Australian Football Association of North America

by Lisa Albergo reporting for AFANA from Chicago

Every club has a practical joker or two - or three - within their ranks. Collingwood is no exception. Young gun Steele Sidebottom found out the hard way that his captain Nick Maxwell is one of those jokers. He was the victim of a well-executed prank engineered by Maxwell who had a bit of help from the now-defunct footy TV show The Bounce. The prank occurred late last season and was then aired on the show.

The unsuspecting Sidebottom accompanied Maxwell on a drive to a secluded area. Maxwell then pretended to be selling phony club merchandise out of the trunk of his car. Along came several "police officers" to bust the pair. Poor Steele fell for the whole thing hook, line, and sinker.

He laughs about it now. However, behind that laugh is a mind clicking with ideas for payback. Shortly after the non-incident, he told club fitness trainer David Buttifant about what had happened. David's advice to Steele was to not do anything for a few weeks. It has been well more than a few weeks and Steele has yet to exact his revenge, but he has vowed to get Maxwell sometime down the track. No doubt it will be a doozy and you can bet dollars to donuts that Steele won't need assistance from a TV show or anyone else.

Source: heraldsun.com.au