He was in his club's 'Team of the Decade' three decades in a row... not possible you say? Read on! 
ELLINBANK'S ICON - Gippsland dairy farmer Russell Pratt played against many stars-on-the-rise including Tommy Alvin and Kelvin Templeton who went on to illustrious careers in Melbourne and beyond.

While he stayed home to work, he built his own remarkable niche at Ellinbank and Buln Buln, winning a dozen best and fairests and being involved in 10 premierships as a player and coach.

‘I've always loved my footy,' Pratt said. ‘Dad loved it and two of my brothers played a heap of games, too.

An extraordinary feat of his, unique in bush football annals, is that he is a playing member of three Ellinbank Teams of the Decade for the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s.

In all he played more than 400 game at Ellinbank, including 328 in the seniors in three different stints punctuated by seasons at Buln Buln, Warragul and Yarragon.

He originally left Ellinbank in 1977, having been considered too young to be senior coach. He crossed to Buln Buln along with his younger brother Ken and promptly coached two winning Grand Final sides against his old club!

The first flag was particularly sweet as Ellinbank had thrashed Buln Buln in the second-semi final. ‘These were the days of the final four and they had a week off while we played. We had blokes coming back from injury and suspension who had been under-done in the second-semi. By Grand Final day they were cherry ripe again. It helped us playing the extra match.' In 1981, he figured in a third flag at Buln Buln where he played 96 of a possible 98 games.

In his outstanding country career, Pratt once kicked 10 goals in a game and even played in a winning side when his team kicked just 1.2! ‘That was an ever-so-cold, wet day at "Dusties" (Warragul Industrials). One of our blokes had played in the seconds earlier that day and by half-time he was frozen stiff so we told him to go and have a shower and warm, up a bit. Only two goals were scored all day!'

One of Pratt's premierships, aged 42, came the day after his father had died. He came on off the reserves bench and dominated. ‘Dad would have wanted me to play. It was a Grand Final after all,' he said.

Pratt loved the competition of football so much that he played into his 50s. ‘At 50 I coached them to a flag in the reserves and they got me to play one more year after that,' he said.

Opponents said few were as determined to win as much as Pratt. He wasn't overly fast but could mark the ball strongly and was an expert reader of the play.

Like many of his age he wishes for more contests at AFL level and says country football is a more ‘pure' game, the way football should be played. ‘They're more athletes now than footballers at AFL level. It has all changed,' he said.

Prolific sports writer KEN PIESSE's new book FOOTBALL LEGENDS OF THE BUSH has just been published. 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

Article first published www.vcfl.com.au 09 August, 2011