I CAN still remember Wally waddling into the room.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
It was a couple of years ago now and my manager had organised a meeting in Melbourne with a bloke called Glenn Brear and a few people from the Yarrawonga footy club about playing footy there.
Wal whacked a piece of paper with a few notes down on the table and in his country voice said ...
“Righto, Brendan. This is how it’s going to be.”
I couldn’t stop laughing.
My manager had never seen anything like it.
He was used to dealing with AFL clubs and the way they did things but all that went out the window when Wally Brear came to town.
It was his way, or the highway.
Everything was about the Yarrawonga footy club.
But I loved that.
He’s so passionate about the place.
There’s not another team in the league, as far as he’s concerned, it’s just Yarra.
It probably annoys a lot of other people, but as a player at the club — you can’t help but love it.
It doesn’t matter what time you ring him, he’ll be at the footy club.
It could be lunchtime on a Tuesday and he’ll be there doing something.
When I finished in the AFL I’d lost a fair bit of my love for footy.
But it didn’t take long to get that passion back when you’ve got somebody like him around.
I couldn’t say a bad word about him.
I’ve met a lot of people in footy, but it’s fair to say there’s nobody quite like Glenn Brear.
I CAN’T believe another season has already come and gone.
It seems like only yesterday we were getting ready to play Albury in the first game of the season.
But finals are around the corner now, so I thought I’d take a quick look at the season.
Corowa-Rutherglen is probably the story of the year.
They’re fourth on the ladder and going to play in the finals for the first time in years.
Good on them.
Myrtleford has shown some pretty positive signs over the past few weeks and they might even have this year’s Morris medallist in Kristan Height.
Can he do it?
It’d be an amazing effort, considering how many games they’ve won.
North Albury has done heaps better than everyone thought and I’ll be looking on with plenty of interest to see whether Wodonga can send Benny Hollands off on a winning note against Wang Rovers.
He’s been a champ of the league for a long time and deserves to finish with a win after a tough year.
But he should be playing on.
He’s still their best player.
The two Wangaratta teams are fighting for that last spot and it’s fair to say bragging rights are on the line this weekend.
The Raiders have struggled, but they’ve got some excitement to look forward to with Daryn Cresswell signing on as coach for three years.
As for us, we’re slowly starting to hit our straps and hopefully that continues.
Lavi has improved, but the big question is can they go that one step further?
Time will tell, I guess.
But there’s no doubt Albury is still the No.1 team entering finals and everyone is out to chase them.