This weekend sees two Boundary Umpires reach milestone games – Kieran Ferguson & Luke Wilke will both carve up 100 VFL games at Williamstown on Sunday 18th August 2019.
Fellow boundary line runner Stickz celebrates their achievements with a candid look back on their journeys towards their tons.
GOAT (Kieran Ferguson)
Some may know him as Kieran, others by Ferg and a select few call him Goat (and they know why) but all we know is that he is a beautiful athlete, or so Johnny summers says.
I’ve had the pleasure of being around since day 1 with Goat since he started at the VFL, back then he was a very quiet character that just went about his business. Over the years he has become a very vocal and respected leader among the boundary group. He’s had to deal with a lot of crap over the years from putting up with me to Dineen telling him to shut up when he spoke, but as the great man he is, he copped it on the chin and got on with business.
Over the years Goat has flow under the radar never seeming to find himself in a stupid situation. Over the many years he has had some great accomplishments:
- He’s umpired 3 grand finals at state league level, 1 reserves, 1 TAC cup and 1 senior grand final, then the start of the year the AFLW grand final.
- Then Taking the boys to some good restaurants for dinner, as well as some Questionable ones “the Sandwich place”, since this dreadful place he isn’t allowed to pick dinners spots.
- He got his face in the local paper and a radio interview back at his home town.
But all of these things come down to 2 things, the first one as many of you know is that there is one place that Goat can be found and that is his love for being on the table, every training session and game day you can find him getting a rub. The other is something more interesting and that is the fact that since day one at the VFL he has had the same pair of shoes, he loves his nimbus’s.
I just want to personally thank him for all the hard work he has put in over the years working with myself and others. I can speak for everyone when I say that he is a pleasure to be around and even more of a pleasure to watch on the game day.
Good luck for your 100thmate, all the best for the game and the rest of the season, keep putting your best foot forward, like the boys know you will.
Good luck, Stickz
Silky (Luke Wilke)
Arghh Wilke where do I start with you, from your massive nights out, to getting lost on the wing at Werribee, you’ve got a lot of stories that could be told but lots that shouldn’t.
Wilke and I started together but didn’t really get to know each other till last year, but damn over the last two years we have had loads of good times. Through these good times we have learnt a lot about you, first off that you are the most expensive light bulb changer, $600 a light, really mate? No wonder you shout us dinner.
Even though you are always out, you have a really good relationship with your family. Some of you will know this but Wilke’s mum is a local boundary umpire coach, so it’s no surprise that she comes to some of his games but she actually comes to them all and she packs his bag for every game. WILKE you are 24 pack your own damn bag. Then there is the time you forgot your bag to a game and of course who came to your rescue of course your wonderful mother and sister.
There has become a bit of a saying between the boys, that it’s time to do Wilke basically this is just someone not doing the full session, Wilke spends half of training on the toilet and the other half on the table, so if you ever need to speak to him you’ll probably find him there.
Among all the interesting behaviours of Wilke, he is one of the best blokes at training, always up for a laugh at training whether it’s at his expense or someone else’s, he’s just as good on the track as he is off the track. He’s umpired at 4 grand finals in a row completing 2 development grand finals and 2 TAC cup grand finals, this is a testament to his abilities on and off the field, then to being appointed as co-captain with Staggy, whether that was a good decision or is up for debate.
Either way mate just want to say glad that you have stuck around for this long and hope you stay on longer, congratulations on the 100thgame mate, hope it’s a great day out, go out and smash it, like I know you will. All the boundary group are lucky to have you.
Congrats mate, Stickz.