There mightn’t be any Queensland clubs in this weekend’s Grand Final, but that doesn’t mean there’s no Sunshine Staters to barrack for.
There mightn’t be any Queensland clubs in this weekend’s Grand Final, but that doesn’t mean there’s no Sunshine Staters to barrack for.
In fact, both Hawthorn and Fremantle boast Queenslanders in their ranks, who have become integral cogs in their premiership campaigns this season.
And, just as the teams that they are lining up in are starkly different, it’d be hard to find too many similarities between the Hawks’ David Hale and Fremantle’s Lee Spurr.
Hale stands at 201 cm and in two years at hawthorn has become a mainstay of their ruck division, freeing up Coleman medallist, Jarryd Roughead, in the forward line, and helping to establish one of the most potent attacking lines in the competition.
The Gold Coaster, who represented Queensland at U16 and U18 level in 1999 and 2001, was picked by the Kangaroos in the 2001 draft, playing 129 games for the club, before being traded for a first round pick to Hawthorn in 2011.
Hale has not missed a game this year, taking his tally to 52 for Hawthorn, with 50 goals for his efforts, and his career games total to 196.
At the other end of the spectrum, former Morningside Panther, Lee Spurr, embodies all that is the 2013 Fremantle side.
He’s not a superstar, but he is one of the hardest-working players in the Dockers side and his incredible defensive efforts almost single-handedly catapulted Fremantle into a preliminary final.
Spurr has come through the hard way, plying his trade in the SANFL for five years before being rookie-listed by Fremantle ahead of the 2012 season, as a 24 year-old.
He has made the most of his time since debuting in Round Six, playing 13 games last year, and missing only one game this season.
He burst onto the scene in the qualifying final against Geelong, with the best game of his career, and if he can replicate that effort on Saturday, it will complete a whirlwind two years for the defender.
While there are plenty of good news stories going around in grand final week, one Queenslander is at the centre of September heartbreak.
Former Zillmere Eagle, Brendan Whitecross, had his 2013 cut short, rupturing his ACL in Friday night’s preliminary final against Geelong.
It was an extra cruel turn of events for Whitecross, after he missed the 2012 decider with the same injury, suffered in the Hawks’ qualifying final.
Whitecross had surgery earlier this week, but faces a long road to recovery in 2014.
