By CAMERON LUCADOU-WELLS
A DOVETON-based football club cleaned out by a recent burglary has found help from an unlikely source.
The Middway Cobras won a $10,000 helping hand from Channel Nine’s The Footy Show after panellist Shane Crawford successfully rode a bull as part of a dare on May 17.
The Cobras, from the RecLink competition, were the nominated beneficiary of Crawford completing the challenge.
It will help the team get back on track after all of its footballs, boots, tackling bags, polo shirts, training jumpers, gym weights and a new barbecue were stolen from its Reid Oval clubrooms in Doveton in January.
Middway – which stands for Mental Illness Doesn’t Discriminate, What About You – has also lost a major sponsor this year.
The club is a healthy outlet for its 38 players, many of whom are disadvantaged, have mental health issues and have drug and alcohol issues.
They hail from Dandenong, Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Ringwood.
“The burglary was hard and stressful for these guys, especially for those who’ve been here for several years,” president and coach Gary Lambert said. “They’ve had a rough time in their lives already.”
Their “ordinary start to the season” took a better turn when Lambert’s wife sent a speculative email to The Footy Show about the dare competition.
“We got a phone call that the football club was in the running for $10,000. Then Crawf rode the bull – he was on there for a few seconds,” Lambert said. “We’ll spend this money wisely, try to make this $10,000 last.”
Lambert arrived at the club 12 years ago after responding to a newspaper advertisement to coach the team.
He related to the setbacks players in the team had suffered, having come through depression himself after almost losing his life in a car crash in 1992.
He sees himself as a mentor to the players, always there for them if they “have a meltdown” and need to call.
“Playing football has been great for them. A lot of them have gone on to employment and got more confidence in life. One player has just finished his rehab and had no friends. He’s now starting to make friends at the club.”
On the field, the club has burst out of the blocks, winning its first three games in the Reclink social football league by an average of more than 120 points.
Under Lambert’s tutelage, the team has won eight premierships in a row. It is in talks with Casey Council to move from its waterlogged oval – which Lambert describes as “a big mudbath” – to greener pastures in Cranbourne.
Anyone wishing to volunteer or sponsor the club can call Gary Lambert on 0425 763 072.
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