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The field included last year’s winner Majak Daw and Essendon speedster Anthony McDonald-Tipingwuti, but it was someone who you’ve definitely never heard of who won the 2016 AFL Grand Final sprint.
All the wash-up from the AFL Grand Final
» Match report: Bulldogs are premiers!
» BUCKLAND: The West wins one for all
» Seven talking points from the match
» Our top ten tweets from the day
» Another classic Bulldogs banner
» Re-live all the action with our live blog
No, seriously. Unless you’re familiar with the Murrumbeena Football Netball Club, you’ve almost certainly never come across the name ‘James Shirley.’
You have now, though.
Club footy player Shirley, who plays for the aforementioned Murrumbeena Club, won the final of the sprint by a country mile, racing away from Daw in the final twenty metres of the race to cross the finish line in first.
To be fair to Daw, the defending champion did get a horror start, going awfully close false-starting before being close to the last runner out of the blocks.
The Kangaroos ruckman looked to have his second-straight title in the bag at around the halfway point of the race, but Shirley’s withering finish was more than enough to give the amateur player a win over his big-name rivals.
The result certainly caught Twitter users by surprise.
Grand final sprint won by man in gold nail polish, my my how times have changed! #AFLGF #grandfinalsprint
— Chloe Lorimer (@Chloe_Lorimer96) October 1, 2016
The 13Cabs Grand Final sprint winner
Q: "What do you do for a living"
A: "I'm an Uber driver" #AFLGF #grandfinalsprint— W.Bat (@TimothyFegan) October 1, 2016
To be fair, 28-year-old Shirley himself seemed a little unsure of himself post-race, giving a fairly concise interview after taking out the title, leaving Matthew Richardson looking a little bemused.
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