FORMER Essendon star Michael Hurley is set to pull on the maroon and white for Swan Hill tomorrow.
Hurley will bolster the Swans line-up as they take on Nyah-Nyah West United, both teams vying for their second win of the season.
Friend and Swan Hill’s head of footy operations Chris Smith said the opportunity had been in the works for some time.
“We’ve known him for a long period of time now,” he said.
“When he finished up playing, we would always have the conversation about how great it would be to get him up for a game.
“He’s been up to Swan Hill a couple of times now, so when his AFL career had finished, he said he’d make the effort to come up here for a game.
“We nutted it out about a month ago and had it set in stone since then. He’s come up to watch a few grand finals with us, so he understands the importance of local footy.”
Smith said the announcement had definitely taken the club by surprise.
“We kept it pretty close to our chest until we could work out if we would get it across the line,” he said.
“When we announced it on the Thursday night before our first game, it definitely got a few heads turning. They were all sort of questioning if it could really be the Essendon Michael Hurley.”
The game will start at 3.30pm on Saturday to cater for a larger crowd.
“We delayed the game by an hour to try to encourage as much of the large Essendon following across the league to come and check it out,” Smith said.
“Having that extra hour allows time for a lot of kids playing elsewhere to get across and see him run around.”
Smith gave a hint about where Hurley will fit into the Swans’ side.
“He will likely line up in the forward line, that’s where he’s been playing down in Melbourne at the moment.
“He’ll provide quite the target for the guys kicking into attack.
“The club is really buzzing at the moment. I’m sure the fans will be loud and get around him anytime the ball goes near him.”
See also:
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