Selection surprise
Grubbers big man thought email was a joke
ANDREW Jarvis was convinced it was a prank.
Scanning a fresh email in his inbox, the Ocean Grove big man was suspect about the legitimacy of an invitation to train with the Vic Country squad.
“It was a pretty big surprise . . . I didn’t see it coming,” Jarvis said of the invitation from AFL Victoria football operations boss Brett Anderson.
“I got an email a couple of weeks ago, but I kept it quiet because I didn’t think it was real.
“I thought it was a stitch-up. I was joking with ‘ Lynchy’ (Grubbers coach Paul Lynch) that I would rock up to training and the lights would be off and there’d be no one there, but I was lucky enough that there were a few people at training.”
Jarvis, the sole representative from the BFL in the 42man initial training squad, joins 10 GFL players in the Danny Frawley-coached senior team.
“Normally no one from the Bellarine gets picked,” Jarvis said.
“I think there were a couple picked for Vic Country 2 a few years ago, but it’s usually just the players in the GFL that go. I was a bit surprised.”
Jarvis trained with the squad at Craigieburn last week and survived the first cut.
He will return for another session on Sunday, but believes he is long odds to retain his place in the side that will tackle Vic Metro at Ballarat’s Mars Stadium on July 8.
“I think it will be pretty tough,” Jarvis said.
“There’s Lochie Veale from Colac and one of the blokes from the Hampden league won the league medal, so there’s some decent ruckman in the squad.
“I’m just happy to get this far. It will be tough to get a spot.”
Named in the Grubbers’ best in six of 11 matches this season, including a best-onground performance against Geelong Amateur last week, Jarvis has been in good touch.
But the modest 25-year-old believes his form has mirrored that of his side, which has been brilliant at times but also poor.
“It’s been a little bit similar to the team, I’ve been a little bit up and down,” Jarvis said.
“Hopefully I can find some form in the back half of the year and we can come home strong.”