The Football Family Fun Day - featuring a celebrity game - being held in Bendigo this Monday is attracting more big names players out of retirement.
The game - which will be played at QEO oval to raise funds for Bendigo’s western region following the Black Saturday bushfires - will now also see 2000 Premiership player Paul Barnard and former Essendon and Carlton star Matthew Allen pull on the boots.
They will join Essendon coach, Matthew Knights, and assistant coaches Gary O’Donnell, Scott Camporeale, Adrian Hickmott, Alan Richardson and Ashley Prescott.
The fundraiser will see local football uniting behind a worthwhile cause in order to maximise fundraising for Bendigo’s bushfire victims – 700 of whom were directly affected by Bendigo’s 4km fire front which destroyed 333 hectares of land in the town’s western suburbs.
The celebrity game will kick off proceedings before a junior game (which will also feature some Essendon players) and a match between the Bendigo Bombers and the Bendigo Football League All-Stars (see Bendigo squad below). The Bendigo squad includes 10 Essendon listed players.
In addition to the football games, there will be free entertainment and activities for children.
Bendigo Bushfire Appeal Fundraiser
When: Monday 9 March
Where: Queen Elizabeth Oval, Bendigo
Time: 2:30pm - Gates open
3pm – 3.50pm – Celebrity Game
4pm - 5pm - Junior footballers / Essendon footballers
5pm - 7pm - Main game. Bendigo Bomber v Bendigo Football League All-Stars
Entry: Adults $10, free admission for children under 14
The Bendigo squad of 30 is listed below.
1 | 3 | Paul Scanlon |
2 | 5 | Stewart Crameri |
3 | 6 | Josh Bowe |
4 | 10 | Blair Holmes |
5 | 16 | Tayte Pears (EFC) |
6 | 18 | Simon Weekly |
8 | 19 | James Bristow |
7 | 22 | James Flaherty (Captain) |
9 | 25 | Brent Chapman |
10 | 26 | Cale Hooker (EFC) |
11 | 32 | Chris Thomson |
12 | 33 | Troy Coates |
13 | 35 | Michael Still (EFC) |
14 | 36 | Tyson Slattery (EFC) |
15 | 38 | Jarrod Atkinson (EFC) |
16 | 40 | Bryce Carroll (EFC) |
17 | 41 | Michael Quinn (EFC) |
18 | 45 | Thomas German (EFC) |
19 | 46 | Christian Bock (EFC) |
20 | 47 | Kade Klemke (EFC) |
21 | 48 | Stacey Fiske |
22 | 49 | Peter Harrison |
23 | 49 | Dayne Hoffacker |
24 | 53 | Damon Byrne |
25 | 54 | Justin Crameri |
26 | 55 | Ky Miller |
27 | 56 | Ben Birthisel |
28 | 60 | Matt Chapman |
29 | 68 | Dash Barrolli |
30 | 69 | Jack Redpath |
