THERE was absolutely no question as to the crowd's favourite in Adelaide's NAB Challenge clash against North Melbourne in Port Lincoln on Sunday – they cheered every time the ball entered Eddie Betts' vicinity.
Betts grew up in the coastal town, which is renowned for the tuna and great white sharks off shore.
He's never forgotten his roots and still has family in the area. Many were at the game and Betts said he saw his father as well as second cousin Graham Johncock around the oval.
The small forward lit it up for his home crowd fans, booting four goals and setting up another in what was an exciting performance.
It's been more than a decade since Betts last played at Centenary Oval, when he helped Mallee Park to the 2001 under-17 premiership.
At a nursing home in Port Lincoln on Monday, he said he had loved the opportunity to return to his former home.
"It was fantastic, probably half of them were my family," Betts said.
"I watched a DVD two nights ago – it was the under-17, 2001 grand final; so it had been 14 years since I played on that ground.
"I'm always nervous before games but a little bit more this time because my family was all watching and I'm hoping to play well.
"I actually spotted 'Stiffy' (Johncock) at the other end and I spotted my dad behind the other goals."
The hometown hero spreading some cheer at a local nursing home #gocrows pic.twitter.com/iidYrbzKz9
— Adelaide Crows (@Adelaide_FC) March 2, 2015
The only dampener for Betts was a bizarre moment in the third term when he was disallowed a goal because the ball hit the goal umpire and bounced back into play.
It cost him a five-goal haul for the afternoon and he sent a look of bemusement into the crowd before questioning the umpire in charge.
He was no closer to understanding the situation on Monday morning.
"I saw the North guy running back to the centre square bouncing it and I'm like 'what's he doing? Normally the umpire runs it back to bounce the ball'," he said.
"I have no idea what happened there so you guys can help me out with that one."
Eddie Betts is a $386,000 forward in NAB AFL Fantasy this year. Create and fill your AFL Fantasy Classic league by March 2 to win a free AFL Live pass.
