CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | CONTACT
Playing arenas across the country, American country music megastar Luke Combs’ mammoth Australian tour is set to finish up on Saturday night, as he plays one final gig in Perth’s RAC Arena.
Touring in support of his 2022 multiplatinum album ‘Growin’ Up’ – the man responsible for the global country music renaissance has hit every major city with fellow US country music singer Cody Johnson and Australian singer-songwriter Lane Pittman.
And if selling out stadiums for multiple nights right across Australia wasn’t a big enough shock to the 33-year-old North Carolinan, then he must also be reeling by how many professional football stars were lining up for photos with him.
Much like Dolly Parton and Charley Pride before him, the music of Luke Combs has been widely embraced by Australia’s country-music loving Indigenous community. From the remote towns of the Outback, to the locker rooms of the MCG and Allianz stadium.
So much so that it appears even the white boys of Australian professional football have been brainwashed by their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teammates.
It’s for this reason that in the last two weeks, Luke Combs has been photographed socialising with the likes of Eddie Betts, Nicho Hynes, Latrell Mitchell, UFC Bam Bam Tuivasa and the entire Brisbane Broncos.
With each and every football club from every code attempting to gift the singer a personalised ‘Combs’ jersey, it would appear that Luke Combs has been through more clubs than Premiership-winning NRL journeyman Willie Mason.
Mason, who played for 5 different clubs across 16 years, spoke to The Betoota Advocate today about the similarities he shares with Luke Combs.
“We are both big units from random arse country towns” says Willie.
“Big personalities who can make a crowd cheer when we skull a beer. That automatically makes for a good clubman. I can see why they want to sign him.”
“Not to mention the singing, the clubs love someone who can lead the team song after a match. I was also a bit of a crooner myself”
With both Western Australian AFL clubs rushing to give Combs a jersey before he leaves the country, Willie Mason says he reckons Combs has definitely got a few more clubs left in him.
“He’s only 33” says Mason.
“By today’s standards he’s got the best part of a decade still in him”
“But until he plays 3 matches for Toulon in the South of France, he’s never gonna be a global star like me”
“I’m big in Europe too. That’s the difference between me and Combsy”
