Scott Oswald joins Yarrawonga greats by reaching rare Pigeon milestone

BEAU GREENWAY: Did you play all your junior footy at Yarrawonga?

SCOTT OSWALD: I grew up at Strathmerton and my brother and I and 'Motor' (Marcus) McMillan lived over there. I came to Yarrawonga when I was around 19.

BG: So you came straight into the senior team when you arrived?

SO: I think 2006 was my first year when we won it against Myrtleford. I played through to 2010 and then came back in 2014.

BG: You missed out on the Pigeons' flags in 2012 and 2013?

SO: I came back in 2014 and lost a couple, so I didn't time that real well did I?

BG: You also played for the Ovens and Murray and Vic Country around that time?

SO: I reckon that was 2007 and 2008 for the O and M and Vic Country was in 2008 down at Ballarat. I was a bit unlucky because they used to go up to Queensland to play, but we had to go to bloody Ballarat to play so I got the raw end of the stick. 'Motor' might have been the only one to play with me that year in Vic Country or Xave (Leslie) might have played too. I was lucky I played a good game against Goulburn Valley and they picked me for Vic Country.

BG: It's been a bit of a journey to get to 200 games?

SO: I tweaked my calf coming into the season, so I wasn't really meant to play. I was looking to play a couple of games in the twos to warm it up, but we've been pretty short this year so I got thrown in the deep end a little bit.

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BG: You join Ken Ellis, John Ryan, Russell Ednie, Craig Ednie, Marcus McMillan and Xavier Leslie as the only Yarrawonga players to reach that mark. That must be pretty special?

SO: I was pretty lucky I clocked up a few games early when I was young because we played finals too, so you'd get over 20 games a season. I strung a few together then which helped. It surprised me a bit that not many people had gotten to 200. It's probably not a lot of game all things considered, you'd think a few more would have played 200.

BG: You left Yarrawonga in 2011 to play with your brother, Lance, for a year?

SO: I had a season with him in Swan Hill for Nyah-Nyah West and then me and my now wife (Jaclyn) went to London for a couple of years. We travelled around over there and lived over there and we came back to town in 2014 when 'Fev' (Brendan Fevola) was coaching and I've been there ever since.

BG: Tell us about the West London Wildcats?

SO: I cruised around over there at the West London Wildcats. Matt Shannon played at Yarra and might have won a premiership in 2012 and he and I played over there at the Wildcats. I don't think anyone else from around here was over there then.

BG: How did the standard compare to back home?

SO: It was more of a muck around than anything. I came back in 2014 pretty underdone to be honest after a couple of years over there.

BG: You probably would have been in the prime of your career when you left the O and M?

SO: I wanted to have a year with my brother over at Swan Hill for a bit of a kick and then my missus decided she wanted to go overseas and have a bit of a look, so I thought I may as well go with her. I missed the footy when I was over there though, especially when they won a couple of flags.

BG: So you got to see a bit of the world?

SO: We did a fair bit in America before we went to London. We also went to places like France, Italy, Croatia and Greece. We got around a fair bit so it was really good. We got married on New Year's Eve (in 2019) and were lucky enough to get over to Hong Kong and over to the Maldives and we just got back before COVID started coming. We were lucky with that too.

BG: The move to Yarrawonga allowed you to meet your wife, Jaclyn?

SO: She still plays A grade netball at the club. We met when we were really young, I think it was around 2008 and we've been together ever since.

BG: There's quite a few couples in the club?

SO: There is when you think about it. It's an easy way to meet I guess, you don't have to go far. We just need to get big 'Symesy' (Brandon Symes) a missus.

BG: I've been told you are renowned as being the footy trip joker?

SO: I don't mind the footy trips, they're probably my favourite part of the year. It's good to have a bit of fun around the club, I don't try to take things too seriously.

BG: Have you had to dial things back a bit as you get older?

SO: I definitely still enjoy them (laughs). I'm trying to maybe get the one planned for this year to honest.

BG: It's been a tough year, have you taken much out of it so far?

SO: We're not travelling too well at the moment having had 'Schultzy' (Sam Schultz) and Tyler Bonat out. Xave (Leslie) has been struggling and (Jess) Koopman has done his shoulder. It's a bit of shame Willie Wheeler went down as well. The only good thing is the kids are getting a good run I guess. I'm 34 now so I'm on the downhill. Getting injured is about all I'm doing at the moment (laughs).

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