Crawshaw brothers add extra bite to Jindera Bulldogs
From the Border Mail.
FROM the moment Sam Crawshaw beat his twin brother Matt into the world by 14 minutes, the siblings have been at each other.
“Neither of us like losing much,” Sam said.
“I gave up cricket when I was 16 because as soon as he started hitting me back over my head at training I knew my time was up.
“He started getting on top of me and I cracked the shits.”
Sam’s early retirement may have been a little rash as Matt has gone on to captain St Patrick’s Cricket Club and become one of Cricket Albury-Wodonga’s premier batsmen.
Football has been a completely different story with the pair being teammates since under-13s at Albury.
They went on to play in the Tigers’ 2013 third grade grand final win over Lavington under Neale Poole.
It was soon time to head bush with the brothers having two seasons at Walla.
Sam then headed to Jindera while Matt spent last season playing cricket in Scotland.
“It’s good to have him at Jindera this year,” Sam said.
“It’s always been good playing with a family member, especially a twin.
“You know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
“We had a fair crack at each other in the backyard playing footy as kids so it’s been good being on the same side.”
Matt’s return to the Hume league is timely as Jindera mount another challenge for the flag after finishing runner-up to Osborne last season.
The Bulldogs have kept their list together better than most and added quality in Trent Castles and Ben Dower.
“We have had a strong pre-season,” Sam, 22, said.
“’Bahry’ (Kerry Bahr) has pushed everyone hard.
“We should shape up pretty well.
“Having Trent and Ben gives us a bit more height which is something we lacked last year.”
Jindera faces one of its biggest challenges in Brocklesby-Burrumbuttock at Brocklesby in Saturday’s opening round with the clash the start of a daunting run for both sides.
“Brock-Burrum is always strong,” he said.
“Our first six weeks are all hard against the top sides in the competition.”
Brock-Burrum also look to have most bases covered despite the late loss of defenders Liam and Ryan Johnson to Queensland.
Their younger brother, Aidan, remains at the club and has trained the house down with his lighter frame.
Classy forward Nick Brockley has battled injury over the off-season but is a chance of lining up against Jindera despite initial fears he would miss several matches.
VERDICT: Jindera by 18 points
ROUND 1
Osborne v Henty
Brock-Burrum v Jindera
Holbrook v Culcairn
Lockhart v RWW
Billabong Crows v Murray Magpies
CDHBU v Howlong
