Last time Dromana won a premiership, football legend John Coleman ran the local hotel and the Mornington Peninsula really was the bush.
It has been 37 years since Dromanas footy team were the champions of the Peninsula and current captain-coach Steve Hamill is doing everything in his power to end the drought in 2008.
Win, lose or draw, Hamill, 40, says season 2008 is his last as a player. He intends to take a break, too from coaching to spend at least some of his Saturdays with his three young kids Meg 9, Will 8 and Lucy 5.
Ive told the club this is my last year, he said. Ive had a good run. Im walking away.
No matter what happens in this last fortnight, Im hoping Im leaving the place better than I found it and that there is a structure there so the club can continue to blossom.
The extra professionalism Hamill and fellow veteran Simon Goosey have injected have made Dromana one of the toughest teams to beat after years of bottom four finishes.
Hamill says his Dromana unit may not be the most skilled in the Nepean League, but they are goers as shown by their relentless effort against finals specialists the Frankston Bombers last weekend when they slowly clawed their way to the front, having trailed at every change.
We were nine points behind at quarter time, five at half-time, two at three quarter-time and ended up winning by four points, said Dromanas administration director Graham Stelling.
Had Lou Richards been there he would have called it an old-fashioned thriller-diller.
It wasnt too good for the old heart!
Teenage ruckman Andrew Burns was one of the motivators in the titanic finish which put Dromana just one more win away from a place in this years Nepean League Grand Final.
For a hamstrung Hamill, who missed the match through injury, the inspiration of some of Australias Olympic heroics were a real driver for him and his team.
You draw on current things like Emma Snowsill in the womens triathlon and the girls with all their gold medals in the pool. There were quite a few boilovers at the Games. So many favorites were beaten.
As a footy coach, its hard to put a finger on what is the winning formula. You need to have the right balance, work on your relationships and find one or two triggers to help you get over the line.
It comes down to the day and about the way you prepare. We needed to win that final last Saturday. It was so important for us to get over that first one.
Hamill piloted a flag in his first year at Hastings in 1995 after a noteworthy 122-game VFA career at Frankston which included two years of finals under Jeff Sarau and then Josh Kendall.
We didnt make a Grand Final but we still had some good years, he said. A lot of the ex-St Kilda boys were there too like John Favier, Andrew Cross and Simon Meehan.
Hamill captained the club before leaving, aged 28, to be playing-coach at Hastings.
Originally from Mulgrave, hed played with St Kilda Under 19s and reserves in 1984-85 alongside some big names to be in Stewart Loewe, Mick Dwyer, Kane Taylor and David Grant.
He said Mornington Peninsula football was strong and competitive and he loved the mentoring and everyday involvement.
At Hastings he played alongside his younger brother Tony and another of his old VFA mates in John Gahan, whose father Graham had been at Richmond years earlier.
In that first year we defeated Pines in the Grand Final, despite being six or seven goals down at quarter time, he said.
Edithvale-Aspendale had won 16 games that year but went out in straight sets. Pines had come through from fourth and had a very experienced team. We had faith in our ability to run out games, though and that year had six or eight on-ball types who all contributed. It turned out to be one of those fairytale games for us.
One of those most integral in that unexpected victory, Hamill said, was fitness coach Bruce Mesley, who remains alongside him now in a similar role at Dromana.
He has a fitness specific background. Its good to have another coach with a different background to your own. I have several very valuable right hand men.
Bruce is one. So is Goose (Simon Goosey) and Stephen Downes who we got from Rye this year as a hardline centreman and assistant coach.
We had a terrific pre-season, running up Arthurs Seat and so-on. It really helped give us a fitness base which has benefitted us all year. Our preparation has been one of our real strengths.
Before joining Dromana. Hamill also had a stint at Tooradin, both as assistant and head coach and said it was valuable grounding for helping to lift Dromana after years of being an easybeat
When we made the finals in my first year (2006). It was the first time Dromana had been in the finals since 1980. Goose and I were the only ones in that team who had previously played in finals. It helps to have the experience of being there previously.
Last year we missed the finals by one goal on overall percentage.
It has made this years achievements so far all the more satisfying.
Dromana has an even team with one or two standouts like Goosey who still is a force late into his 30s. He has more than 80 goals this year after kicking a ton in 2006 and 75 last year.
Running defender Adam Hunter made the All-Australian country side and according to Hamill is guaranteed to take one or two speckie marks every week.
Other youngsters like promising ruckman Burns have made giant steps, too, lifting Dromanas stocks.
Hamill says he will miss the involvement of leading a young club, but he believes he needs to step back a little, catch his breath and then work out his future sporting involvements.
He says the standard of Neapean football may not be as consistently high as in the Casey-Cardinia or Mornington Peninsula Leagues but the finals have been hard fought and featured many skilful, dedicated players.
Footy is such an important social avenue in developing networks, said Hamill. You feel a sense of belonging and engagement with the local community.
Were semi bush down here but the same rules apply. Its important for young men to be attached to something and work towards a common goal.
By Ken Piesse
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