Footballers misbehaving badly tend to dominate the headlines and unfortunately it often overshadows the good so many of them do in the community.

Take this heartwarming story from Geelong this week which has been relayed by a customer in a local cafe.

Along the popular High Street strip in Belmont, a homeless man was sitting on the park bench.

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A kind stranger stopped to talk to him then asked if he was hungry before ushering him inside the near-by cafe.

He then sat down with him and asked what he would like to eat which was a pie. He also got him a drink.

By this stage the staff and other customers in the cafe were falling over themselves about the stranger.

His identity? Gary Ablett Jnr.

The Cats superstar was then inundated with requests for selfies which he happily did.

Then after making sure his homeless friend was sorted, Ablett bought himself a sandwich and left.

media_camera Gary Ablett won plenty of fans when he helped a homeless man in Geelong. Picture: Getty Images

‘THE WORST OPENING SHOT EVER SEEN’

Maybe it was the fact the timing devices were running late which set the tone for a bizarre opening at the Australian Open.

Organisers were a tad sheepish when the Tag Heuer clocks, which sit proudly on the first tee to time the golfers, didn’t actually arrive on time.

Young Australian Linus Yip should use this as an excuse for what has been described as “the worst opening shot” ever seen at the Open.

Yip teed off on the 10th at The Lakes and almost missed the ball, managing to just get enough on it to see it bounce along the track for 20 metres before rolling into a fairway bunker another 20 metres away.

To Yip’s credit he did manage to save some face, scrambling out a bogey.

The same can’t be said about South Australian Antonio Murdaca who opened his campaign with a 10 on the par-four first hole. He ended up shooting a 14-over 86.

Defending champion Cameron Davis wasn’t much better as he had an eight on the opening hole and then found himself seven over the card after just three holes.

THE WHISPER

They may trumpet publicly about the importance of education and finding a balance but we’re hearing behind-the-scenes the high performance staff from a couple of Olympic sports are telling athletes to cut back on study and concentrate more on training.