A day after writing a piece arguing that we should really stop talking about the winter football codes in the cricket season, here's a story about an Aussie footballer we just can't resist sharing.
Dude's name is Blake Austin and he plays for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. Austin looks a little rough around the edges, but like the (super)hero in underpants who this week chased down a guy who'd driven into his mate's shop, Austin has a lovely instinct for performing acts of Aussie awesomeness.
Our favourite Austin episode happened earlier this year. But first, we'll tell you what happened this week. On Thursday, a fan called Connor Chisholm received a message from Austin on Instagram totally out of the blue -- or out of the lime green, if you like.
"Hey mate," Austin wrote. "I'm clearing out some of last year's training gear. Would you want some."
Wow. So nice. The question is why would one of the NRL's top players, who steered his team within a kick of the 2016 grand final, approach a fan like that to donate training gear?
Well, as Chisholm explained" "I post a lot about Blake Austin on Instagram as he is my favourite player".
Most top sports stars players rarely respond to random fans on social media. They banter among themselves as though they're above everyone else. But Austin actually tracked Chisholm down without prompting. Why? Because he's Blake Austin, that's why.
And to give you the full understanding of what essence of Blake Austin is all about, here's that story we mentioned early. So back in late June, Austin was driving to Canberra Stadium to play for the Raiders. Along the way, he saw a fan huddled up in the bus stop wearing Raiders gear.
What did he do? He did the Blake Austin thing. He stopped and picked her up and drove her to the game. Austin later wrote a piece about why he did it. It read, in part:
The way I saw it we were two people heading to the same place. It was a cold day in Canberra and if I could help her out and make the trip a little quicker why wouldn't I?
Her name was Jane, she was a diehard Raiders fan and, to be honest, I don't think she could believe she was sitting in a car talking to one of the players.
I gave her some of the inside gossip, telling her little bits of information about all her favourite players and giving her a bit of an insight into the team she loves to follow.
She got a thrill out it. But, to be honest, I didn't think what I was doing was any big gesture. To me, I was just doing what any decent human would."
Austin grew up in western Sydney. As he told The Daily Telegraph in July, "I'm not a hard luck case or anything like that.
"My parents didn't have much money but I was pretty lucky that they always had a lot of time for me."
Happy Friday, everybody. Here's hoping a little Blake Austinness works its way into your day and maybe your weekend too.