THESE days Shaun Smith shuffles rather than sprints towards the play. He gets only centimetres rather than metres off the ground when leaping for marks. And thanks to his shock of grey hair, he looks rather grandfatherly among the youngsters he now coaches.
But while Smith will soon turn 41, he's not planning on hanging up his footy boots any time soon.
"I just love the game," the former North Melbourne and Melbourne high-flyer said last weekend. "I keep playing because I can. I take a bit of pride in keeping up my fitness and keeping myself in shape. I'm not one of those blokes who wants to sit on the couch and turn into a blob.
"And, you know, I can still play. I can still run around. If you can do that it doesn't matter how old you are. But it is getting harder every year. I said five years ago it was going to be my last season. Instead, I'm still going!"
This year Smith is coaching and playing at Newlyn, a small club affiliated with the Central Highlands league, located between Ballarat and Daylesford, in the heart of Victoria's best potato-farming country.
Given he still lives in Melbourne where he works as a plumber, taking on the senior coaching role with the Cats has been a big commitment. Just getting to training involves a 200-kilometre round trip. However, after many years playing football at the elite level, then in the suburbs, Smith is enjoying the journey.
"I had a coaching job in Melbourne at Taylors Lakes, but to cut a long story short I had a bit of a falling out with them early last year and was left without a footy club. A mutual friend told me Newlyn was looking for someone, so I had a chat to them and it has worked out well. It's a great club. Great people."
Smith signed on as an assistant coach for 2009, then decided to take the reins this season. He has, however, arrived at a tough time for Newlyn. Renowned for producing a great number of talented juniors, the Cats are struggling because many of their home-grown stars are making the grade at a higher level.
Members of the club's alumni currently doing great things elsewhere include tough Hawthorn midfielder Brad Sewell and his brothers Myles and Adam.
In 2008, all three Sewell boys played in premiership teams - Brad with the Hawks, Myles in the VFL with North Ballarat, and Adam with the Ballarat Swans. Eight months ago, Myles added another achievement when he won the Liston Medal, the VFL's best-and-fairest award. With mature-age players now all the rage thanks to Michael Barlow's brilliant debut at Fremantle, 22-year-old Myles has emerged as a strong chance to be drafted by an AFL club.
A number of other lads who grew up playing for Newlyn are also making waves. Among them is Michael Jamison, who has become a key defender at Carlton since graduating from the Blues' rookie list. Closer to home, Nathan Blomeley is regularly in the best players for Redan, while Luke Faull was a star with East Point before heading overseas.
"It's a fair group of players," Newlyn president Gary Lindsay said with a chuckle. "If we got them all back we'd have a top-line side. We'd beat most teams in Ballarat. Other than the blokes in the AFL, they'll come back at some stage. I'm sure they will. Whether it's next year or the year after, we'll wait and see. If we can get one, it'll be like follow the leader."
As the Ballarat Swans had the bye last weekend, Adam Sewell was in the crowd as Newlyn hosted Dunnstown on warm and sunny day, which belied the region's reputation for terrible weather.
The Cats went into the game with only one victory over Learmonth to their name, but after they were competitive for a half against local powerhouse Hepburn, Smith was confident his men would put in another solid performance. Instead, the Town were rarely troubled as they ran out 64-point winners.
"It's a great challenge to get the place back up and running again. I'm just trying to get the players thinking a bit differently about how they play their footy. I don't know everything, of course, but I'm hoping I can teach them a few things. If I can teach all of them something new then I've done my job."
Smith spent the afternoon shuffling between the midfield, half-forward and the goal square. Without a great influence on the contest, he still managed to bring the Newlyn supporters to life by jumping over an opponent and hauling in a trademark grab during the final quarter.
Although it would be exaggerating to describe the effort as spectacular, it nonetheless gave the people watching on a reason to launch into discussion about Smith's career-defining mark at the Gabba in 1995.
"I'm getting a bit slow but I'm still getting a kick every now and then, so it's all good," Smith joked.
After the final siren, he addressed his young team in a quiet and constructive manner, and when he was finished the players rested their aching limbs on potato bags filled with ice. They also folded their jumpers away neatly, in keeping with one of Smith's new rules.
"I want the players to have a good work ethic and have respect for each other," the coach explained. "We have to respect our jumper. They used to just throw their jumpers on the floor after games. I'm also trying to get across to them that they're in footy for a short time. Before you know it you're grey and 40 years old. Then your footy career's gone."
The rest of the season will be a grind for the Cats, yet the folk around the club remain confident some of their lost boys will soon return to help lead it back up the ladder.
"In 2001 we didn't win a game," Lindsay said. "Two years later we won a flag. That's how it can change."
By Adam McNicol
Article first appeared The Sunday Age May 23, 2010
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