the Darling Downs primary school team in the state championships at Maroochydore. He is travelling to Toowoomba twice a week for Darling Downs training.
He currently plays in the U12 age group for the Redbacks and backs up in the U14s.
At age 11, he is five years away from playing senior footy for the Redbacks but that is one of his ambitions in the sport.
Last Modified on 05/06/2013 12:03
