Beware Of The Showstopper

14 Sep Beware Of The Showstopper

If Thomson finds itself trailing by five points in the late stages of tomorrow’s GDFL grand final then there’s every chance Daniel Freeman will land the sealer.

The 27-year-old goal-sneak, who booted 219 goals across his 97 games with Ocean Grove, has already found the winning goal three times for the Tigers this season.

He now hopes to deliver on the big stage against Inverleigh on Saturday less than a fortnight after re-signing with his new GDFL club for the 2019.

“I want this flag so I can celebrate it with this group, not for myself or reputation but to celebrate this playing group that we have here,” Freeman said.

“I’ve already re-signed for next year and, to be honest, I would have re-signed it (the contract) four times over because this group is so important to me.”

“We’re a really tight knit group so I couldn’t have made it to a grand final without the boys.”

While Freeman’s on field prowess is matched by his off field humour among the Tigers’ playing group, he has highlighted the significance of family during his journey.

He joined his parents and sisters when moving from the Northern Melbourne suburb of Hadfield to their holiday house in Ocean Grove ahead of his maiden 2012 Bellarine season.

And for the next three seasons he would face off against his current coaches in Brent Taylor and Reece Holwell whenever the Drysdale duo battled the Grubbers.

“Two years ago Reece approached me to join him at Thomson but I felt that we were a chance to win the flag at Ocean Grove so I told him I wanted to stick around for a bit longer,” he said.

“He kept hassling me and then one night when we bumped into each other in town I told him to then ring me on the Tuesday and we’ll have a meeting.”

“I’ve loved my time at Hadfield and Ocean Grove but this club has taken the cake by far.”

“This is a family club and when I was about to sign with Reece (Holwell) I asked if the club could sign my sisters (Jessica and Rennea) for netball as well.”

“That was a big part of sealing the deal because family means everything for me.”

“The rest has been history.”

Freeman leads the goal-kicking at Thomson with 39 (one ahead of fellow recruit Paul Davis) nevertheless he has best been remembered for sealing the deal in the Tigers’ close contests.

“I did nothing that whole day we played Bell Post Hill (in Round 2) and then in the final two minutes Jeremy Stacey and I kicked the sealers,” he reflected.

“Later in the season I kicked the six goals to get us over the line against Werribee.”

“But everyone failed to mention that I kicked five straight in the final quarter,” he laughed.

“The game was on the ropes and everything that came off the boot just went through the big sticks but it was still a full credit to the whole side.”

“The delivery was spot on that day and then the next week I kicked one against (Geelong) West but it was the winner as well.”

“Those three games were great but I also enjoyed the way we strengthened as a group against Belmont, that’s when I had faith that we could do something special as a group.”

Freeman will hope to add to his Ocean Grove reserves premiership medal from 2012.

“I kicked seven goals in that reserves grand final against Torquay and I should have been picked for the best on ground medal,” he said.

He added with cheek, “Travy (Travis Gavin), my little right hand man, kicked eight but you have to realise that I had 45 more possessions than him that day.”

By Alex Tigani
GDFL Media (14/09/2018)