When the Kolora and Noorat footy clubs merged and joined the Warrnambool and District league for the 2003 season, plenty of people wondered if the dairy farming communities would have the firepower to match it with their new rivals in town.

Kolora-Noorat went a long way to allaying those fears when it made the finals at its first attempt. Since 2008, however, those initial concerns have been well and truly cast aside. The club has played in the past five senior grand finals, winning three of them, and this season it is on top again. Kolora-Noorat went into Saturday's final home and away match against Allansford boasting a perfect 17-0 record, having already wrapped up the minor premiership.

''We've been going along all right, I suppose,'' club president and dairy farmer Jack Kenna remarked.

A bloke with a keen interest in the history of his area, Kenna points out that the Power is really a combination of four clubs: The Sisters, Glenormiston, Kolora and Noorat.

The Sisters was famous for producing former Footscray and Melbourne player Jack 'Cactus' Coolahan, who earned his nickname because everyone who ran into him got hurt.

Coolahan coached The Sisters to a premiership after returning from the VFL, although the club folded in 1962, with the majority of its players transferring to Kolora.
Glenormiston continued until the early 1990s when it fell on hard times and merged with Noorat. Previously known as the Swans, Noorat adopted Glenormiston's nickname and became the Bombers.

From there, Kolora and Noorat kept slugging it out in the Heytesbury-Mount Noorat league until the early 2000s. The unique aspect of their rivalry was that they shared the Noorat Showgrounds. Kolora, the home club of Fitzroy's last coach Alan McConnell, trained on Monday and Wednesday nights. Noorat, which is the club where Collingwood cult hero Ron Wearmouth began his career, trained on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

''It was a fierce rivalry,'' Kenna said. ''There wasn't a lot of love wasted on each other.''

Those passions bubbled to the surface in 2002 when a review into footy in the region declared the Heytesbury-Mount Noorat league, which by then had only six clubs, was no longer sustainable. The recommendations stated that four clubs - Heytesbury, Timboon, Kolora and Noorat - should be rolled into two and admitted into the Warrnambool-based competition. The other two, Otway Districts and Simpson, were to join the Colac and District league.

Although the review initially caused much consternation, Otway Districts and Simpson went east as directed, while Heytesbury and Timboon formed the Timboon Demons. Kolora and Noorat joined forces and became the Power. ''It got to a stage where the past was the past, and it just had to be,'' Kenna said.

The strength of the new clubs was demonstrated when Kolora-Noorat and Timboon Demons met in the 2008 grand final and the Demons won a cracking game by nine points.

The clubs met again in the 2009 decider, and Kolora-Noorat turned the tables by scoring a 50-point win. For good measure, the Power then beat Dennington and Old Collegians in the following two grand finals but their winning streak came to an end last season when they lost the big one to Panmure by four points.

Kolora-Noorat has looked a class above its rivals so far this season, and smart recruiting is one reason the Power continues to set the pace.

Luke Rounds, who grew up in nearby Mortlake and was delisted by Collingwood just last year, is the star import. Rounds began the season playing in the VFL with Port Melbourne before deciding to join his brother Corey at Kolora-Noorat.

Nevertheless, the majority of the Power's players grew up not far from the Noorat Showgrounds. As Kenna said, ''You've got O'Sullivans, Elfords, O'Connors, Kennas, Moloneys ... similar names to what would have been in the team in 1930.'' The line-up last weekend featured six Kennas, one of whom is the senior coach.

Kolora-Noorat's focus on junior development will get a big pat on the back in November if local lad Nick Bourke, who played in the club's 2011 premiership at the age of 16, is drafted by an AFL team.

But before then, Kolora-Noorat is hoping to win its fourth flag in six seasons. The Power has next weekend off before meeting Panmure or Merrivale. The rest will be an advantage, but Kenna is doing his best to ensure no one gets over-confident. ''As Kenny Rogers sang, 'there'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.' ''

By Adam McNicol

Article first appeared The Sunday Age August 11, 2013

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/power-continues-to-set-pace-20130810-2rp4z.html#ixzz2bd8X8pvB