World Footy News

In a story of one who had the talent, but was lost to footy, Rhys Casley has recently been unveiled as the new captain of NZ’s National Softball team. Softball in NZ is a major summer sport and is very popular with a large percentage of the population.

Rhys was a football prodigy who came to Wellington football as a 15 year old. He was one of those kids that the plodders of the world like me love to hate (I mean envy). Multi-talented, he already was in the key position of Number 8 for his schoolboy rugby team, a provincial champion athlete and already in junior national softball teams. Even at that age he had a big frame and now at the at about 193 cms and about 90 kgs what a key position player he would have made!!!

The WAFL committee made contact with David Parkin at Carlton and Kevin Sheedy at Essendon to tout him as an outstanding prospect- one of 3 I saw in Wellington in my ten years that were young enough and good enough to have a crack at the big League with the other two being Daimin Bodnar and Bruce Malcolm. However 1995 was before the advent of the “instant generation” when video could be done simply on a phone and before verbs such as ‘google’ and ‘youtube’ had even been dreamed of! E-mail and the worldwide web were in their infancy and the world was a far larger place. Both coaches wanted video of the player but this was simply beyond the scope of an organisation where the same 6-8 (at the best of times) people ran the League, the umpiring and the 4 Clubs. Though the suggestion that a $500 flight and a couple of nights accommodation was not much for an AFL Club to fork out to pick up a great player this suggestion fell on deaf ears.

Rhys went on to play many times for the Wellington Representative team but was never able to play for the Falcons, NZ’s national team, due to his softball commitments in NZ and his baseball commitments in the USA.

Now current Black Sox coach Eddie Kohlhase believes Hutt Valley's Casley will provide the leadership required to take the team through to the 2013 world championship.

"Rhys has been a leader within the Black Sox for a number of years, he is widely respected by his peers for his no nonsense, follow me approach. It is, however, his qualities of humility, integrity and pride that points to this proud Kiwi as the player we believe will lead the Sox with distinction," Kohlhase said.

A fantastic reward for a tremendous bloke but as someone intimately involved in his younger years as a footballer I can’t help but ask “What if?”

For more, read Rhys Casley takes over as Black Sox captain.