By Andrew Starke
Cans and packaging commemorating the Geelong Cats’ 2011 Toyota AFL Grand Final win and the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2011 Premiership will soon be available.
Carlton Draught is set to release a special edition blue and white themed carton, packed with 24 commemorative AFL premiers cans wrapped with the classic premiership team photo.
The celebratory carton is emblazoned with the traditional Geelong Cats colours, with the team logo taking pride of place on the front of the packaging.
The opening line from Geelong’s classic club song, ‘We are Geelong, the greatest team of all’, is inscribed across the base, with a bold ‘premiers’ tag down the side.
The 24 Carlton Draught cans feature the official post-match team photo along with the final score.
Jimmy Bartel’s Norm Smith medal award is also noted on the side of the can, celebrating his match-winning performance.
Now in its 11th year, the Carlton Draught AFL Commemorative Cans are a footy tradition, with fans from the victorious team eager to snap up the limited edition products.
A limited run of 50,000 slabs have been made available to bottle shop across Victoria with Geelong stores in particular expected to be well stocked.
“Carlton Draught has been the beer behind footy for more than 100 years, with the AFL Commemorative Cans becoming one of the great footy traditions in the past decade,” said Andrew Meldrum, group marketing manager for traditional beers at CUB.
“Geelong fought hard for a brilliant win on the weekend, and there’s no doubt Cats fans will be celebrating their third flag in five years for a long time yet.”
The Carlton Draught AFL Commemorative Cans and carton will be available in-store from Wednesday, October 12.
There is a limited edition of 50,000 which is expected to sell-out within the first fortnight of release.
Tooheys New this week released more than 4,000 Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2011 Premiership cartons to honour the club’s eighth grand final victory.
Switching from the traditional red and blue of Tooheys NEW, the limited edition cans will also feature the club’s Sea Eagles crest and team colours and carry the title of “Premiers 2011” alongside the Tooheys signature stag.
Lion Brands Director Jon Bradshaw said the cans were Tooheys’ way of celebrating with the players and providing fans with a memento of a great win.
“We, like many loyal fans, have been a proud supporter of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles for over 30 years,” he said.
“We’ve had to shuffle things around at the brewery but we were determined to get these special Tooheys New cans out as soon as possible and join Sea Eagles fans in celebrating this fantastic win.”
Thirty-can cartons of the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 2011 Premiership cans will be available in participating bottleshops from Monday, October 10.