Still got it! Eddie Betts rolls back the years with insane goal as retired AFL star dusts off his boots in local footy match
- Eddie Betts rolled back the years over the weekend
- Betts, 37, played in a local footy match
- He kicked five goals as his team won comfortably
Eddie Betts rolled back the years with a spectacular performance during a cameo appearance for Wangaratta Rovers over the weekend.
Betts, 37, retired from AFL footy in 2021 but suited up for the local footy club during the league's Indigenous Round celebrations, and proved there was no ring rust in a sublime display.
The former Carlton and Adelaide star kicked five goals and contributed 17 disposals to be named his team's best player as they secured a resounding 74-point win.
The highlight of Betts's game came when he took a mark inside the forward 50 pocket, played on and sent a rival player to the shops before snapping a left foot banana kick through the sticks.
Betts revealed post-match that he has strong family connections to Wangarratta, a city in north eastern Victoria.
'My family are from Wangaratta, all my kids – they are with their grandparents at the moment who have lived here their whole life,' Betts said.
'This is like a second home to me, so it's really exciting.'
Betts played 350 AFL games, kicking 640 goals, and is widely regarded as one of footy's greatest small forwards. He was known for his spectacular finishes from tight angles in the pocket.
He revealed that pre-match he was given extra motivation to score from deep in the pocket after being challenged by an in-law.
Eddie Betts rolled back the years with an incredible goal during a local footy match
The 37-year-old snapped a banana kick through the posts, one of five goals he kicked
'My brother-in-law Paul Scullie is a premiership player here – he was the captain of the reserves side – and he said that he owned all of these pockets that we have (at WJ Findlay Oval),' Betts said.
'He told me 'you'll never ever take one', so my mission is to take a pocket off him – I don't care which one, as long as I try get one in the pocket.'
Betts, a proud First Nations man, added that he was honoured to represent the Rovers during Indigenous Round.
'I stand up to speak about racism, I want to stamp racism out, I want my kids just to be kids,' he said.
'For communities to celebrate Indigenous Round it's just another stepping stone to continue to grow and learn and educate ourselves.'
