A PORTLAND man has taken out first place in the Spec.com.au local and AFL football tipping competition for season 2022.

David “Chonky” Rogers had the best combined score across football competitions; the AFL, Hampden Football League, Western Border Football League, South West District Football League, and Mininera and District Football League.

Speaking to the Observer, Mr Rogers said that he takes a pretty keen interest in all of the local footy, but there is a degree of luck involved in finishing first in a competition of over 1000 people.

“You’re riding by the seat of your pants when it comes to the local leagues for the first five rounds or so, before that you just don’t know who is going to be good or not,” he said.

“You can read the results on a Monday or Tuesday to get an idea of who’s doing well and who’s not, so as the season goes on you start to get a better idea.

“I’m born and bred in Portland, so I have a handle on the Hampden league and the South West, and I roughly know what’s going on in the Western Border, so it’s only really Mininera that I’m guessing with.”

Being a massive Collingwood fan in the AFL, one might expect that Mr Rogers has been aided by the Magpies finishing the season with 16 wins and a top-four spot, but he said that he believed their strong play had actually hurt him early on.

“I had the Pies pencilled in for 10th place or thereabouts, so when they started winning, I was actually losing tips,” he said.

As a result of taking out first place, he’ll pocket $1000 in prize money, plus bragging rights for at least the next few months.