Parents are always telling their children, 'listen to your teacher' and an O and M great is living proof of that.

Now, English physicist and mathematician Sir Isaac Newton might have died in 1727, but around 270 years later, his laws of physics had a profound effect on the Ovens and Murray Football League.

Chris Stuhldreier remains one of the best kicks for goal in the league's 127 years.

He arrived in 1996 from Goulburn Valley outfit Kyabram and landed 126 goals, equalling the season record of Albury's Doug Strang in 1938.

And that was with a 'bung' ankle after dislocating it the previous season.

"I had no power to jump, it was just painful and ligament damage takes some time to heal," he said.

"I had this big mass of meat in my left ankle and it took me a long time (to recover), I had a couple of cortisone jabs, which got me through the season and while it did get better, I was never really the same."

He followed with 119 the following season, which remains fourth all-time.

"He didn't miss, it didn't matter if he was on an angle, he was beautiful mechanically with his kicking," former team-mate and coach Tim Sanson said.

And it was at school more than a decade earlier where Stuhldreier discovered 'it' - that magic ingredient all goalkickers crave, but so few ever find, even at AFL level.

"It's funny mate, I did physics in Year 12 and still remember doing a lot of Newton's theories, straight line stuff," he said.

"The key is to do things in a straight line, have a routine that becomes mechanical, like the ball drop is the same, you follow through the same.

"And being confident too, when I had the ball in my hands, I always believed I was going to kick a goal, no matter where I was."

Stuhldreier perfected the art of kicking straight.

The ball was like an arrow as it honed in on the target.

"It was incredible times really, we had chased 'Stuhly' for quite some time and made him a very lucrative offer (laughs) but he just didn't feel it was the right time," then president Ken Hallows said.

But there's nothing like an old-fashioned footy bust-up.

"I was coaching Kyabram and there was a change of committee and president and a couple of things that we didn't agree on and basically that's the reason I moved on," Stuhldreier said.

Lavington couldn't believe its luck.

"We got a phone call one day to say I'm interested, we were just over the moon about it and he proved one of the nicest guys you'd ever meet," Hallows said.

Stuhldreier still holds the Victorian record for the most successive centuries, racking up nine from 1990, with six in the GV and three in the O and M.

"I didn't really start playing as a full-forward until the age of 24, I was more of a centre half-forward, I was probably leaner and more athletic," he admitted.

"I'd kick 2.8 and 3.7 at centre half-forward and I wasn't really hitting the mark, so I just went away and worked on it."

In his first century year at Kyabram in 1990, he booted 105 with just as many behinds.

But in 1993, he took it to the ultimate level.

"I kicked 171 goals and reckon I kicked about 70 points," he said.

"If I kicked less than 70 per cent conversion, I was filthy."

Remarkably, that record-smashing GV season pricked up interest for the second time at the elite level.

"I had some interest from Essendon and Richmond in 1986, 87ish and then even as late as '93, I'd kicked 100 goals by round 10 or 11 I think it was," he said.

"St Kilda approached me, 'Plugger' (future AFL Hall of Famer Tony Lockett) was out injured and there was an opportunity there.

"I was guaranteed to play a few games, but I'd been in the police force for about nine years and I was married, I'm like a lot of coppers, I'm fairly conservative.

"I wasn't prepared to gamble, I was realistic mate, I was never going to move 'Plugger' out of the way, it was only going to be temporary and I didn't really have a crack basically."

So Stuhldreier continued to dominate Victoria Country footy, blasting his way to 410 goals from only 77 games in the O and M, averaging 5.32.

The greatest forward of the modern era in Yarrawonga's Brendan Fevola booted 366 goals in 66 matches at 5.5 per game.

However, even the great 'Fev' would struggle to match Stuhldreier's unerring accuracy.

And at 186cms and 96kgs, the strongly-built full-forward was also a handy team-mate when the rough stuff started.

"A few players tried to challenge him, but he'd just grab guys on the throat, near your voicebox and they'd quickly go limp," Sanson said.

"He didn't do it to maim them or anything but, geez, it used to quieten them down."

Stuhldreier chuckles.

"Yeah, I used to call it the throat, I'd lock my hands on the throat, it was a bit like a pit bull terrier, they'd never get me off," he said.

"I remember Jarrod Sutherland (the league's No.1 enforcer at the time) for Yarrawonga, I choked him like a rag-doll one day.

"These days it's a free kick for contact above the shoulders but, back then, that was a signatory move, you could get away with the choke."

Stuhldreier left Lavington after 1999, rising 34, and finished his playing career at Bacchus Marsh in 2002 before a long coaching stint.

He ended with more than 400 games and 2000 goals, including the O and M league's third highest match haul of 20, and represented four leagues, as well as Victoria Country.

"I loved it (the O and M), probably loved it more than any place I played," he said.

"I have regrets that I didn't go there earlier, two of my kids were born there, my wife Ang and I loved it, but all our family was in Melbourne.

"When we moved back my father died in the next four years, so we were able to spend some time together.

"If it wasn't for the distance, I'd still be there now."

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His youngest son, Nick, was touted as a top 30 draft pick in 2017, but has since spent time in the VFL.

Stuhldreier, 54, is in charge of Melton Highway Patrol.

"Generally, it's been a great career, I've done 36 years now, I'll see it out."