Progress for Kevin Dyas

[zoyler]

More good news from Oz!

I see from todays The Age that Kevin won a goal kicking competition and is progressing very well at Collingwood.  He has just played his first AR match and all seem pleased with his progress though it will still be some time before any question of a senior start comes along.

[Northside Dub]

Irish recruit keeps it level
2:23 PM Thu 31 January, 2008 | Back

By Ben Broad, in South Africa

Exclusive to AFL BigPond Network

News
COLLINGWOOD officials need not worry about Irish rookie Kevin Dyas getting out of line.

While there is potential for the international recruit to get swept up by the glitzy world of AFL football, especially with the recent sharp focus on young footballers from the Emerald Isle, a quick chat to the 20-year-old old reveals that this is one footballer who won't be getting ahead of himself.

The Magpie rookie will be earning decent money and following the footsteps of countryman Martin Clarke who swept all before him last year, but he knows to be thankful for his lot in life.

Dyas, who hails from County Armagh, just near Clarke's County Down, was one of the few Magpies with previous African experience before the club's South African adventure.

Last week, Collingwood players visited a small township just outside Potchefstroom and while the sights and poverty they encountered shocked many players, Dyas was better prepared than most after a trip to Africa a few years earlier.

"I was in Zambia about two or three years ago doing a bit of charity work with my school on an emerging project," Dyas said.

"We were just over for two or three weeks teaching in the schools, going out with the volunteer workers to visit people with AIDS and giving out tablets and just sort of talking to them, doing all sorts of stuff like that to just make them feel better.

"They had nothing really and they were really happy to see us. It just shows you that you don't really have to have everything to be happy like they were."

Dyas was so affected by what he saw in Zambia that he left behind clothes and "anything else that wasn't going to be of any use to us".

It was those humanitarian qualities as well as his outstanding physical traits that attracted the Magpies.

Dyas was selected by Collingwood with the club's second round pick (No. 30 overall) in the 2007 AFL Rookie Draft. The strong bodied midfielder will wear No 41 in 2008

[Hardy]

It was those humanitarian qualities as well as his outstanding physical traits that attracted the Magpies.

We all know "humanitarian qualities" are high on the list of requirements for AR footballers OK.