11/05/2008 8:28:38 PM
A mutual appreciation session in the Dream Team's camp has shown there's a generational change sweeping over representative football.
In a positive sign for the game, former Victorian player and Collingwood hero Peter Daicos went from autograph hunter to hunted in the blink of an eye.
As the 46-year-old helped his fearless boys Joshua, 9, and Nicholas, 5, get their picture taken with their favourite Dream Team players, the mercurial Magpie was targeted by his own fan – Brett Burton.
"I loved watching you playing in the VFL," Burton said as he held out the Big V jumper he'd acquired after the game.
'Love watching you fly' was the sincere response Daicos scribbled on Burton's guernsey.
Daicos said promoting the game's heroes was a big plus to come from the big MCG contest.
"My kids are here tonight and they just love it; kids are looking up to all of these players. As a promotional tool I don't think the AFL can go wrong," he said.
"The little one, he knows them all like Mooney and Birdman."
"I'm not sure the next step, where these games head, but they would be crazy not to do it as a yearly thing. The clubs won't be too pleased doing that with their valuable stock but it's great."
"When you are a non-player now you sort of say 'Bring it on, let's have it'."
The 46-year-old said the game itself was a fantastic spectacle.
"It's like a lot of things, when it's not there you tend to miss it a hell of a lot more," he said.
"One of the things I was really looking forward to was having the very best out there and the other interest for me was how hard the boys would go at it and I don't think there was too much allowed from either side."
"It was a fantastic standard, it was free scoring, it was great and I was really happy with it."