Photos: Pies in Wang

The players and coaches of the Collingwood Football Club spent the past two days mixing with the people of Wangaratta as part of the 2012 Australia Post AFL Community Camps.

The Magpies were welcomed to the town by the Mayor of Wangaratta Cr Roberto Paino at the Wangaratta Performing Arts Centre on Tuesday who explained the town’s passion for football and the strong Collingwood presence amongst the community.

For the next two days, the players conducted a series of football clinics, talks with local school students, visited different sections of the community and mingled with the locals.

A training session involving the entire squad was staged on Wednesday at the Wangaratta Showgrounds, home to the Wangaratta Magpies and the ground where Collingwood’s VFL team met Williamstown last season.

Appropriately, Nathan Buckley and the other coaches ran an ‘old school’ training session where the players partook in several training drills that they may have recalled from their last days with their own local teams.

Collingwood has several strong links with the town. Four players - Ben Reid, Steele Sidebottom, Jonathon Ceglar and Lachlan Smith - all grew up around the area, and Reid played his junior football with the Wangaratta Rovers.

Some lucky youngsters were invited into the change rooms to play a game of cricket with some of the players. The response the club received was outstanding, with the local community showing strong support for the black and white.

There were plenty of highlights to choose from, but collingwoodfc.com.au has managed to piece together the best photos following the team’s return to the Westpac Centre last night.



Dale Thomas was quick to meet and greet the Wangaratta locals.




The coach, the captain and the local boy were the hottest tickets in town.




Dane Swan and Luke Ball enjoy a dip in the pool on Tuesday.




Harry O'Brien, Alex Fasolo and Kirk Ugle all have different approaches to getting through their pool session.




The assistant coaches threw themselves into the hard slog of the gym. Matthew 'Skinny' Lappin defies his nickname and lifts 57.5kg weights, while Ben Hart and Robert Harvey thump away on the treadmill.




Ben Reid, Paul Seedsman and the bearded Tyson Goldsack take a break after another lap.




Nick Maxwell's leadership skills meant he was the ideal man to umpire a players vs kids footy match at the end of the clinic at the Wangaratta Showgrounds.




It's not too often that Jarryd Blair tackles someone smaller than him.




Dale Thomas made this young supporter's day - running her the length of the ground to kick a goal.




Surprisingly, Shae McNamara and Luke Ball aren't that menacing with the tackle bags in hand.




Sharrod Wellingham, Steele Sidebottom and Kirk Ugle all loved their day at the Showgrounds.




Wednesday meant training time. Ben Reid's disposal was textbook. Dane Swan was forced to retrieve the ball from the roped-off cricket pitch.




Key forwards Chris Dawes and Travis Cloke show off their goal kicking techniques.




The group was split into blue shirts and white shirts. The white shirts were made to 'wheelbarrow' each other along the ground before piggy-backing a teammate from one end of the ground to the other.




The king of fresh, Alex Fasolo, was the last man into the huddle when Nathan Buckley blew the whistle. His punishment? 20 push ups while the group cooled down with a Powerade.




Jackson Paine watches Sharrod Wellingham's snap sail goalward.




All 204cm of Cameron Wood were on full display when one of the students asked how tall he was. Not even standing on a chair meant that she could get in his ear!




Ben Reid visited a local primary school and had a kick with the students.