Greyhound racing’s AFL connection was on show when the Collingwood Football Club spent time in the Latrobe Valley this week as part of its annual community camp.

As part of the camp, 34 members of the playing list attended a fundraising dinner at the Traralgon Greyhound Racing Club on Tuesday night to support grassroots football and netball in the Gippsland region.

While there wasn’t any racing at Glenview Park that evening, players and guests enjoyed the opportunity to meet a pair of champion greyhounds in dual Waterloo Cup winner, Better Than This and Traralgon Cup winner Jesaulenko. The latter is named after former Carlton great, Alex Jesaulenko, who ironically took the Mark of the Century against the Pies in the 1970 Grand Final.

Among the Collingwood stars in attendance were Steele Sidebottom, owner of a greyhound called Scott Good Pace, who has had three starts for one win. The reigning best and fairest winner said he was delighted to be involved in greyhound racing.

“(Having) the thrill of watching your first win and coming to nice venues like this where they put on a really good night…I would definitely recommend people get themselves a greyhound,” Sidebottom said.

Greyhound racing’s three Gippsland clubs at Sale, Traralgon and Warragul have a long-standing partnership with AFL Gippsland. Representatives from each of the three clubs were in attendance along with a number of corporate sponsors and more than 100 guests who paid for the privilege of sharing a table with their Collingwood heroes.