While fans tuned in to the 2022 Brownlow Medal coverage to see the AFL’s greatest stars and stakeholders, it was an unlikely guest that stole the show.
NAB AFL Auskicker of the year Archie Stockdale joined Essendon star Dyson Heppell just ahead of Round 8 of voting to thank all players who have announced their retirement ahead of the conclusion of the season.
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Guests at the event at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne fell in love with the junior Essendon fan all over again as he sat and chat in his tuxedo and Auskick medal, sporting “the best mullet in the business.”
“I’m very nervous and very excited, little bit of both,” the youngster said as the crowd laughed and cheered on a night he is certain to remember.
“My footy career is off to a great start and I would like to say thank you to the players retiring this year. It’s been great to have you playing AFL.”
The Auskicker will receive a $5000 prize for the title which he told Heppell he plans to spend on one of his favourite things.
“I’ll probably go to a few AFL games, buy a hoverboard, I’ll think about that later,” he said.
The aspiring future AFL draftee said he was most passionate about Essendon over any other club due to his distant relation to the club’s 1923 Coleman medallist Greg Stockdale.
“That would be incredible if I could play for the Bombers one day,” the junior footy player said.
The Essendon fan went viral in May with a halftime interview with Channel 7 host Hamish McLachlan that had viewers in stitches.
