Port Melbourne champion Chris Cain will this week earn life membership of the Peter Jackson VFL when he plays his 175th senior match for the Borough in its clash with the Northern Blues at North Port Oval on Saturday.
The 29-year-old’s milestone match coincides with Port Melbourne’s ‘Call to Arms’ Day, an initiative designed to encourage supporters to back up the efforts of players who will forfeit Round 1 match payments to help the club’s financial position.
The Borough will run a ‘Show Your Colours’ competition throughout the afternoon in which fans who don their best club attire will be in the running for prizes as the best dressed supporters.
Port Melbourne memberships and merchandise will be available during the day and the club’s post-match function at the Sandridge Events Centre will be extended through to around 10.30pm.
Cain said having the match shifted forward a week to become a standalone event was an unexpected “blessing” for the ‘Call to Arms’ campaign.
“Over the pre-season it came as a bit of a shock to all the players and the staff that the club was in some financial trouble,” Cain said on 94.1FM 3WBC’s VFL Rewind program on Monday night.
“In terms of recouping some of the dollars, the players put their hands up – as well as the coaches and staff – that we’d forfeit the Round 1 match payments to assist and help keep the club afloat.”
The 181cm ex-Oakleigh Chargers midfielder is one of the most decorated Port Melbourne players of recent times, having won four VFL Team of the Year selections (2011-14), three VFL representative guernseys (2012-14), a club best-and-fairest award (2013) and a senior premiership (2011). He has also kicked 211 goals in his 174 games to date.
Cain will join his captain Toby Pinwill, Williamstown skipper Ben Jolley and North Ballarat ruckman Orren Stephenson as current players to have achieved VFL life membership.
Listen to an interview with Chris Cain as part of VFL Rewind on Monday night on 94.1fm 3WBC, each week from 7pm - 8pm.
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Last Modified on 07/04/2017 12:14