The Starlight Children’s Foundation is just one of many ways that Chris Mayne has dedicated his time to putting smiles on children’s faces. It’s also one that’s dearest to his heart. The Freo forward spent many hours in the wards of Princess Margaret Hospital as a child for treatment on a cleft palate. He also made his AFL debut in round 2, 2008, in the annual Starlight Purple Haze Game, proudly supported by Fremantle Ports. Now, in his sixth year as a Starlight Ambassador, Mayne will hope to help Fremantle beat last year’s fundraising record of $106,000 and play his part in a Fremantle victory over Gold Coast.
Starlight Purple Haze
Ablett’s back in town
Fremantle’s Ryan Crowley has been given permission to leave the club early on Thursday afternoon and head to Perth Airport to greet Gold Coast superstar Gary Ablett at the arrivals gate. All jokes aside, the Sun’s captain is a steam train roaring towards GOAT status. Not the farm animal variety, but rather ‘greatest of all time’. The dual Brownlow Medallist was simply mesmerising against Richmond in round 1 with 40 touches and two goals and it’s a near-certainty that he’ll continue his on-field rivalry with Freo’s master tagger on Saturday.
Ablett's thoughts on Crowley
There’s more than one Sun
As every astrophysicist and Star Trek fan knows, there is more than one Sun. Yes, Ablett is Gold Coast’s best player, the AFL’s for that matter, but Guy McKenna’s emerging outfit is not a one-trick pony. Richmond, fancied by many to push for top four this season, found that out in round 1. Dion Prestia was brilliant in the midfield, while David Swallow played like the star everyone expected him to be when he was drafted. Michael Rischitelli and former Freo man Greg Broughton finally looked fit and Jaeger O’Meara is a sensation. Talented forward/ruckman Charlie Dixon was a non-factor in round 1, yet the Suns still looked formidable in attack. Freo general manager of football operations Chris Bond has also been keeping an eye on the Suns: "We know how much of a superstar Gary (Ablett) is, but we also know they've got three or four others to worry about," Bond told 6PR on Monday night. "To be honest, not too many are going to get to the standard that Gary is, but they might get close in Prestia and O'Meara and Swallow.”
On top, so what?
Fremantle’s round 1 win over Collingwood left the club on top of the AFL ladder at the completion of a round for the first time in its 20-year history. This will get the club a total of zero kicks, zero handballs, zero goals and zero premiership points this week against the Suns.
