Off to the spring races, a job interview or a post-training wedding? It was the look that had Saints fans and teammates boggled and bemused far and wide as Cooper Sharman arrived for the first day of pre-season dressed a little more sharply than the norm.
Shades on, pale blue suit popping in the gloomy weather and suitcase with boots looped over them trailing behind, it was a far different look compared to the baggier and trendier casual wear of his fellow Saints heading into a rainswept training session.
Unfortunately - or fortunately, depending on how you see it - for Sharman, it wasn’t by choice that he was rocking up to day one dressed to the nines.
“It was just a simple bet, just a simple bet that I lost last week,” Sharman lamented.
“After our last off-season session we were here with a few of the boys and had a goalkicking comp, which is normally my strong suit. We decided the loser would be rocking up first day in a suit, full kit with accessories… it could have actually been my idea!
“Unfortunately, I buckled under the pressure. Goalkicking is my one-wood and I crumbled!”
For the straight-shooting Sharman, losing out on a goalkicking comp is just about unheard of. But on the impromptu runway of RSEA Park’s car park, the scrubbed-up Saint delivered.
“I think I did ok,” he said with a grin.
“I had to scrounge through the wardrobe yesterday morning and have a look at what suits I could put together. I had me sunnies, me suitcase with the boots on them… think it turned out alright.
“I made sure I got here early enough that not many people did spot it, but I saw the club photographer out the front for day one and straight away went ‘oh no’.
“A few of the boys that knew about it were already in here, and then a couple of others had a bit of a strange look on their face thinking ‘what’s this bloke doing?’.
“I thought maybe it’d be a group photo and I’d be the first one in the collage, but got my own post with the Outkast soundtrack,” he laughed.
“The photo went viral a bit so there were a few questions by the end of the day!”
