Five months after he was selected with pick 43 in the national draft by the Brisbane Lions, former Greater Western Victoria (GWV) Rebel Harry Sharp is back in Ballarat on Mars Stadium.
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Alongside fellow former GWV Rebels Hugh McCluggage and Jarrod and Tom Berry, Sharp returns to his old stomping ground for one of the games of the round against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday.
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He said he's thrilled to be back and ready to see a strong crowd at the game.
"Really good to be back here, I think the boys are enjoying it and it's a great opportunity to play in front of a big Ballarat crowd," he said.
"I think it's just great for the town, Mars Stadium have put a lot of effort in to getting big games here, obviously the Bulldogs being a sponsor of them so it's good to be back here and hopefully it's a good game."
Sharp made his debut in round one against Sydney, picking up 11 disposals, three tackles and five intercept possessions.
He was picked again in round two for the controversial game against Geelong when Brisbane weren't awarded a late holding the ball free kick in it's goal square, eventually going down by one point.
He was left out of the side for the comeback win over Collingwood in round three, Zac Bailey the hero with a goal after the siren to win by one point.
Sharp said the win has lifted the group ahead of the big clash with the Bulldogs.
"It's definitely lifted the energy and maintained throughout training this week so the boys are very excited to get out there and give the Bulldogs their best shot and just see how everything goes," he said.
The Lions have been stuck in Victoria since they flew down to face Geelong in round two due to a COVID-19 breakout in Brisbane.
Sharp, who is currently completing year 12 in Brisbane, said it's been good timing for him as he is on school holidays.
"It's been good, loving it, taking it in my stride. Obviously I've been pretty lucky or fortunate I suppose, we're on holidays at the moment so I'm not missing a whole lot of school," he said.
What the situation has done is provided more opportunities for Sharp to see his family that are still based in Ballarat.
He said they've been a superb support network and it's been great to see them more often then he would in normal circumstances.
"I've been pretty fortunate my family show great support so they've been up to Brisbane a fair bit. Being down here the last two weeks I've seen them a lot as well," he said.
The game kicks at 1:35pm on Saturday at Mars Stadium.
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