Jarrod Berry and Willem Drew provided the muscle, then Hugh McCluggage added a splash of class. Together, the future AFL stars were the starting midfield for academic powerhouse Ballarat Clarendon College, with Berry’s younger brother Tom and rookie-listed Magpie Flynn Appleby rounding out a comparatively awesome school football line-up. Hugh McCluggage, pictured in his Ballarat Clarendon College uniform, will be a key player in Saturday’s AFL grand final.
All five went on to play at the highest level, and helped the Brad McGowan-coached college win back-to-back Herald Sun country shields in 2015-16. McCluggage (South Warrnambool) and Berry (Horsham) will again be working towards a common goal on Saturday, as the Brisbane teammates try to win their first AFL premiership, against Sydney, after going agonisingly close last year. Saturday’s decider will be the first grand final not featuring a Victorian club since the 2006 clash between Sydney and West Coast, but many of the footballers playing this weekend are from the sport’s traditional home.
“It’s wonderful to be able to look back on it. Those were our most successful years,” McGowan told this masthead. “Jarrod was always a bigger, stronger athlete, and he would walk around school, and you would know that kid is going to be an AFL player, whereas Hugh was a lighter build, but he was someone who just thinks faster than everyone else.
” There will be a distinct Ballarat flavour in Saturday’s grand final, wit.