GEELONG v RICHMOND
THE ball sailed through the goals post high.
It had been kicked from a good 55 to 60m out at Lockyer Valley’s home ground up in Queensland.
But it did not come from the boot of one of the Demons’ senior players. It was a freshfaced kid with big hair by the name of Wylie Buzza who had slammed home the long-range effort.
Little did Buzza’s first footy coach, Tony Bowers, know at the time that he would go on to play AFL football and be in selection contention for Geelong’s qualifying final against Richmond tomorrow night.
“There was this one play where he has busted out of the centre and given the ball off, got it back and he was just passing out square . . . and our square is about the size of the MCG’s and he booted that ball 10m before the 50m arc and he got it on the fly,” Bowers said.
“We guesstimated it was a 55m to 62m kick on the fly and that was an early game, he had only played a couple of games and he was just a young kid.
“He just has a huge thumping kick and so much natural ability.”
The fact Buzza finds himself in the frame for tomorrow night does not surprise anyone you talk to about the big man.
They rave about his dedi- cation, his hard work and natural athletic ability.
It’s almost ironic considering the rugby league convert only took up Aussie rules as a kid to get out of school.
Buzza rocked up at Lockyer Valley for a game of under-16s, but it was not long until he was in the senior fold with the Demons.
“He always had the hair, the personality, but he just didn’t have the size (at that time),” Bowers said.
“When he first came to the club all the guys said he’d just play and he’d never train. But he never missed a training session and he played like he’d been playing for years.
“He really put his mates to shame with the ‘he will never train’ crap.
“He always dominated on the ground. He ended up play- ing one or two senior games for me in the end and he was my ruckman and absolutely killed them.
“If we had half a dozen of him we would have been undefeated.”
Buzza would only play one season for the Demons before moving on.
His development took him to QAFL outfit Mt Gravatt and the Brisbane Lions’ academy and eventually he was sucked up into the state’s elite path way.
“He just blossomed from then onwards,” AFL Queensland’s state academy and highperformance coach, Adrian Fletcher, said.
“He has got really good character, he is a hard worker and, for a big man, he has got good speed and is very good at ground level.
“I think with his speed and size he did have a good chance (of making it at AFL level) and he just improved as we went along.
“I used to play him out of the goal square and he was very dangerous down there.”
The Cats pounced on Buzza late in the 2015 draft, taking him with pick 69.
Recruiting manager Stephen Wells highlighted Buzza as a long-term prospect, one who would need plenty of time before establishing himself in the senior team.
“Wellsy is an astute man and he saw enough in him. He knew he had to improve his game a lot, but I was rapt Geelong picked him up because of their high-performance program,” said Fletcher, himself a former Cat.
Geelong fans instantly had