The great-grandfather reckons there was no secret to his achieving the milestone on January 8.

But he did have some advice.

“I guess it comes down to looking after yourself,” he said.

“I also have a pacemaker these days, so it’s a good help.”

Mr Chisnall and his late wife Catherine have three children, Carmel, Peter and Adrian, nine grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Born and raised in Corowa, Mr Chisnall now lives with his daughter in Rutherglen.

His working life was spent as a linesman with the Murray River County Council until he retired.

Football was a big part of his life; playing for Corowa alongside two brothers for many years before joining the army at 28, where he spent four years as a driver mechanic.

When he returned to Corowa he was asked by a mate to coach South Corowa.

“I wasn’t keen on it and turned the offer down,” he said.

“They had a meeting on the Friday night and on Saturday morning there was a knock at my door.

“My mate, with a big grin, said I had the job.

“He filled out the form and stuck my name on it and the rest is history.”

His son Peter, a North Melbourne premiership player in 1975, said his father reaching his 100th birthday was not a surprise.

“One of his sisters lived to be 99,” he said.

“He’s a marvellous man and one of the remarkable things about him is his memory.

“He can take you back to when he was a boy and if you rang him up in the morning he could run you through last night’s lotto numbers off the top of his head.”

His children, grandchildren and friends helped him celebrate on the weekend after his birthday.