Former AFL ruckman Darren Jolly sells Surrey Hills and joins The Block Prahran
Delisted AFL premiership player Darren Jolly and his wife Deanne are the mystery couple on the next series of The Block, the office block conversion currently underway in High Street, Prahran.
The Sunday Herald Sun, normally compliant with the Channel 9 demands for embargoed Block secrecy, broke the revelation on the weekend, having earlier alluded to a retired sportstar being a contestant.
Last month the couple sold their self-renovated Edwardian era Surrey Hills home ahead of the scheduled auction.
It was renovated by the ruckman on days off and after training, along with designs by his fashionista wife.
Last year Jolly completed his building and construction certificate four at night school. The couple paid $1.35 million in 2010.
It was joked among his then Collingwood AFL teammates of his growing interest in renovation and property development
But it was actually Heath Shaw, the former Magpies defender now at GWS, who suggested that he wouldn't mind taking on a spot on The Block.
"I would really enjoy that and I know Darren Jolly is into his home renovations, I could get big Dazza and do all the co-ordination stuff and he could do the building,'' Shaw said in the lead-up to the listing of his then recently completed Kew East home.
Paul Richards, the Bekdon Richards listing agent, described the Jolly's three bedroom cottage renovation as one of the best he’d seen in 13 years in real estate.
Their 1910 house on 450 square metres had period features including high ceilings, stained glass and original fireplaces as well as for contemporary comforts such as refrigerated cooling and ducted heating.
Just two doors along - another three bedroom 1910 cottage on 410 square metres last sold at $1.1 million in 2007 - sold ahead of its scheduled March auction too. Both recent sale prices have been undisclosed.
The current Surrey Hills median house price sits at a record $1.28 million, according to RP Data.
There was a $2.15 million sale of a renovated five bedroom cottage on 845 square metres set the street record last November.
The former Collingwood, Sydney and Melbourne ruckman, a two-time premiership player and reluctant 2013 AFL retiree, is St Kilda's part-time ruck coach.
A silly rumour prank that the ruckman was set to to play with the Bonbeach side during 2014, is seemingly set to come to fruition this Friday.
After hearing the rumour, the Bonbeach Sharks president Reece Murphy phoned Jolly who both started to think about it.
At this stage, Jolly has agreed to play only one game with Bonbeach - on Good Friday, when the Sharks host reigning premiers EdiAsp, according to the local paper, the Frankston Standard Leader.
Presumably The Block cameras will be there to cover it, confidentially.
