July 9th, 2023Local Lines

Ernie
i
Ernie Hug was a back pocket
for The Pies in ‘65
but up front were his hands
With 28 centimetre spans
those hands enclosed the ball
when he clocked his marks
Ernie also handled prize bulls
drove a Rolls Royce to training
and represented Victoria
ii
I had him for years
rubber-banded with
other Scanlens mates
Avuncular Ernie clutching
a Ross Faulkner, gooby grin
like Andy Griffith
And somehow, like legends
EJ, Polly and Blue Barassi
Ernie got to be die cut,
his image poppable
by pressing on the flat card
with my tiny thumbs
iii
Post-footy, a tree pressed
on poor Ernie’s tractor
and he was dead at 34

by Bill Wootton
Bill barracks for Collingwood and collected Scanlens footy cards from 1964- He sold them to a collector for a small fortune ten years ago but still misses flicking through them occasionally.
Local Lines features poetry by locals about locals and any other matters. Please submit poems to Bill Wootton at cottlesbreedge@gmail.com