YOUNG Richmond Tigers fan Harry Tivendale will follow in the footsteps of his uncle when he makes his AFL ‘debut’ on Saturday.
The Officer seven-year-old won the right to hand the match ball to the umpires before Saturday’s NAB Challenge match between Richmond and Hawthorn at Holm Park Reserve in Beaconsfield.
Harry is the son of Ben and Kim Tivendale and the nephew of former Richmond star Greg.
In fact, Harry’s arrival on 1 September 2008 cost Ben and Kim the chance to see Greg play his 188th and final game with the Tigers.
“We were supposed to go to the game as a celebration, but I ended up in labour,” Kim explained. “Harry arrived in the early hours of the next morning.”
Harry has been a Tigers fan since birth and, given he never got to see Uncle Greg run around, his favourite player is Trent Cotchin.
Locally, he supports Officer, where favourite player there, of course, has been his Dad.
The competition to hand over the match ball was conducted by the AFL in conjunction with the Pakenham-Berwick Gazette.
Gazette staff were so impressed with the effort 10-year-old Bunyip boy Bentley Moyle put in to his entry that he received a consolation prize of two tickets to the match, thanks to the Shire of Cardinia.
