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Brad Sholl and Hawkesdale Macarthur

Brad Sholl is still passionate about football, 30 years after he begun first playing with the midgets at Horsham.

Brad Sholl is desperate to win an "A" grade premiership before he joins the ranks of the retired.

The 35-year-old has won flags only at reserves and under-19 level and says a winning Grand Final is as high a priority now as it was when he resurrected his career at Geelong in the '90s.

"I played in one at Geelong (in 1995) and one at Port Fairy (2005) and we lost them both," he said.

"Carlton was too good for us in '95. They had an all-star team and only lost once or twice for the entire season.

"But in '05, we thought we were a big chance, only to go down in the grannie by 20 points (to Terang-Mortlake).

"The week before we'd beaten Koroit by a point and a few of our people celebrated too much. As it turned out we'd played our Grand Final a week early. It was probably my fault (as captain-coach). I tried to keep a lid on the excitement but it was impossible. The town hadn't won a flag since 1958. It all got too much for everyone."

This year he has taken a step back from the still-powerful Hampden League and is captain at Hawkesdale-Macarthur in the Mininera and District League.

After a narrow opening round loss to powerful Tatyoon, the Eagles are beginning to mount another challenge, Sholl enjoying his midfield responsibilities beside the team's No.1 ruckman Lachie Reichman and another very promising on-baller, Lachlan Young.

"We're going along nicely now," he said. "We have a good mix of old and young heads and my mate from Port Fairy Frankie Matthews has been kicking a stack of goals for us, too."

Sholl says the team is well coached, by another ex-Port Fairy boy, Jamie Harrington and the whole town is very supportive.

"Everyone is behind us from the Auskick kids on," he said.

"On Thursday nights there are kids running around everywhere all over the oval. It makes my eyes light up. It reminds me of first starting off back home (in Horsham)."

Sholl and wife Rachel have two boys, Mitchell (aged 5) and Campbell (3) and they follow their Dad around everywhere to training nights and to games on Saturdays.

He says the Big Smoke is too far away to take them to AFL games on a Sunday.

"It's what I miss most about being down here (in Port Fairy)," he says.

"You can't just jump on a train and arrive at the MCG or Telstra half an hour later. From here it's a three and a half hour drive to town, so seven hours all up," he said.

Sholl works as a builder in Port Fairy and still keeps a close eye on the local side which this year includes ex-Eagle Ashley Sampi, best known for taking the AFL's Mark of the Year several years back.

He says amalgamation is a part of country football these days, allowing clubs to survive, even if their jumper colours do change.

"Hawksdale used to be Cats jumpers and Macarthur Melbourne," he said. "We combined and now have a new vibrant club with lots involved on and off the field.

"We get 25-30 at training. The ground has been good. There's no problem with (lack of) rain down here."

Asked about his League career, Sholl said he was in the "middle of no-where" at his first League club North Melbourne in the '90s and while he played in a reserves flag under Rodney Eade and several Under 19 flags under Denis Pagan, he left having been included just twice in North's No.1 team in three years.

He became a star at Geelong, however, playing 152 games including the '95 Grand Final.

In 1997 he was placed in the top six in the Brownlow Medal, his run out of defence a feature of Geelong's game.

He remains in contact with many of his old teammates, including Wayne Carey who came down to Port Fairy last year at Sholl's request for a sportsman's night.

He says old friendships endure in football. 'The comradery is just great, no matter which club you are at," he says. "It's a key reason why you play."

By Ken Piesse

Article first appeared The Sunday Herald Sun May 10, 2008

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