In three words, my latest Saturday on the road has already been summed up.

I'm becoming used to the vibrant colour splashed across football-netball clubs on game day but even so, the sea of maroon which greets me at the ground is something to behold.

Culcairn are expecting their biggest crowd of the season, with neighbours Holbrook having travelled in numbers, and the canteen is already doing a roaring trade.

From the back of the kiosk, Trevor Smith's chuckle rises above the hubbub.

"All these young fellas, running around here, they keep me young and I really enjoy the whole kit and caboodle of the place," he said.

"I just love football. I've always loved it. If you didn't have a footy club, you wouldn't have anything in this place. We get big crowds here, we've got a good following and I just love being here."

So much so that 2021 is Smith's 48th consecutive year as club secretary, a job the man known as 'Chief' has done in his own inimitable style since 1974.

"What needs to be done, I do - except for this," he added with a smile. "I'm not interested in making conversation and so forth. I got here at 8am, the ladies were working in the canteen and I set up my bar for the afternoon.

"Yesterday I sat up the street and sold raffle tickets for a couple of hours. We do that every home game.

"I've got to do the team sheets beforehand and it's all computerised now. Once upon a time, you used to write them out and you could grab anyone from anywhere to play a game of footy but now you can't. They've all got to be registered."

No-one has seen the times change at Culcairn more than 96-year-old Ray Schultz, whose junior football career began during World War II.

"I was in the Air Force for a couple of years, came back here and we won three premierships in 1952, '53 and '54. I'm about the only one left," Schultz said.

"We went undefeated for a couple of years and we beat Wagga in a grand final, thrashed them by about 20 goals.

"When I first started, we had to go to the hotel to have a shower. They don't know they're made, now, the footballers, with the club rooms they've got. We had to buy our own socks!

"But I love watching them. I missed it terribly last year."

It's back to the boundary for Ray as the reserves continue to do battle.

Jesse Kent is coaching the home side but he's happy to be interviewed mid-game, having earlier umpired in the under-14s. At the age of just 30, he's also the Lions president and will play for the seniors later.

"It doesn't really stop on a Saturday," he said. "If anyone has a problem, they come to me and I'll try to fix it.

"They were a bit stuffed at the end of last year and I wanted to make sure the club kept going. I thought, while I'm young and still around the club, I'd love to be president.

"It's the family culture which makes the place special. Even if you have tough days, like now, when we're not winning a lot of games, there will still be 100 people in there.

"I wouldn't be able to go straight into the presidency without guys like Chief. Going from a player to the committee, you see the sheer amount of work that goes into it. People are here from 8am-10pm if we have a function and they're doing stuff the whole time.

"It's pretty phenomenal how some people give up their time so we can go out and run on the field and play footy."

"This is what small towns do," explained Vicki Sheather, who served the club as netball president for 10 years. "The mums and dads around here, a lot of their kids have stayed in town even if they work in Albury.

"They love it here and it goes down to the next generation. They become a big part of the club."

Renae Knobel has sons playing in the seniors, under-17s and under-14s this season, having coached Culcairn's senior netballers for a decade.

"We'll never leave this club," she said. "I missed a lot of my boys over the last three years, being treasurer, so this year I've stepped back - but I still help out a lot.

"I do it because I love the club. I've been here since I was little and the way I look at it, if we don't help, the club's not going to be here.

"The volunteers are the ones who get the guys on the field and the girls on the netball court so if we don't have those volunteers, we don't have a club.

"A lot of people don't know what happens behind the scenes but it's a lot of work. It's like having another job.

"It is one big family though. A lot of other clubs talk about Culcairn and the way we are so close, the way we all band together.

"It's one of our strengths and it's how we like to promote ourselves, as the family club."

Literally, in some cases, as a glance across the Lions back line towards the end of the reserves clash proves.

It's been a tough day at the office for bothers Ronan and Noah Smith but Holbrook's big win hasn't detracted from the shared experience.

"This is the first real season we've been in the same side," Ronan said. "When you're growing up together, you play in the back yard and think you're going to play in the AFL together so to have Noah in the same position on the ground, it's pretty special.

"I probably lose my head a little bit and tell him where to go, even though I've got no clue myself. But he takes it in his stride and there's been a few times when he's had a crack at me because I've been day-dreaming. It's funny. When it's your brother, you don't think about it too much.

"I remember coming here when I was four and the old man (Paul Smith) was still running around, having a kick.

"It's that sense of community which keeps people coming back. You come to a game and everyone knows each other by name."

And while many were brought to the club by their parents, that sense of belonging also runs deep for new recruits.

Albury-based Georgina Valentin had never played competitive netball prior to this season but already feels at home in a Culcairn dress.

"Coming up to train for the first time, I was nervous," she admitted. "It's always hard breaking into a club environment but as soon as I got here, I realised just how welcoming they are.

"That was the make-or-break between me playing or not.

"Not being brought up in a sporting community can make it really hard to break into a club environment so I wanted to wait and see what the vibe was like. There are clubs closer to home that we could have tried out for but people make the effort to come to Culcairn because of that family atmosphere.

"Sport can be quite cliquey if you're not a top player but that wasn't a factor in whether they wanted me to play or not."

Bridgitte Murphy, the partner of Culcairn's football captain Ben Gould, is also new to the club and has found the same to be true up in A-grade.

"The girls are so welcoming," Murphy said. "The first time I came here, everyone got around me with open arms which is pretty special. You don't often get that at clubs, so it was quite easy to feel like family straight off the bat.

"I'm studying in Wagga, so it's a bit of travel - but it's worth it.

"It's good to forget about my studies, after being in the books all week, and come out here to play a game of netball. Unfortunately we're not the best team this season but the girls are getting around each other and they're starting to gel."

Results, of course, are only part of the equation.

"I can't wait to get out of bed on a Saturday," former president Andrew Godde said. "It's a big day for us on the committee but it's my favourite day of the week.

"There's a few of us on that get here early and blow the verandah down, unlock the doors and make sure the toilets are clean. It's not the glamorous side of the job but it has to be done.

"There are four boys in my family. Two of the boys were really good footballers and two of us weren't.

"I didn't have a lot of footy talent, and Chief talks about this too, he wasn't a very good footballer but he's been on the committee for 40-something years and you just feel as though you're part of the team.

"The lucky ones get to run around out there but everyone's part of it. We're pretty big on that in Culcairn."

"We have a lot of older people who support the footy club and I'm sure they would have missed the social part of it tremendously last year. I just keep coming back to the team and being part of it; it's not just the 18 players in the firsts. That's why small country towns are fairly successful because everyone wants to be part of that team."

So will that team always be there for the people of Culcairn?

"Well, I'm going to do my darndest to make sure that happens," Godde said. "Last year was our 125th anniversary and I'd love to see the footy club go for another 125 years.

"Country footy clubs are struggling, nationwide, but I think we're in a pretty good position going forward. Our town's growing, so that's half the battle.

"I wouldn't hesitate to merge with other clubs if it meant survival. The ones that have merged have done so reasonably successfully. I hope it doesn't come to that but if it does, we'll cross that bridge."

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Final word, of course, goes to the Chief.

"I don't think it'll ever fold," Smith said.

"They keep telling me I'm getting on but we've got a few good ladies backing me up. The committee's getting a little bit younger, which is good."

Family games night runs late into the evening, yet another reminder of why the locals and out-of-towners blend so well here.

Because Culcairn welcomes you.

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