Steve was a superstar in Wodonga's stunning 1981 premiership, Ross, or 'Chuck', played 220 Ovens and Murray games and was even named player of the national carnival in the 50-55 age group in 2014, while Scott is a foundation member of Wodonga Raiders and premiership player in their only flag.

But in 1987 mum Val took centre stage.

"We were the Wodonga Demons then (in the Tallangatta and District) and were pretty much like Collingwood in that we were arch-rivals of nearly every team," Scott said.

"The Demons hadn't won a premiership and Mitta had a proud history of winning them.

"The second quarter got pretty nasty. There was an all-in-brawl and 'Chuck' got knocked out behind play.

"When you are only 17, you're thrown in at the deep end and you don't really know what to do, but I'm more of a lover than a fighter.

"When the fight started, Mitta player, Wayne Carmody, grabbed me and said, 'don't go in there, it could get personal' so I took his advice, he was a family friend.

"John Smith (former O and M Morris medallist) was coaching Mitta and as he was leading his players off the ground, my mother had an umbrella and she actually blocked the race so they couldn't get off.

"She stood there for a minute or two and gave them a gobful.

"Mum obviously saw the incident and wasn't too happy.

"My brother-in-law Peter Ohlin was playing for Mitta and later that night their players are going, 'who was that nutty, crazy lady that stopped us from getting off the ground'? Poor old big fella (Peter) said, 'that was actually my mother-in-law'."

Mitta players are known for their toughness, but they quickly learnt - don't mess with Val, the umbrella-wielding mum. Or, as another opponent found out, the older brother.

"Ross was pretty protective and I remember my first senior game against Kiewa Sandy Creek. At the first bounce the ball dribbled out my way and I've tackled the Kiewa guy and he's got up, pushed me down and kneed me in the head," Hedley recalled.

"All of a sudden, I've just heard this 'crack' and 'Chuck's' just flown in and belted him and seriously, I'm still on the ground and there's 30 guys milling over the top of me, I just crawled out, looked around and gone, 'what have I gotten myself into'? Lindsay Croucher was playing for Kiewa and I went to school with him and we just looked at each other and gone, 'holy geez, this is a bit of a step-up'."

It was a brutal era and while Hedley wasn't your typical 'footy-head', he did win that Demons' best and fairest as a 17-year-old.

"Everyone talks about how tough he was, but one thing they all miss was how skilful he was," Demons and Wodonga Raiders' team-mate Nic Conway said.

"He was a really good basketballer and had amazing reflexes, he could steal the ball, like you do in basketball."

But sometimes when a player doesn't live and breath footy, it can rub team-mates the wrong way, but players rave about Hedley.

"He marched to his own beat, but he was super popular, everyone loved being around him, but he liked his own company (laughs)," Conway said.

"He was happy sitting on the couch, taking it easy."

And the 'king of casualness' doesn't regret his relaxed attitude.

"I was committed to a certain point, but not to the extreme," he said.

"I probably more enjoyed the social aspect of football with the people around the club.

"Some people have said, you could have got more out of your football career, but I am quite content.

"If I got too serious, I might not have enjoyed it as much and walked away from it."

And he needed that sense of fun too when the Demons became Wodonga Raiders and joined the big boys in the O and M in 1989.

The club suffered a series of 25-plus goal floggings over the next two years, in which the newcomers won only one game (Myrtleford 1990).

And it wasn't until 1994 that Raiders toppled 'big brother' Wodonga after 11 straight losses to the powerhouse.

"We went into their clubrooms and I'm not sure who started it, but we sang our theme song," he said.

How did that go down?

"Not good, they were absolutely filthy, it didn't go any further than that at the time, but it just added to the tension when we played," he offered.

"But, geez, it was funny, I can remember their faces, they nearly died (laughs)."

The 'little brother' had arrived.

Raiders played finals for the first time and followed three years later with a maiden grand final against Albury, falling by only seven points after storming home, under first-year coach Darren Harris.

"Most of the other coaches were very defensive, lock down on your man sort of thing, but 'Harro' brought an attacking style of football," Hedley said.

"It was take the game on at all costs and we were encouraged to run off our man as soon as we had control of the ball."

Hedley had injured his AC joint through the year, but bravely finished the season.

He had off-season surgery and didn't return until mid-1998, where he injured his knee.

He got back for the qualifying final in reserves and was promoted for his first senior game in the preliminary final win, ending Albury's three-year reign.

But Lavington was desperate after losing four successive deciders.

"It was fortunate in the last quarter that we had the game sewn up," he said.

"It wasn't just celebrating that season, it was 10 years of a grind at times and we'd come from a long journey and had some dark days.

'There was a lot of hard work by a lot of people to get us into the Ovens and Murray.

"Just to see the joy on peoples' faces, that stands out the most."

And that's when 'Disco Stu' took over.

"The club got shut down at midnight and I had my 70s greatest hits cassettes (don't worry kids, we'll tell you about them later) and my sister (Lea) lived across the road so she came over with the old cassette player and we were playing all this 70s disco music in the gym, songs like burn baby burn Disco Inferno, a bit of Donna Summer, until 4am (laughs)."

But not long after the day the music died, Hedley's time at Raiders was up and he was moving to Queensland's Sunshine Coast with wife Alison and young family, buying a landscaping and paving business.

In 2000, he won the Western Magpies' best and fairest in the Queensland AFL and followed with stints at Noosa and Caloundra before a tradie's constant nemesis - the back - caved in.

But then he did what none of his Raiders' team-mates thought would ever happen - he coached (Caloundra).

"Queensland footy's different, it probably suits me more because it's laidback, it was training only two nights," he laughed.

He kept the business until June, 2019, when the back said, enough.

"I was a busted ass, it was embarrassing," he said.

"Like, I'm down trying to lay pavers and it would take me five minutes to try and stand up, so they (colleagues) said, 'come on, give it a rest'.

"I was able to sell my business and I'm doing it easy, selling pavers."

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It won't surprise team-mates to know 'Wobbler' is cruising, but where does one of footy's more unique nicknames come from?

"That's from the older siblings, when I was probably two or three, they used to tease me to the point where I'd crack a wobbly, basically, they used to call me 'wobble, wobble, fire truck' because I had the screaming going, crying and roaring."