Bomber legend flies in

Kevin Sheedy delivering his speech at Rivervue Village, Avondale Heights. (Damjan Janevski) 366335_02

A group of devoted Essendon fans who live at Rivervue Retirement Village were visited by former AFL coach and player Kevin Sheedy.

The group is called The Rivervue Bomber Tragics (RBT), named by resident Des McGowan who said the visit on Monday, October 30, was amazing.

“We had 70 people from the village sit and listen to Kevin, it was an extraordinary amount,” he said.

“It just indicates the level of interest in Kevin. He was very warmly received and spoke for well over an hour.“

Des said some of the things Kevin spoke about included the evolution of rule changes in the AFL, his love for the game, the importance of Indigenous players, the history of Anzac Day and Dreamtime games.

Des said the RBT group started after a bunch of residents found themselves coming together to discuss the Essendon footy club.

“Like all supporters, we would sit down for chats and talk about the club. One day I thought it would be a good idea if we had a bit of a structure,” he said.

“I came up with the name and everybody thought it was good. We now have more than 30 people in the group.”

Des said the group meets twice a month, and discuss what is going wrong, what’s working well, how the club can improve and more.

After Des wrote an email to the club telling them that they have the support of the RBT, Des got an email back saying Kevin had heard about their club and would like to visit.

“It generated an extraordinary amount of excitement around the village, we had a very big crowd here.”

Jennifer Pittorino