Border Mail |
FOOTBALL is a game built on statistics. You can’t win without kicking goals and you can’t kick goals without getting the ball inside 50.
Tackle counts, clearances and kicking efficiency percentages are other numbers that continue to make or break clubs.
Ross Hill’s career is full of statistics.
He’s played 299 games at Wangaratta Rovers, been involved in three decades of Ovens and Murray footy and run out alongside 216 other Hawks in his time at the W.J. Findlay Oval.
There’s one statistic he thinks about more than all the others, though.
The one that says he’s won zero premierships.
At a club such as Wangaratta Rovers, it’s almost implausible to think a man to reach such a milestone hasn’t played in a flag.
In fact, Hill is the only one of the Hawks’ now seven-member 300 club that hasn’t.
The closest he’s come is 48 points, when the Hawks lost the 2002 decider to North Albury.
If Hill had started his 19-season career in 1971, he’d be the most successful player in Ovens and Murray history with eight flags to his name right now.
Statistics, hey?
“I guess when I started out, if you envisaged such a long career at Rovers you’d certainly bank yourself in for a few flags along the way, the way things were going in the early days,” Hill said this week.
“I made my debut in 1995, the year after we won a premiership and we haven’t won one since.
“At a club that’s built on success, it’s been disappointing we haven’t been able to correct the judges since.
“That’s sort of one thing that keeps you going, I suppose.”
Hill has done more than just kept on going. He hasn’t given up.
And the determined veteran will be rewarded for that commitment when he plays his 300th game against Lavington today.
The same team he played his first game against and at the very same venue.
“There’s a bit of trivia for you,” Hill said with a laugh.
“To be joining such an illustrious group, particularly considering the guys that have played 300 at our club, is pretty humbling. If I could be half the player those blokes are, I’d be pretty happy.
“I was very much a bit-part player in the early days. We still had all those stars playing.
“I was lucky enough to be able to play with them.”
Flag or no flag, Hill sells himself short.
A previous captain of the club, Hill’s consistency, reliability and poise under pressure has seen him establish himself as a key cog in the Hawks’ line-up over the past 20 years.
And while he’s not the player he used to be, Hill still has his part to play in a team that wants to break its longest premiership drought in history.
And achieving that this season is still on the table, as far as the Hawks are concerned.
However, a win against the Panthers today is crucial to keep the dream alive.
With top-three spots at a premium, the Hawks need to score an upset victory to give themselves any chance of pinching a double-chance come finals.
“It’s massive for us,” Hill said.
“Top-three is still up for grabs.
“If we can be there when the whips are cracking on Saturday, we’d like our best to be good enough.”
And regardless of what the Hawks do or don’t achieve in the coming years, it’s fair to say Hill won’t be the first to play 350 games and not taste the ultimate success.
“The end isn’t too far away, I wouldn’t think,” Hill said.
“You keep holding out for that success but at the end of the day the body’s still got to be able to cope with it.
“The body is just starting to give me indications it’s at the last tether but we’ll box on.”
After all, facts, which is what they’ll be when Hill retires, cannot be changed.
Statistics can.
