Bush footy player from Tullibigeal, NSW, takes screamer of a mark Bartholomew, you beauty! Pic courtesy of AFL NSW/ACT Source: Supplied AND you thought the screamer was a dying artform. In these days of high percentage footy, you don't see as many soaring, breathtaking marks as you used to. Players just can't afford to be left looking silly if they fail to pull off a screamer and their opponent makes off with the ball. But bush footy is still bush footy, thank god. In bush footy, young players like Sonney Bartholomew of Tullibigeal, NSW, can still take the sort of speccy which would do Alex Jesaulenko proud. Wait a minute, Tullibi-where? Tullibigeal is a small town of 250 residents in the NSW central west, halfway between nowhere in particular and some other place. The closest big town is Condobolin, where singer Shannon Noll grew up. Peak hour in Tullibigeal Source: Supplied Not too much happens in Tullibigeal. But the local footy club, the Tullibigeal Grasshoppers, is a dominant force in the Northern Riverina Football League (NRFL). The undoubted star of the team is 20-year-old son of farming parents, Sonney Bartholomew. He was the Grasshoppers' best &fairest player last year, and he has again helped his team book a place in this weekend's eagerly-anticipated Grand Final against Barellan. Bartholomew has all the skills. Peter McFadyen, chairman of the NRFL, says Bartholomew is "a great young player with heaps of talent." "He is as tough as they come - and has a heart like Phar Lap," McFadyen reckons. We get it. Toughness is everything in footy, especially in the bush. That's the official line everyone has to push. But we should never forget to celebrate the spectacular as well as the gutsy. And as the picture shows, this kid can leap like Jordan in his prime. Sonney Bartholomew hanging out with former Sydney Swans premiership player Craig Bolton Source: Supplied Maybe it's the country air. Maybe it's his raw athleticism. Or maybe it's that primal urge to go for the footy at all costs because hey, percentage plays are for people too gutless to have a crack. Whatever drives this young man, his magnificent feat makes for a bloody great photo and good on him, we say. And 'carn the Grasshoppers this weekend!