Article published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 22nd September by Andrew Wu
The Pennant Hills football club has no club rooms; two years ago they had no home ground. At the weekend they lost their second grand final in a row.
What they can boast, however, are bragging rights over the two Sydney-raised products, Kieren Jack and Jarrad McVeigh, who Swans fans hope will lead their club to premiership glory on Saturday.
There are even whispers Hayes and McVeigh will line up for the Demons after their AFL days are over.
Established in 1972, the Demons are not among the bigger clubs in Sydney's AFL competition. They turn over $150,000 a year, roughly the wage of an AFL rookie plus match payments, and consider it a good year financially if they can break even.
Unlike their rivals, they do not pay any of their players. That they were able to field three winners of the Phelan Medal – the competition's equivalent of the Brownlow – at the weekend highlights how much the players love playing for the club.
The club has produced some of the high-end talent in the AFL. Lenny Hayes, the St Kilda warrior who retired this year after 297 games, cut his teeth at the club. So too McVeigh's brother Mark, who played 232 games for Essendon.
"What it shows is even a community club can produce AFL-standard footballers in what is probably the hardest market in Australia," said club president Phil Hare.
The club has 150 players across their three senior teams and up to 400 juniors. Their junior ranks have swelled significantly from when McVeigh and Jack were at the club.
"When I was president we had 86 players and the nearest soccer club had 90 teams," the club's former juniors president Jon Simpson said.
The club had to move from its old home ground because it was not considered big enough to play Premier Division footy. "It was on the side of a hill. It couldn't be made any bigger," club secretary Bob Wray said.
The club is lobbying the local council for money to help build club rooms and hope their submission to Hornsby Shire Council will be strengthened by the deeds of Jack and McVeigh.
McVeigh was always destined for big things. So big were the raps on the future No.5 draft pick he was seldom seen after his under-14 days as he progressed towards the big league.
Simpson can remember a representative game where the "skinny kid with the fuzzy Afro hair" dominated. "He was an absolute standout player. He had immaculate skills and he kept getting the ball," Simpson said. "He played half-forward, kicked five goals by half-time. The game was over, so the coach took him off because he was so far ahead of every other player."
Jack was not as naturally gifted as McVeigh, Simpson said, but had intangible qualities that showed he had a big future.
Simpson recalls an under-14 game where Jack, the son of rugby league great Garry Jack, was badly injured in a crunching tackle. Blinking back tears, Jack "got up, stood his man and dived on the ball again". His mother then took him to hospital to treat what was later diagnosed as broken ribs.
"We said at the time we never saw that quality in kids – but he had that courage and leadership," Simpson said. "He always had the work ethic of dad and the rest of his family have got."
Jack and McVeigh are still connected to the club. There are even whispers Hayes and McVeigh will line up for the Demons after their AFL days are over.
The Demons get a kick whenever Jack returns to the club, such as for an Auskick clinic, when he was a favourite among the youngsters. "They were hugging him. He listened to every story from every parent and kid," Simpson said.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/kieren-jack-and-jarrad-mcveigh-two-little-demons-who-morphed-into-mighty-swans-20140922-10khet.html#ixzz3ENou6AuP
Last Modified on 26/09/2014 14:21
