Sides announced for Cadbury Super match

CADBURY on Tuesday announced the final line up for the inaugural CADBURY Super Team match, to be played on Australia Day at Blacktown International Sportspark.

The teams will start as follows:

Team Goodes
Adam Goodes (Sydney Swans)
Nic Naitanui (West Coast)
Jake Melksham (Essendon)
Kieren Jack (Sydney Swans)
Hamish Hartlett (Port Adelaide)
David Zaharakis (Essendon)
Daniel Giansiracusa (Western Bulldogs)
Harry Taylor (Geelong)
Jobe Watson (Essendon)
Jack Watts (Melbourne)

Team Thomas
Dale Thomas (Collingwood)
Matthew Luenberger (Brisbane)
Patrick Dangerfield (Adelaide)
Tom Scully (GWS GIANTS)
Israel Folau (GWS GIANTS)
Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
Lenny Hayes (St Kilda)
Adam McPhee (Fremantle)
Todd Goldstein (North Melbourne)
Harley Bennell (Gold Coast)

AFL legend and GWS GIANTS coach Kevin Sheedy will also be in attendance.

Blacktown was selected as the venue after 71 year old Les Colgan – a resident of Stanhope Gardens – purchased $5 of Cadbury confectionary from his local Kings Langley Coles store and entered the promotion which coincided with the 2011 AFL Finals Series.

Les, a lifelong Bombers fan who previously lived in the shadows of Essendon’s “Windy Hill” ground, will have 19 of his youngest family and friends join him in a game of AFL 9s against the AFL players, and around 70 friends participating in a clinic preceding the game.

“I can’t wait for the day, and have been super excited since I first found out I’d won,” he said. “We’re making it a real community event, and Cadbury is preparing for around 2000 locals to come down on the day.

“I’ve done my own pre-season of walking, and am looking forward to lining up against the AFL boys. I’ve picked a particularly young group of family and friends to join me in the games – other than me, everyone is aged between 8 and 15, so I am hoping they can carry me through!”

Cadbury Super Team co-captain, Adam Goodes, said: “To be selected as one of the co-captains for the inaugural Cadbury Super Team with Dale Thomas is an honour. It’s not often we get to play on the same team as our peers, or against members of the public, and I am really looking forward to the opportunity.

“It will also be the first time players from the Swans meet players from GWS on the field so the chance to try out the boys’ form before the season starts will be great. Dale and I hope everyone can get involved and make this a fun day for Les Colgan and his family and the local community.”

Kraft Foods Australia Corporate Affairs Manager, Greta Cooper, said: “We are delighted with the calibre of players taking part in the Cadbury Super Team inaugural event. From the outset we said we would bring an enormous amount of talent to ensure that the Cadbury Super Team truly is the biggest AFL prize ever offered to Australians.”

Fast Facts:

* The two teams of AFL players will play each other before taking on two teams selected by Cadbury Super Team winner Les Colgan
* The cumulative awards attained by the playing group are a fair boast: 5 Premierships, 2 Brownlows, 9 All Australian honours, 2 Rising Star awards, 3 Club Captains and 9 Club Best & Fairest awards
* Sydney Swans Adam Goodes and Kieren Jack will be the first Swans to take on cross town rivals GWS recruits Tom Scully and NRL convert Israel Folau
* Jack Watts (Melbourne) will be the first Demon to play on Tom Scully since his departure from Melbourne at the end of the 2011 season
* GWS Coach and AFL legend Kevin Sheedy will open the day which will see Team Goodes take on Team Thomas in a game of AFL 9s, after which each team will play members of the public in the new format game.
* Only 2000 tickets have been distributed for this community fun day, with food and drink provided by Coles, jumping castles and other forms of entertainment set to go.

Where: Blacktown International Sports Park
When: 9.45 for 10am start, Thursday 26 January 2012
Who: Players available for media comment on the day