During most off-seasons, Liam Ryan fields a few genuine and a few joking enquiries that aim to test his loyalty.
"Especially when I first came back there was a fair bit of that," admits the 27-year-old dairy farmer from Grassmere, who spent a number of years at university in Melbourne. "It doesn't happen so much anymore as I've made it clear I'm not going anywhere."
Ryan attracts such interest because his recent record as a player with the North Warrnambool Eagles is impressive to say the least.
Since returning home from the big smoke, where he played with Uni Blues in the top division of Melbourne's amateur competition, the tough midfielder has won four consecutive club best-and-fairest awards. In 2008, he took home the Maskell Medal (the Hampden league best-and-fairest) as well.
However, Ryan also attracts attention because he plays for one of the least successful clubs in the state.
North Warrnambool entered the Hampden league back in 1995, yet in the 15 seasons that have followed its senior team has never qualified for the finals. In the past decade it has won only 30 matches. In three of those years it failed to win a game.
All this means recruiters have at times fancied their chances of luring Ryan away from the Bushfield Oval in search of success.
But unlike so many modern footballers, who move from club to club in search of more money and more wins, he refuses to be swayed.
"I think it's good to have loyalty to the club and your mates where you grew up," Ryan says. "I'll never play against North. Myself and three other guys who have come through from under-14s together are all still here, and I think if one of us left we'd get killed by the three!
"You get blokes who um and ah about what they're going to do, and that's when clubs come knocking. I've always said that if I'm going to play, I'll play for North. That stops all that sort of rubbish going on."
Life wasn't always so tough for Ryan's home club, which is located among lush farmland, only eight kilometres from the centre of Warrnambool.
Previously known as Northern Districts, the Eagles were formed in 1986 when the small communities of Bushfield and Grassmere came together.
The new entity spent its first nine seasons in the Warrnambool & District league where it became a consistently good performer in all grades. In 1992, its senior side made the grand final but lost to Old Collegians, before it won the '94 flag with a big victory over East Warrnambool.
That success, along with the club's burgeoning number of talented youngsters, convinced its administrators to push for inclusion into the region's powerful major league.
It's been a hard slog for the Eagles ever since. Their lowest point came in 2005 and '06, when their senior side was winless and regularly on the end of the 20-goal hidings.
Thankfully, there has been improvement since then. After winning four games in 2007, the firsts backed that up with seven victories in '08 and only missed the finals by percentage.
Ryan's Maskell Medal win was the highlight of that season. On the day of the vote count, he was preparing to milk his 400 cows when he was asked to change plans. Ryan headed into town and was surprised to collect 23 votes and the award. While he was away, around 30 North Warrnambool people - footballers, netballers and coaches - headed out to his farm, completed the milking duties, then started a big party.
Unfortunately, the loss of 10 senior players due to injuries and unavailability, saw the Eagles slip back down to the bottom of the ladder last year.
"We've been a bit unlucky," Ryan explains. "We've had some really good juniors come through, but they've been too good almost. We've got one kid playing in the VFL this year, another lad who's got a scholarship to Geelong Grammar and another bloke with the [North Ballarat] Rebels. Two of them are key position players so if you brought them back into the side, all of a sudden you're not far away.
"It's great for them and the club that players are going on. But it's unlucky for the blokes who are still here."
North Warrnambool's greatest asset during the tough times has been stability. Club president Peter Doherty has headed the committee since 1999, while senior coach Leigh McCluskey is into his fifth season as senior coach.
A school teacher at Emmanuel College, and previously an assistant coach in the TAC Cup with the Geelong Falcons, McCluskey remains confident he can engineer a youth-led revival.
"I think we've played six kids who are still eligible for the under-18s in the first couple of rounds. We made the decision when I started coaching that we wouldn't import players who might create a false view of where the club was at. Rightly or wrongly we thought we'd take the long-term view and try to build up some talent from players coming through the club, so that when we do make the finals we'll stay up there for a long time."
The Eagles' 2010 campaign started in positive fashion, when they drew with reigning premier Koroit at Bushfield Oval in the opening round. On that afternoon, Ryan collected 48 possessions and was clearly best-on-ground.
"When I stop coaching and I compare him with everyone else I've coached, he'll be right up there," McCluskey says. "Particularly a few years ago when we were really poor, he was tagged and targeted every week. He cops a lot and he earns every kick he gets. He's a magnificent player."
Last weekend the Eagles were brought back to earth when they suffered a 134-point thumping from South Warrnambool, in which the Roosters booted 12 goals in the final quarter.
"It was almost one of those games where you just say ‘forget about it'," McCluskey adds. "It was like when the Kangaroos were flogged by St Kilda. We genuinely don't believe that score showed where we're at."
Nevertheless, just about all the people involved with North Warrnambool are adamant their club belongs in the Hampden league. Yesterday, they were back out at Bushfield as the Eagles hosted Port Fairy.
"We're convinced that success will come," Doherty says. "We've got a very, very loyal supporter base and I guess we await the time when it all comes together."
By Adam McNicol
Article first appeared The Sunday Age, April 24th, 2010
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