What’s in a number? Plenty if it’s the number three, two and four Guernseys of the mighty Brisbane Lions that became available for adoption this week for Season 2008.
In a surprise move, Michael Voss’s great number three jumper went to the young 2006 draftee and Victorian Oakleigh Chargers player Sam Sheldon while Chris Johnson’s number two jersey went very appropriately to fellow Indigenous Lion and another 2006 draftee Albert Proud.
The Lions’ Trade Week coup Travis Johnstone from the Melbourne Demons, is set to take the number four made famous by Johnny Gastev and Craig McRae before Tom Logan’s and Ben Fixter’s tenure.
Sam Sheldon actively campaigned for the number three Guernsey having long been a huge Voss fan, declaring him the best AFL player that he’s seen, his childhood hero and the player he models himself most on his official player personality profile.
Sam said that he’s seen Vossy around the club a few times and would be pretty rapt if the former skipper gave him a call about taking on the number three legacy.
However Sheldon, nicknamed ‘Chunk’ by the playing group, is no stranger to living up to huge expectations with his father being triple Carlton premiership player and former St Kilda coach and football manager Ken Sheldon.
The clever midfielder looked set to join Carlton under the father-son rule, but opted for the draft last year instead, where the Lions picked him up with their fifth round selection at pick number 70 overall.
Sam played extremely well for the Suncoast Lions reserves team in 2007 before fracturing his ankle right on a third term siren causing him to miss 11 games.
Last year at the AFL Draft Lions Football Manager Graeme Allan said: “Sheldon is an extremely smart midfielder, who’s bottom age and we think would’ve been a first round pick next year. It was common knowledge that Carlton were trying to hold him out for 12 months to take him under the father-son rule next year but he nominated and we were very lucky to get him.”
Not that he needed any reminding, but during a recent photo shoot with the new number three Guernsey, ‘Lethal’ Leigh Matthews remarked to Sam on the way past, “A genuine champion wore that before you. Don’t let the number three reputation down.”
Carrying the reputation of Fitzroy’s last man standing, a co-captain and the local Indigenous AFL community will be Albert Proud who nominated for and was granted recent retiree Chris Johnson’s number two Guernsey.
It was a very fitting and ‘proud’ transfer from one Indigenous AFL superstar to a future maroon-grown AFL superstar in Proud, who was clearly honoured to get his idol’s number during his own photo shoot with Johnno before training last week.
Proud was taken as a second round selection at pick number 22 overall by the Lions at the 2006 AFL Draft. The goal-kicking midfielder, who’s been compared to Byron Pickett for his zeal and aggression at the ball, played two senior games in 2007 against Grand Finalists Geelong and Port Adelaide for 3 marks, 9 disposals, 5 kicks and 2 behinds.
Albert won’t need any reminders of the number two legacy with Chris Johnson now on the Lions staff as full-time Development Coach for Season 2008, ensuring the two will work very closely together over the next 12 months.
