Was Castlemaine high-flyer Steven Oliver the ultimate home town hero? Football expert Ken Piesse thinks so...

Hometown Hero
Castlemaine's Steven Oliver remains just about the ultimate hometown hero.

Four times he kicked 100 goals in a season, including 22 in one match, triggering a flood of offers from big city clubs. But other than two short stints at Carlton, he played virtually all his football back home at Castlemaine at ‘The Camp'.

‘Country life has always been more agreeable,' he says. ‘Always has been, always will.'

The father-of-three was also an outstanding teenage cricketer and golfer. He played his maiden first XI matches at Essendon at 16 and won his local golf club championship at 17. ‘I simply didn't like the city,' he said. ‘There was lots of talk (to stay) but I made the decision to return home. It's just the way it was. It wasn't a stellar career, no, but I don't regret any decisions along the way. I'm lucky to have done what I've done.'

His biggest goal hauls were 147 in 1992 and 135 in 2000, both premiership years.

‘In 1992 we had a fantastic side, a lot of local born-and-bred juniors. We were all mates and still are. It was the club's first premiership in 40 years.' Among the team's stars were Brent Crosswell's son, Tom Kavanagh and Paul Starbuck who both played AFL.

‘We had a phenomenal year that year and the Grand Final was a particularly great game,' he said. ‘We'd thrashed Eaglehawk in the second semi and then Golden Square beat them in the preliminary to earn another shot at us. We'd blown sides away most weeks that year and had lost only a couple of games, but they really took it up to us and gave us a good game all day. I still remember the last hectic few minutes. It was tooing and froing from one half-back line to the other. It went down to the wire (Castlemaine winning by a kick).'

In the 2000 play-off, Oliver was held goal-less in a narrow 12 point win against Kangaroo Point, the Bendigo ‘Roos having 26 scoring shots to 23.

Having kicked 1000 Bendigo League goals, Oliver finished as a playing-coach with district club Newstead but said his body was fast breaking down and he was unable to repeat the signature leaping which made him such a favorite at Castlemaine.

He'd learnt to mark in his backyard battles with his brothers, Ben and Tom. ‘I was reasonably athletic and we all used to try and take speckies. Basically I was always beating up on my brothers. It was lucky for me they were younger.'

Both his father Charlie and his brothers were also excellent sportsmen, Ben playing representative cricket for both Tasmania and Victoria.

Prolific sports writer KEN PIESSE will next week release his new book FOOTBALL LEGENDS OF THE BUSH. It features home town heroes and those who came and conquered. An ‘A to Z' town by town list of every important player to play at VFL/AFL level is also included. For more, visit Ken's website www.cricketbooks.com.au

• Excerpts from Football Legends of the Bush, Ken Piesse's 64th book, published by Penguin this week.

Article first appeared www.vcfl.com.au 26 July, 2011