We caught up with the player's mums last week while they were in town for Mother’s Day, to bring you a very special edition of Inside Alberton: Mum’s the Word.
Port Adelaide is putting the power back in the hands of players’ mums, revealing secrets from their childhoods only a mother would know…
1. JULIE WINGARD - Chad Wingard’s Mum
“When he was on camp in year 5, he went off sleep walking! His dad used to sleepwalk too and when the teachers woke up in the morning, they found him in another students’ bed. He had no idea how he got there!”
“He was a bit of quiet chubby bubby. He used to play Xbox all day.”
2. JANE WINES – Ollie Wines’ Mum
“Ollie and his little brother Harry thought they were WWE wrestlers they were fanatical! So they would spend hours on our trampoline. Ollie was ‘Batista’ and Harry was ‘John Cena’. The teddys were usually ‘Big Show’ ‘Undertaker’ or ‘Randy Orton’. Hours of tapping out, sleeper holds, RKOs, slams, with Ollie thinking it was a great idea to jump of his grandfather’s balcony next door - a height of three metres - onto his little brother!”
“Fun facts: Ollie didn’t drink alcohol until he turned 18 - something contrast to other kids his age. He doesn’t like any-one using his room or sleeping in his bed even though he though he has lived in Adelaide for two-and-a-half years.”
“WARNING: Don’t have a game of table tennis with him as his younger brother knows all too well, suffering multiple facial injuries from flying paddles!”
3. CHRISTINE EBERT - Brad Ebert’s Mum
“Brad used to love to dress up. He used to think he was Batman and would dress up in his batman cape and mask and make Ash (his younger sister) dress up as Catwoman. He’d also call his Great-Grandma ‘The Penguin’!”
“There was one time he was stealing rocks from the neighbour’s garden. She didn’t mind too much but he came home crying his eyes out. He was just very upset that he was getting in trouble!”
4. CHICKI BOAK – Travis Boak’s Mum
“Travis and his younger sister were very competitive. They used to fight over who would finish breakfast first in the mornings. It was very funny to watch.”
“When he was little, only about three years old, in the backyard at home, he built a little bridge for the ants so they wouldn’t get stepped on.”
“When he was in High School, he put his name down for almost every single sport just so he could get out of school. I remember he signed up for hockey and table tennis. He wasn’t very good but it got him out of class.”
5. KAREN SHARP – Tom Jonas’ Mum
“When we bought his little brother home from hospital, Tom was about four and a half. I’ve gone in the lounge and the baby was in the rocker, with a mouth full of chicken chips that Tom had fed him. He thought he was sharing. Lucky the baby didn’t choke!”
“Tom was scared of the dark, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he still is. He used to put the bins out and run down the driveway!”
6. CAROL HARTLETT - Hamish Hartlett’s Mum
“Once he was playing Junior footy in a Country Carnival somewhere and he wasn’t getting many touches so in the end, he knelt down and spent at least five minutes tying up his shoelace. He obviously didn’t want the ball to come near him and was wasting time because it took him forever. He had completely tuned out of the game!”
7. PAMELA CORNES – Kane Cornes’ Mum
“When he first started school I got a call because he was eating everyone’s lunches. He would beat them up if they didn’t give him their lunch!”
8. IRENE POLEC – Jared Polec’s Mum
“He’s a twin - they kind of conspired against me sometimes. One time I went outside to hang up the washing and they locked me outside and I couldn’t get back in. They stood there laughing and I’m yelling and screaming and coaxing them to open the door. I was stuck out there for about half an hour. They were only about three years old!”
“Jared really loved his dummy. He had to always have a dummy. One time he lost it in the duck pond and I told him, that’s it! The ducks have it now! He was about three and a half. He was really upset with it but he resigned himself to that.”
9. GAYLE MOORE - Andrew Moore’s Mum
“When he was about 6, he was the mascot at the basketball. All the parents were watching one side and Andrew and the boys were all on the other side and you could see the older boys were giggling and encouraging him to do something. Next minute, he drops his pants and flashed the parents on the other side of the court. He was very easily led.”
“He used to always come to basketball with his older brother and sister and the other children used to tickle him. There was this one time he came when he was about 2 and they were tickling him and he yelled out, ‘don’t tickle me, I’m going to wet my pants!’ and that’s exactly what he did.”
“He was a gorgeous little boy, very cute with tight ringlets. One of our friends decided to brush his hair once and it ended up going out like a bouffant.
10. HELEN MITCHELL – Kane Mitchell’s Mum
“The funniest one that I remember was when Kane was about 12. He’s the youngest of four boys, so there’s a lot of rivalry and picking on each other. The boys had been teasing him about his monobrow…he came out of the bathroom and he had shaved between his brows, but he’d shaved nearly half his eyebrows off! All the boys were coming out of the bathrooms getting ready for school, and I said “do not mention Kane’s eyebrows!” Of course, they all laughed at him.”
“He used to dress up as Danny Zuko from grease when he was about five. He had a little leather jacket, he’d slick his hair back and do ‘Greased lightning’.”
“I remember the time we went to the doctors when he was 10 or 11. The doctor said “I think you need stitches.” He just ran…out of the surgery, and up the road! He was pretty quick then, and he’s still pretty quick now!”
“Kane grew up in Geralton WA, and we had a big backyard – we had a cricket pitch mowed in the backyard. But he would never go out… he ran away with the wickets. He’d get [steal] the wickets and run. He’s always been competitive!”
11. DEBBIE YOUNG – Aaron Young’s Mum
“When he was probably 12 we were gardening and we asked him to pick up all the stuff that had been trimmed. He got bitten by a bull ant his finger swelled up – we never heard the end of the winging! He never helped with the gardening again!”
“When he was in secondary school he used to pick his brother up from primary school. Aaron used to make him carry his bag. His brother was 10 and he was 13!”
