Western Bulldogs skipper Bob Murphy has revealed his top five mascots from suburban and country football teams across the country.
5. Leongatha Parrots
4. Flagstaff Hill Bushpigs
“Adam Cooney’s old club…they have since changed to the Falcons and I would say that was an error.”
3. Tyabb Yabbies
“That’s a fearsome creature...until you just throw them in the hot-pot”
2. Lancaster Wombats
1. Old Eltham Turtles
“You’re in the rooms. There's the potpourri of the sweat, blood, lament and deep-heat. You’re geeing each other up, you’re slapping each other on the arm and then you hear about who you’re up against. You hear them through the thin-ply walls: it’s the big, bad Eltham Turtles.”
Honourable Mentions:
Warragul Seagulls (Bob's home footy club)
"The word Warragul is an indigenous word that's derived from 'wild dog'. We're two and a half hours from the beach but we decided to go with the Warragul Seagulls. Essentially we are the Wild Dog Seagulls which just rolls off the tongue."
Yarrawonga Pigeons
"The Yarrawonga Pigeons were desperately unlucky, I just gave the Parrots the nod just because of the old rivalry between the Gulls and the Parrots."