Cousins in arms: Wade wouldn't miss Howe's big day

Matthew Wade wasn’t going to miss it. He’s made Test centuries for his country and played at many of the world’s most famous cricket grounds, but as an Essendon fan growing up in Tasmania, his dream was to play in an AFL grand final.

And while Wade was a handy junior player, his cousin Jeremy Howe clearly has family bragging rights when it comes to football.

With the cricket season starting earlier and earlier, there could have been some doubt about whether Wade could make it to the MCG on Saturday. He's been on the road with the Tasmanian team for the domestic one-day competition, and couldn’t attend any of Collingwood’s early finals.

Matthew Wade in action during the Big Bash.

Matthew Wade in action during the Big Bash.

But the schedule has worked favourably for the wicketkeeper-batsman. He was due to depart Sydney on Thursday night after Tassie’s match against South Australia, take daughter Winter to the grand final parade on Friday, attend the decider on Saturday, then return to Sydney on Saturday night ahead of the Tigers’ next match.

Wade is two and a half years older than Jeremy, and grew up with Jeremy’s older brother Justin. But the family, including Wade’s older sisters Rebecca and Jessica, are close. The Wades would spend a lot of time at the Howe house in Dodges Ferry, 45 minutes from Hobart.

Matthew and Jeremy became considerably tighter though when Howe was drafted to Melbourne in 2010. Wade had already been in Melbourne for several years after taking up a cricket contract with Victoria.

“Obviously I was already settled over there with my wife Julia,” Wade told Fairfax Media this week.

“Jeremy came over and he spent a bit of time with us to start with and he was over pretty consistently in the first few years. We spent a lot of time together. Our bond grew a lot through those few years to what it is today.

“I think it was nice for him to have myself and my wife there to kind of have some family about in the initial few years.”

Both Howe and Wade were raw. Wade recalls playing a five-set tennis match against his cousin the day before Sheffield Shield duties. Not necessarily the best preparation.

“I think we were both pretty young and didn’t know what we were doing. I was playing five sets of tennis before I was playing a first-class game! We were just having fun and enjoying ourselves,” Wade said.

It was like an unwritten law, we didn’t speak about the codes that we were playing.

Older cousin showed younger cousin around town, introducing him to some pubs and cafes.

“He’s been a pretty good influence, especially early days when I came over. I was pretty shy, and didn’t really know what to do in the big smoke, and he kind of put me under his little arm and made the transition a lot easier,” Howe said.

And they knew they could rely on each other during difficult times professionally. There have been ups and downs, with Wade twice dropped from the Australian Test side, and Howe enduring difficult early years in a struggling Demons outfit.

Jeremy Howe as a Demon.

Jeremy Howe as a Demon.

Often it was about what was left unsaid.

“I knew that he wanted the best for me in footy, and I wanted the best for him in cricket. It was like an unwritten law, we didn’t speak about the codes that we were playing,” Howe said.

Wade agreed it had been beneficial to have a family member who could relate to what he was going through.

“It’s nice to have someone close to you that knows the professional environment that you’re in. Those initial years at Melbourne were obviously tough. They weren’t winning a lot of games.

“Basically I try to remind him to enjoy it as much as he can, and vice versa.

“We’re living the dream really. I think as professional sportsmen sometimes you forget to actually just enjoy what you’re doing.”

Wade left Victoria at the end of the 2016-17 season, but in one way he remains very close, because when Wade returned to Tasmania last year, Howe ended up buying his cousin’s house.

The importance of family hit home for Howe after the unexpected death of his mother Kim two years ago.

For Howe, the pain still lingers, and emotions were running high after Collingwood’s semi-final win over Greater Western Sydney.

“Clearly when you’re having enjoyable times, significant times, when all the family is around, she would have been the life of it. So it’s still difficult, still hard,” Howe said.

Jeremy Howe has blossomed at his second AFL home, Collingwood.

Jeremy Howe has blossomed at his second AFL home, Collingwood.

“It feels great, but you’d love to share it with the ones who mean the most. But at the same time she’d love nothing more than for us to go on and win the flag.”

Should the Pies win again on Saturday, minds will again turn to Kim. But even without his mum, Howe has plenty of support.

“The whole family is excited and really proud of what he’s done,” Wade said, suggesting that the fact Howe was overlooked in his draft year ended up helping him in the long run.

“I think it’s probably a blessing in disguise that he didn’t get drafted initially and got the opportunity to work as an electrician for three or four years.

“He already knew what he was trying to do, and he knew how hard you had to work to get to that level.

“It took him a long time to get into this situation, and now he’s got the opportunity to play in an AFL grand final. That was Justin’s and my dream as well, so I think we’re living that through him a little bit.”

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