Lavington siblings Sam and Tom Hargreave will carry the heartache of knowing their dad Hugh won't be there for Sunday's grand final against Wangaratta.
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Hugh Hargreave died from a lung condition on September 6, the day before the pair bravely played in the grand final qualifier against the Pies. He was 68.
"(Coach) Simon (Curtis) gave us the option to play or not," Tom said.
"But dad said, 'if you don't play, I'll kick you up the bum (laughs)."
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When Tom kicked the Panthers first goal, he kissed the black arm band on his left arm as his team-mates sprinted from everywhere to swamp him.
"It's obviously been tough, I suppose there's a lot going on, but I took a week off work and spent it with dad, it was nice," Tom said.
Hugh Hargreave was a former cop but, most importantly, he was a family man to his wife Debra and five sons, also pouring thousands of hours into his community work.
He worked with Bhutanese and Congolese and was a member of Border Church.
"Dad told me the only way I'll stand again is to follow Jesus, follow the Lord," Tom said.
His extensive volunteering work also took in community centres.
"He was with the Thurgoona Community Centre for 25 years and the West Albury (Westside) Community Centre basically until he died," Sam said.
"He was still trying to hold meetings on the phone in the lounge room."
Hugh taught his children (David, Mark and Nathan) an enormous amount, particularly you must love people, help wherever you can and put others first.
"My partner and I were renovating a unit and dad decided to put somebody just out of gaol in there," Sam said.
"It lasted two weeks and they trashed the joint."
But Hugh kept giving.
"He would always talk to people, we called him Mr Have A Chat," Sam laughed.
"When I just finished school, I started to get the nickname Have A Chat Junior.
"You laugh a little bit about it, I suppose it's a bit of an honour as well."
Hugh's spirit will be with the boys against Wangaratta at Norm Minns Oval.
"The 'Lavi' footy club has been really good with their support," Tom said.
"Wangaratta's defence is their strong point, but hopefully we can exploit that."
The boys are fiercely competitive, but are even more respected for their ethics.
"Anyone who knows Sam or I will know we're giving blokes," Tom said.
"We looked up to dad and thought that was normal.
"On the last day, I told him I loved him heaps and I'm going to miss him."