71 years young Maurie Hetherton continues to defy the odds and returns to local umpiring this Saturday. Whilst this week will be Maurie's only stint we are delighted to have him back in the group, said Umpires coordinator Shane Chapman.
Hetherton umpired his last local game during the Finals series of 2013 and proceeded to leave Broken Hill in April 2014 for a northern sea change to reside with his Family in Cairns.
"It was not my intention to continue umpiring but I made the mistake of wandering past training one night and before I knew it I was back umpiring 2 to 3 games a week". Whilst mainly umpiring Junior grades Hetherton has also been umpiring Womens and Youth/Womens game (U13/U17), with the occassional run in the Reserves.
"AFL is booming in Cairns and the standard is very high, quicker than Broken Hill when I left in 2014. We train a miminum of 2 nights per week with some pretty intense running sessions early in the week and a Thursday night theory session is followed by dinner. I am a bit like the energiser battery I keep going just not super quick. I was pretty happy with my 8 beep test last week"
Hetherton will wave the flags early in the 13's and then do Reserves and the Emergency Role later in the day, said Chapman. "Maurie has a footy backround and a great feel for the game and I'm pretty comfortable he will give his best effort Saturday"
Hetherton returns home on the 17th June and with a week off for the June long weekend this will be the only chance for Hetherton to done the bright new yellow/lime shirts.
We have learnt now to never say this is the last time for Maurie as he is a very healthy proud 71 year old said Chapman.
Last Modified on 03/06/2016 12:35