Sport
15 June, 2023
Vince ready for Rovers cameo
Bernie Vince is ready for his one-off game with Maryborough Rovers tomorrow, expressing his excitement at playing for the club. Rovers will be hosting Campbells Creek at Jubilee Oval in what is expected to be an emotionally-charged day, with the...
Bernie Vince is ready for his one-off game with Maryborough Rovers tomorrow, expressing his excitement at playing for the club.
Rovers will be hosting Campbells Creek at Jubilee Oval in what is expected to be an emotionally-charged day, with the club holding their past players day, as well as it being one of the last games to be played at the ground prior to the club’s impending amalgamation with Royal Park next season.
Vince says it adds to the atmosphere in his football return, having not played since 2019.
“It’s a big day for the club with their past players day. With the club not continuing along as a stand-alone club next year, that’s a big thing for these guys to come and watch. I won’t be best on ground or anything, but hopefully I can contribute and have a good win, and celebrate after,” he said.
“I’m from the country, and played on the Yorke Peninsula, and played for Moe after my last year of AFL. The last game I played was in 2019, so it’s been four years since I played. I’ll just ease into it and see what happens.
“Being from a country background, I knew how much it means to local communities, not that I knew where I was going — I committed before I knew where I was going. Maryborough is perfect though — all I’ve heard is good things about the town.”
Vince will be flying in from Adelaide the night before, and already has his Saturday plans mapped out.
“I’m going to be flying in from Adelaide on Friday night, staying in Melbourne, then heading up in the morning. I’ll be in at lunchtime, say hello and try to meet a few of my new teammates. I haven’t had to do that for a while. I’ll definitely try to meet the ruckman and become mates with him so he taps a few down to me. Hopefully that gets me a few kicks,” he said.
“I’ve been trying to go for a run most weeks, but the guys from my local club live in Adelaide and train together there. On Thursday nights, I go out and have a bit of a kick with them. The first session was scratchy, but I’ve been getting a bit better since.”
Vince says he expects plenty of emotion from the Rovers faithful as they continue their final season as a stand-alone club.
“It’s an emotional time when things come to an end as a stand-alone team. But it certainly creates another opportunity, joining with another club and making it stronger. If that’s what they need to do to survive and compete, that’s what they need to do,” he said.
Vince has some history with past Rovers identities, having linked up from 2016 to 2018 with Melbourne assistant coach Troy Chaplin.
As it transpired, Vince spoke to Chaplin just a couple of weeks ago about the opportunity to play with the club.
“I ran into Troy the other day. I liked him and we got along really well at the Dees. The area has had a rich AFL history, players like Stewart Crameri were from there as well,” he said.
Vince’s radio commitments on Triple M, as well as his television commitments on Fox Footy program “Bounce” means that he’s prepared to cop any banter that comes his way.
“I’m on a hiding to nothing here — even if I go well, they’ll still roast me,” he said.