THE Albury-Wodonga Bandits will once again honour the memory of a club legend tomorrow night with the fourth annual Allen McCowan tribute game.
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McCowan, widely considered as the greatest player to ever pull on a Bandits jersey, died in 2012 from a pulmonary embolism, aged just 42.
Albury-Wodonga plays host to league powerhouse Geelong at the Lauren Jackson Sports Centre, and fittingly, ex-McCowan proteges Alex and Jack Duck — now playing for the Lady Supercats and Supercats respectively — will be present.
For Bandits coach Brad Chalmers — a long-time teammate of McCowan — the game represents an important part of both the fabric of the club and the Border community.
“It’s really pleasing to see his memory living on,” Chalmers said.
“Sometimes when people pass away, they fade into the background, but we’re doing some good things to remember him.
“The tribute game, Caroline (Allen’s wife) is working hard with the trust they set up and rewarding some of the local juniors, so that’s really positive stuff.
“Time heals all wounds, and from Caroline’s standpoint she still hurts, but for the rest of us, to be around her and keep doing what we’re doing as a club, just keeping his memory alive is important.
“And we get to welcome back Alex and Jack Duck. they were both very close with Al and went through the journey we all did in 2012 when it happened.
“So for those two to come back and play at home is a bit of icing on the cake as well.”
Sitting second in the East conference with a 6-4 record, the Bandits need to win to keep pace with ladder leaders Geelong (8-3) and to reverse the round 3 result at The Arena, where the Supercats ran over the top of the Border outfit to win 96-87.
Having suffered a disappointing 89-82 road defeat to the Brisbane Spartans last round, Chalmers admitted the team would have to lift its intensity at both ends of the court if it wanted to defeat Geelong at The Hideout for just the second time in the past 12 years.
“It’s a game we’re very much looking forward to,” Chalmers said.
“We didn’t play poorly down there but we didn’t get the result we wanted and it started us on a bit of a downward slide for a while.
“So we’re excited to go against them at home.
“I think we felt like we didn’t play well in Brisbane.
“I just want to see us get after them, I want the hunger and intent to go up a bit.”
Tip-off is at 8pm, with the Lady Bandits starting at 6pm.
