Wedding bells
The West Lakes equivalent of the ‘Royal Wedding’ took place on January 4, with Crows coach Brenton Sanderson marrying long-time partner Veronika Tammeova in her native Czech Republic. A far cry from the heat wave engulfing Adelaide at the time, Sando and Veronika enjoyed a maximum temperature of four degrees on their wedding day. Sando used Twitter to respond to followers offering their congratulations:

@Sando_AFC : “Thx for all the messages & interest in our wedding. Was an incredible, perfect day. Bride looked gorgeous!”

The newlyweds took advantage of the European winter, heading to the ski slopes for a brief honeymoon and well-earned rest … but the coach still found time to check his work emails. Sanderson will officially be back at the helm next week.

More wedding bells...?
There was more Crows romance in the air over the Christmas break. On the first day back at training, news quickly filled the change room that David Mackay was engaged to high school sweetheart, Sarah. The quiet and mild-mannered Mackay was coy about the details of the proposal, but is sure to be quizzed more about the engagement after Jason Porplyzia and midfield coach Scott Camporeale both let it slip to the media. Congratulations to D-Mac and Sarah!

What’s in a name?
A pair of avid Crows fans took their love of Patrick Dangerfield to the highest level in December, naming their newborn child ‘Patrick’ and giving him the middle name ‘Danger’. Baby Patrick’s parents had an extended stay in hospital with their son, who was born premature, but were buoyed to receive a card of well wishes from Patrick Dangerfield himself and vowed to keep the card to show little Patrick when he was older.

Tex takes time out
The players are regularly involved in community visits and activities, most of which go unpublicised at the player’s request. But we just loved this story involving Taylor Walker, retold to the Club earlier in the week by a gushing Broken Hill local. Just prior to Christmas, the local bumped into Walker, who was back in his hometown for the break, and mentioned his grandmother was a big fan of Tex and also the Crows. Tex took time out of his break to visit the man’s grandmother in her nursing home, and she’s still taking about the surprise visit, which “made her day”.

Surf's up
Hailing from a long line of surf lifesavers and a former junior surf lifesaver with Grange himself, Scott Thompson was all too happy to swap his training gear for board shorts to help promote ‘Boardies Day’. Boardies Day, which will be held on February 22, is an annual fundraising event to raise funds for lifesaving services throughout Australia. For more information or to register, visit boardiesday.com.au.