The sleepy Murray River town of Barham, 160km north of Bendigo, right on the NSW-Victoria border is renowned these days as a golfing paradise, with city slickers from the Big Smoke spending long weekends away indulging in their passion.
Shane Guerra and his wife Helen run the local caravan park and while business is quiet right now, the football club is buzzing as Guerra edges closer and closer to his 300th game milestone.
“There are just a couple to go now,” says Guerra, 37, whose nephew Brent plays in the AFL with Hawthorn.
“We are struggling to compete right now, but seeing the kids come through and having an input into their development makes it worthwhile.”
A gun midfielder in his prime good enough to win nine club best and fairests and the Jack Betts Medal for being the competitions best and fairest, Guerra says he is purely a back pocket player these days.
He still loves having a kick on a Saturday and has been coaching his eight-year-old boy, Tom, who plays in the Under 11s.
With only one win in the first two months, finals are already out of the equation for the club which amalgamated with Koondrook 15 years ago.
Guerra played in his one and only premiership with the Koondrook Tigers in 1993 when, under playing coach Col Anderson, they defeated Leitchville by four goals in the Grand Final.
The only other surviving member of that premiership team still playing with the amalgamated club is wingman Leigh Whelan.
Other than two years with Cohuna as coach in the northern Echuca League in his early 20s, Guerra has played his entire career at Koondrook.
He says the club is constantly struggling to recruit players as jobs in the area are hard to find.
“We do get the schoolteachers coming into town but they are mainly from Sydney and have a rugby rather than a Rules background,” he said.
“The local district clubs really eye off our best young boys, too, offering then $100 and $200 per game. That’s hard to say no to.”
Having had only early win against Nyah has made it difficult for captain Matt Dean and other team leaders like Jay Lawson and Guerra to maintain morale.
“We’re no different to anyone else. We love to win,” says Guerra, "and when we do it’s special."
By Ken Piesse
Article first published 8 July, 2009
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|