RETURNING home to play bush footy after spending nearly a decade in the TAC Cup, SANFL and VFL has certainly been a culture shock for Travis Ronaldson. Since he quit the big smoke to take up the senior coaching position at the Woodside Wildcats, a club located near his family's farm and Gippsland's famous Ninety Mile Beach, the many challenges faced by country footballers have been readily apparent.
"When there were bushfires nearby we turned up to training one night and there were fire trucks all over the ground," Ronaldson recalled. "There was nowhere to train so we roared around to the primary school, which has got about a 50-metre oval.
"Then we had to borrow a tractor and mow the oval so we could have a run around there. There were pot holes and all sorts of stuff. The boys were doing some lanework around the play equipment!"
But a few months down the track, it seems a couple of rough and ready training sessions have done Ronaldson and his Wildcats teammates no harm at all.
As the North Gippsland Football League season reaches its mid-point, Woodside's senior team sits atop the ladder. For a club which recorded only two victories last year, the turnaround has been dramatic.
"Trav's done a fantastic job," said Woodside president Anthony Banik, who played 49 games for Richmond in the early 1990s. "He's very enthusiastic, leads by example and can really play a bit of footy."
An athletic and skilful ruckman, Ronaldson, like so many young lads, dreamed of playing in the AFL. As a teenager, he made the Gippsland Power squad, but was ignored on draft day in 2001. He then spent three seasons with the now-defunct Tasmanian Devils VFL club, before trying his luck with Central District in the SANFL.
In late 2005, Ronaldson's winding football journey took him back to Victoria, where he signed with Coburg Tigers in the VFL. Still only 22, he was appointed Coburg captain.
Such was his form in 2007, he finished third in the Liston Medal and led the Tigers into the VFL grand final. But when another draft passed without his name being called, his passion for elite footy waned. At the start of 2008, he quit Coburg and headed overseas.
Refreshed by his travels, he settled in Sale last September and Banik was soon knocking on his door. After some low-key negotiations, Ronaldson, at the age of 25, became a senior coach. for the first time.
"I thought it would be a great opportunity to come back and play with the boys I grew up with," he explained. "I never lost my attachment to Woodside."
Signing Ronaldson was a great boost for Banik who, in 2007, helped form the Wildcats after leading a breakaway from the Devon-Welshpool-Won Wron-Woodside Football Club (otherwise known as the Allies). Brought about by an acrimonious battle over which league the Allies should play in, the split was much like a divorce, replete with heated arguments over who got the kids.
The new Woodside and District Football Club subsequently made its on-field debut last year, under the guidance of local Adrian Seccull. It proved a very trying season, with the seniors winning only two matches, and the reserves just one.
Ronaldson and Banik agreed the Wildcats could not stay at the bottom much longer. "Our kids got battered last year," Banik said. "There were some games we lost by 30 goals. The enthusiasm of players, supporters and sponsors took a hit. Everyone likes a winner, there's no doubt about that. The way to get things going was to be competitive on the field."
Ronaldson's arrival was a boon for recruiting, and the highest-profile addition was 36-year-old former Geelong and Adelaide forward Ronnie Burns. Credit for that coup goes to Shaun Braybrook, a manager at Wulgunggo Ngalu, an indigenous learning centre near Yarram.
"Ronnie goes there to do some mentoring and he's become good mates with Shaun," said Woodside treasurer Brian Lucas.
Confidence was high in the Wildcats camp as they began their 2009 campaign against Heyfield, a long-time power club. A 22-point victory made their rivals sit up and take notice, as did a narrow win over Gormandale a week later, in which Ronaldson rucked all day and was best on ground.
"It's been great for the boys' confidence," Ronaldson said before the game against Rosedale last week. "They now believe they're good enough for this competition."
Although Woodside's opponent sat sixth on the table, the loss of some key players meant the match presented a major challenge.
Ronaldson was unable to select star recruit Justin Staley, who had booted 36 goals in six games, or Burns, who was in Melbourne attending the Dreamtime at the 'G game between Richmond and Essendon.
As a large crowd looked on from the Woodside Recreation Reserve's magnificent natural amphitheatre, the Wildcats' weakened team struggled to match Rosedale's speed and skill. By half-time, they were six goals down.
While Ronaldson told his men they were still in the contest, Eric Walpole, one of eight surviving members of Woodside's 1949 premiership team, noted that such comebacks were rarely seen in his day because the ground was usually a bog.
"Back when it used to rain, there were huge pools of water on it," he recalled with a chuckle, before giving his thoughts on why the Wildcats were being beaten. "I might be old-fashioned, but I reckon there's too much handballing to someone in trouble. My old coach just used to say, 'Kick it as far as you can'."
On this day, the ground was in immaculate condition and in the second half, Ronaldson produced a lion-hearted performance, ably backed by the hard running of young guns Nick Stockdale and Damian Kerr.
Trailing by one point at the last change, the Wildcats stormed home in the final quarter to win by 16 points.
Currently studying at Deakin University, Ronaldson is unsure how long he'll be at Woodside. For the moment, he's just happy to be home, eyeing off a berth in the finals and helping put smiles on so many faces.
Article first appeared The Sunday Age
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