With the new breed of Bulldogs coming through, I’ve noticed the club is bringing the parents of both old and new into the inner sanctum a lot more. Through Macca, Peter and Kerri Gordon, and Simon Garlick, the parents have been invited to after-match functions, to dinners at the Gordon house and even get-togethers when the parents travel to watch the boys on interstate trips. They have been welcomed into the extended Bulldog family.
Observing Carlo and Geraldine Bontempelli, Lori and Mark Dalhaus, and Mick and Shelly Higgins, you can see how proud they are of what their boys have become. The parents have seen their boys in their rawest form as well as giving standout performances, achieving great team victories, and enduring the lows of being thumped and the physical and mental toll it takes on their sons.
Last year, I was able to get my dad, Joe, to experience the full match-day experience in the inner sanctum. We were travelling to Tassie to take on the Hawks and I thought it would be a small way to repay him for some of the sacrifices mum and dad went through to allow me to realise my dream of being an AFL footballer.
Simon Garlick took him to the pre-game president’s function, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and even managed to bring him down to have a look at the team’s pre-game warm-up in the rooms. Without dad saying anything, I could tell he was loving the experience.
Like all the other players in the team, we get our values from the way we were bought up by our parents. The values my parents instilled in my sisters and I with were honesty, loyalty and hard work. Those three things have held me in good stead in etching out a long AFL career and allowing me to do something I truly love.
If my wife Kelly and I become half the parents mine have been, my kids, Ruby and Otis, will hopefully be able to achieve whatever they want to in life. Just like the other boys in the Bulldog family.
