FOOTBALL returned to Waverley Park on Tuesday, as the Eastern Eaglehawks hosted a team from Ballarat’s St Patrick’s College in an invitational match. 

The Eastern Eaglehawks were formed in early 2014, and are Hawthorn’s affiliated Indigenous under-21s team. 

The match was held during NAIDOC Week, which runs until Sunday and celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Indigenous Hawks stars Shaun Burgoyne, Bradley Hill, Jed Anderson and Jermaine Miller-Lewis were on hand to lend their support and offer advice to the Eaglehawks players.

After a slow start, the Eaglehawks fought back late in the game to put the visiting team under pressure.

However the St Patrick’s College team – featuring players who travelled from as far as Portland and Warrnambool to be involved – was able to hold on for a 16.9 (105) to 12.4 (76) win in an entertaining game of football.

Hawthorn rookie Miller-Lewis said it was a great afternoon to be involved in.

“It was played in good spirits, both teams went in pretty hard and there were a lot of good skills out there from both teams,” he said.

“We’ve been interacting with the boys on the bench and at half-time, just getting around them.

“Shauny gave a few speeches before the game and presented the best player award after the game.” 

The best player trophy was presented to the Eaglehawks’ Mikali Harrison who Miller-Lewis described as exciting to watch.

“Watching an all-Indigenous team is always exciting, especially with the Eaglehawks’ number 11 [Harrison] stepping blokes and doing all the tricky stuff – it was good footy to watch,” he said.

Harrison, 20, said the match was a great opportunity for the Eaglehawks.

“I reckon (it gives us) a bit of recognition, and the chance to show what we’ve got in front of some big names, playing on a good ground and coming up against a good team,” he said.

“All the boys are from different areas.

“I’m from Geelong and came down with two other boys, we’ve got a few guys who came down from Ballarat. 

“Most of the boys are from Healesville and Melbourne… and there’s a few from Shepparton.

“We haven’t had a training session (all) together yet, so if we have a few more training sessions I reckon we can be a good side and match good sides like St Pat’s.”

Coach Jack Cole, who took on the Eaglehawks’ role last week and is the senior coach at Healesville FC, said the match was a good starting point for the team. 

“They can play footy alright,” he said. 

“We’ve got a couple more games (coming up)… hopefully we can get together a bit more, which is really hard because they’re young and some of them can’t travel.

“I think it’s great for Hawthorn to put this on and for the boys to be able to be involved.

“(It’s great) having the Hawthorn players come down to show their support and showing where you can go (with your football).” 

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