Cameron and Zach Guthrie returned to the Sunbury Lions Football Netball Club in anticipation of the Annual AFL Country Game, where the Geelong Cats will wear guernseys featuring the Sunbury Lions logo.
Essendon and Geelong will face each other in the country game, keen to seal their spots in the top eight.
The Guthrie brothers returned to their roots – the Sunbury Lions, where they both played about seven seasons of junior football.
The pair met and kicked the football with Sunbury Lions under-11 players.
Essendon player Jye Caldwell also attended the event, talking about the upcoming game and his time playing junior football with Golden Square Football Club.
The traditional Country Game is an annual celebration of the Essendon and Geelong clubs’ shared connection to local football clubs and rural communities.
The Cats will help mark this connection through their guernsey, which for this round, was designed to include a stripe of colours from each player’s junior or local club.
Each player’s individual guernsey will also feature their junior club’s logo on the chest.
The Lions are one of the most represented clubs on the Cats guernseys, with Mark Blicavs also playing local football with the Sunbury Lions.
Cameron Guthrie said that he was happy to return to the club and meet some of the under-11s Sunbury Lions junior players.
“I played seven seasons here, I think Zach did the same, and we’ve got one of our brothers [Josh], he plays for the senior team at the moment,” he said. “So, it was a big part of our lives, still a big part of our family’s lives, [and] it’s nice to be back and see the kids,” he said.
“I still have some really vivid memories of playing here [and] training here, so it’s… nice to see here tonight the under-11s in a similar position to what I was years ago.”
Zach Guthrie said he was also glad to return to the club where he played local football, offering advice to junior players.
“My advice would be to just enjoy it – I have really fond memories of this place and junior footy is some of the best… times you have playing footy I think,” he said.
Oscar Parry
