A crucial NTFA match at Hillwood was stopped for several minutes on Saturday when a dog ventured onto the ground.
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Despite not being named in either side’s starting lineup, the staffy entered the fray early in the first quarter and proceeded to run up and down the wing.
Then, in scenes worthy of David Attenborough narration, the dog evaded 22 Sharks and 22 Tigers for more than two minutes before it was eventually captured.
“The umpires were just about to ball the ball up at a stoppage and then next minute this dog came straight in from the Longford interchange area and just wanted to play with the football,” Hillwood coach Nathan Lowe said.
“Whoever picked the football up, he was trying to jump into their arms and get in and out of their legs and we had to hold play up for two or three minutes.”
One of the Hillwood players’ girlfriends eventually came and retrieved the dog.
“When he was getting called he kept on going round and round in circles, it was like a ‘Plugger’ Lockett incident - no-one could catch him,” Lowe said.
“The more and more people tried to catch him the more and more he got excited.”
Umpires witnessed the entire incident but refrained from reporting the dog for ruff conduct.
A previous good record and no prior offences are believed to have worked in the dog’s favour.