By Russell Bennett
FRIDAY was for Chopper.
Harley Hulme was just 19 when he was killed after being hit by a train following a night out with friends back in June.
The passing of the youngster affectionately known as ‘Chopper’ sent shockwaves through the local sporting community – triggering an outpouring of emotion by those who knew him.
On Friday’s public holiday, some of his closest mates gathered at Pakenham’s Toomuc Reserve to hold the first annual cricket match between the Lions and Jindivick – who Harley was set to play for under former Lions premiership player and great friend Steven Dillon this season.
The Pakenham side was made up of a combination of Harley’s mates, team-mates, and Lions youngsters who looked up to him. It was led by one of his closest friends Zac Chaplin – and Zac’s father Neil.
Steven thought of the concept of the game, which is set to become an annual event, and led the Jindivick side out.
Zac was overwhelmed by the turnout of those to celebrate Harley’s life, given Friday’s dreary weather forecast.
But there was no way they were going to miss the opportunity to celebrate the life of someone so well loved.
The two sides played for a perpetual shield, presented by Harley’s pa – Beau.
“Stevie and Zac organised this between the two of them – they were both great friends of Harley’s,” he said.
“They come around all the time to see me, those boys, and made sure I was in agreement with anything before it went ahead.
“We’ve got the shield, and it’ll be an annual thing between Jindivick and Pakenham.
“I’m really looking forward to that.
“This is a celebration of Harley and he’d be so chuffed. There were so many of his mates here, and it was a great turnout from other sporting clubs as well.
“We have to celebrate his life and the guys coming up with the Twenty-20 game is just fantastic.”
Harley was a particularly talented cricketer – scoring a superb unbeaten 128 for Pakenham as a 15-year-old before later going on to play for Casey-South Melbourne – and also played footy for the Lions.
