By Kath Gannaway
BRUCE Hood was happy to be talking footy, not fires and he wasn’t alone.
More than 90 men went along on Wednesday to hear AFL football great Kevin Sheedy talk at A Blokes Night Out at Healesville Football Club rooms.
The night was a free Community Bushfire Recovery event hosted by the Shire of Yarra Ranges that gave Mr Hood, an avid Essendon and Sheedy supporter, and other men a chance to hear from the man who has taken the challenge of coaching the first West Sydney team as they enter the competition in 2012.
So, he had plenty to talk about.
Mr Hood lost much of their bush block on 7 February, but, along with his wife, saved their home.
“It was a traumatic experience. It affected us deeply,” he said.
They spent six months feeding the wildlife, which was, in itself, a sobering experience. Mr Hood said Sheedy used football anecdotes and humour to address the bushfire issue.
“The underlying message in it all, which he summed up later, was taking the positives out of a bad experience,” he said.
“He didn’t play down the fact that people had been affected in various ways, but he had some good messages around the approach that there is always something to look forward to,” he said.
Sheedy’s age, 61, and his experience in the tough climate of AFL coaching, gave him credibility.
“He has been through it all and has had to reinvent himself every now and then as the game changes,” Mr Hood said.
Taking on the West Sydney coaching position at a time when most coaches are well out of the game, sent a message that age is not always a barrier to taking on a challenge.
Mr Hood said he believed everybody would have walked away with something from the talk and from Sheedy’s approachable style.
However, will he be changing his allegiance to West Sydney in 2012?
“Definitely not,” he said.
