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Sometimes it takes time for great football stories to emerge but with both participants out of the finals, we thought this tale involving a club with chance of winning this year\u2019s flag had to be told.<\/p>\n
Cats\u2019 premiership player Shannon Byrnes is a popular figure at two clubs. His career at Geelong and Melbourne spanned 131 games, and he played in the Cats premiership teams of 2007 and 2009.<\/p>\n
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Playing for Melbourne in 2022, Luke Jackson was duped by Geelong runner Shannon Byrnes (inset).<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty\/LinkedIn<\/cite><\/p>\n After finishing his playing career with two years at the Demons, he remained at the club in a welfare role and as a runner during their 2021 premiership year before the Cats lured him back under a remodelled football department in 2022, and he was runner for their premiership that year.<\/p>\n Apart from his football knowledge and empathy, the back-to-back premiership runner also has a great sense of humour, which is an invaluable asset in the high-pressure environment of an AFL club.<\/p>\n So, it was no wonder Byrnes was happy to engage in some banter with Melbourne players when he ran on to Kardinia Park to deliver messages to the Cats\u2019 players during the vital round 17 clash last season.<\/p>\n As he ran past Melbourne premiership ruckman Luke Jackson \u2013 who received an All-Australian nomination on Monday for his performance with Fremantle in 2023 after crossing to the Dockers in last year\u2019s trade period \u2013 Byrnes barked an instruction at the man known as \u201cDogga\u201d.<\/p>\n He told Jackson to \u201cget off the ground\u201d.<\/p>\n Hearing Byrnes\u2019 familiar voice, the gentle giant immediately turned towards the bench at Kardinia Park, put his head down and galloped towards the dugout as Byrnes kept running to relay messages from the Cats\u2019 coaches to their players.<\/p>\n When Jackson arrived at the Demons\u2019 bench, the 20-year-old was a bit bemused as he tried to work out how he had received an instruction no one seemed to know anything about. It\u2019s still unclear whether he knew exactly what happened at that moment as he was waved back.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Byrnes\u2019 returned to the Cats\u2019 bench with a cheeky grin on his dial, uncertain as to how the Demons\u2019 coaching staff had reacted but knowing that sometimes some players can fall for tricks that had a .000001 percent chance of success.<\/p>\n Jackson, of course, is no longer a Demon but remains a much-loved figure given he helped the Demons break a premiership drought in his hometown, Perth, in 2021.<\/p>\n Speaking of the Cats, their captain Patrick Dangerfield might have been ruing a rare year out of September action, but he did not have much time to drag his bottom lip along the ground.<\/p>\n His wife Mardi was preparing to play for Geelong Amateur in AFL Barwon\u2019s division one women\u2019s grand final against Grovedale on Sunday as the club attempted to go back-to-back.<\/p>\n With the Cats\u2019 draw keeping them away from the Sunday slots most of the year, the pair could both play footy and look after their young tribe as Mardi played 15 games for the season, just three fewer than Patrick.<\/p>\n The Ammos, or Wammos, as the women\u2019s team are known, defeated Grovedale, meaning Dangerfield added a football premiership to her netball flag at the club a few years earlier. Her dad, former Geelong mayor Bruce Harwood, was also the interchange steward for the club, and according to a club source was a handy waiter during Sunday night\u2019s premiership celebrations, which stretched into a Mad Monday.<\/p>\n Might be a time for an extension at Mogg\u2019s Creek to fit the medals in the Dangerfield house.<\/p>\nJust another Dangerfield premiership<\/strong><\/h3>\n
On the coach\u2019s whiteboard<\/strong><\/h3>\n