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Lochie shines in AFL finals advertising campaign

Posted on September 23, 2011

IN THE FRAME: Collingwood Football Club supporter, Lochie O’Brien, has found himself the talk of the town recently, appearing in the AFL’s ‘This is Greatness’ campaign.

MILDURA’S Lochie O’Brien, 12, has become a national footy sensation over the past few weeks, with the young Collingwood supporter unknowingly becoming one of the faces of the Australian Football League’s ‘This is Greatness’ finals campaign.

An advertising campaign that shows supporters – dressed in their team’s colours – enjoying their time at the footy, several posters, billboards, and even television commercials have been appearing in AFL regions during the finals series, with Lochie appearing at the front of the pack.

It’s a scenario that has certainly come as a surprise to Lochie’s parents Deb and Jason, who first learned of their son’s ‘fame’ only a few weeks ago.

“One of the guys at Mildura’s Balls and Bumpers store was the first to tell us about the campaign,” Deb said.

“He just mentioned that there was this kid at the front of the AFL’s finals advertising that looked a lot like Lochie.

“And it turned out that it actually was Lochie!”

Deb said the photo that appears in the campaign was actually taken at the 2010 drawn Grand Final between Collingwood and St Kilda, with Lochie just another fan making his way into the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

“The AFL had a few photographers out on the day,” she said. “One of them asked if he could take a picture of Lochie, and then told us to keep an eye out for it online.

“We didn’t think much of it at the time, and it’s been pure luck for Lochie to be featured so prominently.

“Hopefully we can score some Grand Final tickets out of it, which would just be fantastic.”
Lochie said that while he hadn’t seen any of the posters in person yet, it had still been a pretty exciting time.

“The first time I saw it was on television two weeks ago,” he said. “I was watching the Collingwood, West Coast game and the poster was right behind the presenter.

“It’s been pretty cool. Mum and Dad were in Melbourne two weeks ago and took a photo in Federation Square.

“I showed my mates at school and they thought it was awesome.”

Inheriting his love of the Collingwood Football Club from his dad, Lochie said he was confident his team could get the job down tomorrow afternoon against Hawthorn, before taking out the big prize for the second year in a row.

“I think Collingwood will win by 43 points this week, and then beat Geelong in the Grand Final by 37 points,” he said.

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