By Ben Martin, Colac Herald
Otway Districts netballer Emma Craddock says reaching 250 club games on the weekend came as a pleasant surprise.
There was little fanfare entering the match for Craddock, as club legend Candi Panther celebrated her 300th Colac district A Grade game, and no one was aware of Craddock’s milestone.
The 32-year-old mother of four was meant to reach the achievement this weekend when the Demons’ C Grade side hosted South Colac.
But Craddock was called up to play in the B Grade team following her C Grade side’s win over Irrewarra-Beeac.
“I wasn’t meant to actually play my 250th until this week, but I ended up filling in for B grade as well, so no one really knew about it,” she said.
Craddock’s netball career began with the Demons’ 17-and-under side in 2007. She played 42 games in the juniors.
The same season she made her A Grade debut, and spent 171 of her 250 games in the Demons’ top-grade side.
“I only started playing netball just because my brother was at Otway and I was working with Kellie Throckmorton at the time, and we were talking one day, so I decided to come play and that’s how it started,” she said.
“We were telling some of the little kids the other day that when we first started playing in the senior side, we would get beaten by up to 80 goals a game.
“It is nice now to be on the other side of that and be a competitive side.”
Craddock said playing in the Demons’ A Grade grand final side in 2019 was one of the highlights of her career despite the end result.
“I have only ever played in one grand final, and I think my first time playing finals was in 2017, so out of all those years I only first played finals recently,” she said.
Craddock, the partner of former Otway senior footy captain Aaron Mahoney who tragically died on the footy field back in 2015, said the club had been a second home for her family.
Her two oldest children Asha and Toby have already started their football and netball careers with the Demons.
“Otway is a very family-orientated club, I have got heaps of friends out there and everyone is so welcoming,” she said.
“When my partner Aaron died, the club obviously did a hell of a lot for us and that just showed how much they support people.”
