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THE biggest victory at the AFL NAB Challenge on the Border was not the 66-point mauling of Port Adelaide by the Richmond Tigers, but a $56,000 donation to injured Albury footballer James McQuillan.
The money, announced during half-time at Saturday’s match by AFL operations manager Mark Evans, will go towards helping McQuillan fight back after he suffered a life-changing spinal injury in the first round of the Ovens and Murray season last year.
McQuillan and his father joined Mr Evans at Lavington Oval, grateful for the significant contribution as almost 8500 footy fanatics watched on.
The passion for AFL was truly alive at the Richmond and Port Adelaide clash.
The grandstand was shaken by a mass of black and yellow chanting the team song as the Richmond Tigers took to the field to mark the start of the game.
Even former Richmond player Jake King turned out to support the Tigers.
Among the crowd was Wodonga’s Casey Franckiewicz, 13, who claimed to be a “life-long” supporter of the team.
He donned a painted face and a game jersey and settled in to cheer the Tigers to victory as he had never been to one of their games.
“I told mum straight away ‘we are getting tickets’,” he said.
“I wasn’t budging on that.”
Casey was most excited about seeing the team win but was going to “get a box of tissues” if they lost.
Rutherglen’s Glenn Marquison was also confident the Tigers would win, wearing a shirt that read “eat ‘em alive”.
“I’ve been following them for 52 years and used to see them every week when I was younger,” he said.
Mr Marquison said the win would set them up for the season.
Wodonga’s Casey Franckiewicz, 13, was one of many Tigers fans to cheer on the team.
And while Tigers fans made up most of the crowd, Port Adelaide Power supporters matched their spirit.
Andrew Crispin used to live in Port Adelaide before moving to Melbourne and travelled to the Border with his two sons to cheer them on.
Mr Crispin reminisced about the team’s “dire” years but said they were making a comeback despite the loss at the weekend.
“They’ll do well this season but it’s a long road ahead,” he said.
“It’s not a premiership game so it doesn’t matter too much.”
Richmond Tigers had not played a game on the Border since 1998.
They were scheduled to play in 2001 but the game was washed out.