But there is one place just to the side of the ground where his former teammate Tim Hargreaves wants to take him when the Pigeon champion decides to hang up his boots.

“I have never seen him in the gym, not once,” Hargreaves said.

“I don’t think he’s lifted a weight in his life.

“I hate blokes like that.

“While the rest of us have always tried to get as strong as we could, ‘Snout’ didn’t need it.

“He just has that natural balance.

“I used to do one-on-ones with him and he’s just a freak.

“He would snap them from anywhere.”

The fact that Ednie’s 73-kilogram frame has seen him through 199 Ovens and Murray matches is almost as miraculous as some of his performances.

Dual premiership coach Chris Kennedy considers himself fortunate to have had front row seats for most of them.

“Pound for pound he’s the best player I have seen in country footy,” Kennedy, who has had a strong association with the Ovens and Murray, Goulburn Valley and Murray leagues, said.

“His ability to turn a match in moments sets him apart from other players.

“When there was something that was needed to be done to swing a game he could do it.

“He just took it upon himself.”

Kennedy still marvels at Ednie’s performance against Lavington in the 2011 preliminary final at Birallee Park.

Trailing by 21 points at the 17-minute mark of the final quarter, Ednie inspired a remarkable comeback against a howling breeze that will go down in Ovens and Murray folklore.

It was to be Tim Sanson’s final match as coach of the Panthers.

“We were dead and buried that day at Birallee Park,” Kennedy said.

“Yarra wouldn’t have made the grand final that year without his performance.

“Craig was on the ball and, while it probably wasn’t his best game, in those 15 minutes he just refused to yield.

“Along with ‘Barnesy’ (Drew Barnes) and Mick Stevens, he got us over the line.”

Ednie’s numbers are unrivalled at Yarrawonga.

As well as playing in the Pigeons’ 2006, 2012 and 2013 premierships, he has won the best and fairest — named in honour of his grandfather C.T. Runnalls — on four occasions. He has finished runner-up three times.

A bruised and battered Ednie was awarded the Did Simpson Medal after Yarrawonga’s epic grand final win over Albury in 2012 and took out the Morris Medal in the club’s 2006 premiership season.

The Border Mail’s long-time Yarrawonga correspondent John Clarke believes Ednie has been in a class of his own.

“I don’t think you could separate John Brunner and Les Parish but Craig’s the best to have played for Yarra,” Clarke said.

“His longevity in Yarrawonga’s greatest era stands him alone.

“The goal he kicked in the 2010 grand final from the grandstand pocket at Lavington was unbelievable, but it didn’t really surprise me because you just get used to him doing those freakish things.”

While many remain staggered that Ednie only managed seven matches for Richmond, former Murray Bushrangers coach John Byrne probably summed it up best.

“If he was six-foot two, Craig Ednie would have played 200 AFL games,” Byrne said.

Following in his father Russell’s footsteps in playing 200 matches for his beloved Pigeons isn’t a bad second prize.