A cult figure from his time at both Fremantle and North Melbourne, Winston Abraham will perform the ‘first kick’ when the two teams go head to head on Sunday at Optus Stadium.
The exciting forward played 110 games at AFL level with 38 games for Fremantle between 1995 and 1997 and 72 games for North Melbourne between 1998 and 2001 – winning a premiership with the Kangaroos in 1999.
Despite his personal connection to North Melbourne, Abraham says he’ll be cheering for Fremantle on the day.
“I’ll always be a Freo fan but I’m pretty sentimental about both clubs,” Abraham said.
Abraham’s kick will happen at 2.10pm, 30 minutes before bouncedown, taken from 30m out directly in front.
At Freo, Abraham kicked 55 goals from his 38 appearances and he’s confident he can get the job done again.
“I told my kids I’ll kick it with a blindfold on!” Abraham said.
“That said, I haven’t kicked a footy for ages but I’m pretty confident I can kick it.
“If I miss I guess I’ll have to find somewhere to hide.”
Abraham said Dale Kickett, Ben Allan and Gary Dhurrkay were among the best players he ran out with at Freo and added that he’s a keen follower of a number of current Freo players.
“I like the way Sonny (Michael Walters) plays,” Abraham said.
“Bradley and Stephen (Hill) are nephews of mine, so I am always keen to see them play well.
“Nat Fyfe and Lachie Neale, they are great players. I’d love to see them play finals again and win a flag.”
After touring Freo’s new facilities, Abraham said the modern day players enjoy every opportunity to be at their best.
“It’s magnificent and a big difference to 1995,” Abraham said.
“It’s an awesome facility, just to see how much things have changed in the time I have been away from football. It’s a big business now.
These days, Abraham works at Australia Post and is married to wife Katrina with four kids, Ethan, 17, Winnie, 15, Gary, 12 and Tayla, 8.
He said the highlight of being involved with Fremantle was being there at the birth of the club and playing in their first AFL game.
“The first year here was a pretty exciting time, to be involved in a new AFL club, to be involved with the Freo Dockers at the start,” Abraham said.
“It was exciting to get to know new people.
“Being involved in the AFL was exciting enough as was getting drafted and playing the first game against Richmond at the MCG. We lost by five points but there were some good memories.”
