BEN Douthie is used to playing on big names in the Ovens and Murray.
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But where the Wangaratta gun now goes head-to-head with the competition’s stars in the midfield, it was once a different story.
“I was a little back pocket,” Douthie said of his 2005 debut season under Magpie icon Jon Henry.
In just his second match for the Magpies, Douthie found himself opposed to key Corowa-Rutherglen forward Richard Ambrose after Mark McInerney went down with injury.
Douthie kept Ambrose to one goal in a performance that he’s still not sure if he was a blessing or a curse.
Assignments against Matt Fowler and Tim Sanson followed in a baptism of fire for Douthie.
“Having to play on Tim Sanson as an 18-year-old was daunting, to say the least,” he said.
“Looking back, I don’t know if it was because I was a young kid, but there seemed to be so many more greats running around in the comp back then.
“Now, I think the comp is a lot more slick, a lot quicker.”
Douthie, 29, has returned to the Norm Minns Oval after a successful stint captaining East Brighton.
The hard-working left-footer led the Vampires to two premierships from four grand finals in seven seasons at the Southern league club in Melbourne.
Prior to that, he spent three seasons at Coolangatta in Queensland with Magpie defender David Thayer.
Douthie said a desire to play with former schoolmates Michael Newton and Daine Porter was a driving force behind his decision to return to the Magpies.
He joins Porter, Matt Grossman, Michael Bordignon and Aaron Braden in making the trek up the Hume Highway from Melbourne each week to pull on the black and white jumper.
“I’m loving it, it’s good to be home,” he said.
“I said to (Newton) if you come back, I’m definitely going to come back and play with you. We were all mates and wanted to play together before we all got too old and past it.”
Douthie returns to the Magpies’ line-up to tackle Myrtleford in a high-stakes showdown at McNamara Reserve after missing the past two matches through concussion.
The Magpies can move into the box seat for a finals berth with victory over the Saints.
“It’s a massive game, it’s always hard to win at Myrtleford,” he said.