Sacred Heart has it's fair share of animals that hang around the club, Booges is one of them, but the original, and the most admired is Roy.
Roy Boy, as he is affectionately known, is the black lab/kelpie cross, who belongs to Seacia, daughter of Kate and Philbeys.
He's often seen running about Fawkner Park, imaginary herding the Hearters, balls, other dogs and anything else that looks out of place. He's a very territorial fella, especially when it comes to purebreds. As a 'blue collar' dog, he hates them. The hackles go up and the teeth are bared, and god help the other dogs if they decide 'it's on'. He's only protecting what he perceives (and quite rightly) to be his domain and his charges... i.e. us.
When he rocks up to training, or match day with Philbeys, he knows exactly where he is going as soon as he's let out of the car... straight to the first person who will scratch his arse basically. And of course everyone has time for Roy, and his cup certainly runneth over with pats and scratches when he's either boundary side or in the rooms after a few, where the catch cry from Chris O'Brien will ensue .. "Philbeys?...where's Roy?"
Roy also has an uncanny nose for occasion. At the beginning of the Grand Final against Gunbower, a joint team photo was taken with Barbara O'Neil, Umpires et al. As Capt. Stabbin was directing the subjects to get in place, Roy nonchalantly made his way to front & centre and promptly flopped himself down in a magnificent pose right in front of Mrs O'Neil, and stared straight down the barrel of the lens with a smile only happy dogs can muster. Perfect.
At the most recent presentation evening at Cherry Manor, Roy was awarded Philbeys premiership medallion and wore it proudly for the remainder of the evening.
This was done by Phil, on behalf of himself, the family and the rest of us, as a mark of respect at the service Roy has contributed to the club, for alas, all is not well with the boy.
A few weeks back, Roy Boy was diagnosed as having an aggressive tumor in his brain that will eventually lead to his demise. Exploratory surgery was performed to see if the tumor could be removed, but the decision to do so would probably lead to the 6 months he has been given, being significantly reduced. So, over a bottle of red, Kate and Phil decided to let him be, and make the time remaining the happiest possible for all concerned.
So, Hearters, enjoy the time we have, and had with Roy Boy, and let's hope that by some grace of the cricket (& dog) gods, he is given many more overs before stumps.
We Love You Roy Boy!