An enticing sizzle cuts through the drizzle at Bunton Park.
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Mark Eyers is fully on-brand at the helm of the barbecue, with his black North Albury apron protecting a dazzling pink polo shirt to mark the Hoppers' annual Ladies Day while his club baseball cap is the more traditional green and gold.
Flipping burgers and serving up egg and bacon rolls, Eyers is going to be a popular man through the winter and on such a gloomy day as this, it seems only appropriate to sample his wares.
"I do this for all home matches," Eyers explains.
"I was an apprentice to Trevor Nurmi for a number of years but this is my first year as the main man.
"My Dad's a life member here, I played here and my son's here, so there's three generations involved. It's just what we do.
"I started in the juniors as a nine-year-old, progressed through to playing first grade and I've either been an assistant or a coach in every grade from Auskick and under-8s through to the first grade.
"The club is part of my family. You say g'day to the same people most weeks and you know if they're not here. You worry about them, if they're crook or away."
David Martin is among the first people to greet those regulars, manning the merchandise table just inside the main gates.
The owner of Martin's Albury bus group, Martin has served the club as treasurer since 2016 and was among the first to arrive at the ground this morning.
"It's a huge responsibility," Martin said.
"I've organised floats for all the venues, put all the cash out, I do all the merchandise and the raffle here. At the end of the day, you collect all the cash, count it, put it through, pay the players, pay the bills in the canteen and the alcohol.
"It's a big job but it's good fun. I don't mind doing it.
"I'd like to do more but I just can't, running my own business as well.
"You put yourself under pressure sometimes but people tend to work best when they're under pressure.
"You find yourself getting behind and you're always trying to catch up."
North Albury, collectively, is playing catch-up in the Ovens and Murray League after a lean time on the football field and with their facilities now in the process of undergoing much-needed renovations.
"Financially, the club is very stable and is looking to go forward," Martin said. "It's just a matter of us trying to get the facilities right because the people will follow.
"It's a huge development; the lights are $400,000 on their own.
"This was a fully operational sports club until they closed it down three years ago.
"They had poker machines in there so we were unable to get grants to make the club go forward but now we're eligible and we're looking forward to getting those grants and improving the facilities around the place."
A cheer goes up on the oval behind us and Martin breaks off to register the goal on his iPad.
Time to move on and meet a few characters who are no longer burdened by the pressure of time on game day.
"I started coming here as an eight-year-old," Leonie Sullivan said.
"My late husband, Dennis, started playing at the age of five and went right through to seniors. He coached, left for a year and went to Walbundrie but he couldn't stand being away from the club so he came straight back.
"Then he became a committeeman, he was vice-president of the footy club and a director of the sports club.
"Dennis loved this club. When he passed, one of the guys on the committee had a sign made: Sully's Bar.
"The people here are amazing," Sullivan paused, wiping away a tear.
"This club is so special. Everybody helps everybody, it doesn't matter who you are, how big you are or what colour you are, it's just an amazing club.
"It has been since I was eight, and Dennis five.
"We donated Dennis' jumper to the club, there was a little rip in it and they put it in a frame and re-donated it back to us."
Club legends don't come much bigger around these parts than Stan Sargeant, the Ovens and Murray's all-time leading goal-kicker, with an incredible 1096 to his name.
"I loved playing here," Sargeant said. "I played from 1958 right through to 1974 and that was 289 games.
"It's hard to remember back that far now but playing in the finals in my last couple of years was a highlight, representing the Ovens and Murray and I also played for NSW up in Brisbane one year.
"I don't see a lot of my old team-mates now. A lot of them aren't with us any more and a lot of them have moved out of town but you see the odd one now and again."
Sargeant was on the selection committee for two years after retiring but football would later play second fiddle to golf, while his annual winter caravan trip is set to take him to Queensland this week.
"I like watching North at the moment," he said.
"They've got a very young side and they're going to be a good side later on.
"Nobody likes losing games but if you go out there, with your team-mates around you, and you give 110 percent, you're doing your best."
Life member Ken Bruce played alongside Sargeant for a decade and spent five years on the committee.
"I ran all the raffles at the front gate and I used to love taking money off people," he laughed.
"They'd give me a couple of bob and I said 'no, I want five dollars.' In the end, they used to give me five dollars for raffle tickets.
"People know I've been around for a long time. I stuck with the club when they were down, I kept coming every week.
"It's my life. I love this place. They know who I am, we have a bit of a yarn, the can bar's open, I love going there, have a few beers and then I get barracking. I'm right then."
Like the Eyers' in football, North Albury's family connections run strong on the netball court.
Long-term coach Fiona Boyer may have relinquished A-grade duties but her 18-year-old daughter Niamh is not only captaining the side but coaching C-grade.
It's a big step," Boyer said. "I've coached juniors for a few years at Albury rep but coaching seniors is very different.
"Trying to lead girls who are older than me has been a really big challenge but I've enjoyed taking that on.
"All the girls seem to have received it well. At the start, I was a little bit nervous about how that dynamic would work, being so young, but I have been around the club forever and I think all the girls have a bit of respect for me and believe in me, that I have the ability and the knowledge to coach their team.
"They listen to me, they support me in that role and we all get around each other.
"There was one week I made some bad calls so I said 'you know what, girls, that one was on me' and they appreciate I'm on that level with them."
The Boyer name is now synonymous with the Hoppers and that affiliation looks set to continue.
"Mum started playing here in 1995, when she first moved to Albury, and she's been a player and coach here ever since," Boyer said.
"I grew up here. Those little kids running around, that was me 10 years ago, and then I started playing in 2018 in the under-16s.
"Stepping on the court as a Hopper for the first time was a pretty special moment. I was here every Saturday anyway but to actually be one of the girls on the court was a big milestone for me.
"I loved coming to netball on Saturday and watching all the girls play, they were like my big sisters, so to turn up that day and actually be on the court was super exciting."
BEHIND THE SCENES - IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM:
Boyer's beaming smile is contagious and her co-captain, Nat Heagney - the league's Rising Star for 2021 - is enjoying the new partnership.
"We've had a pretty good start," Heagney said.
"Against Corowa, first up, we didn't go too well but we've won our next three games and we've developed as a team. We're all very new, starting to figure out each other's plays on the court and strengthen our friendships off the court too.
"I love these girls. It's always fun to get together.
"We hang out with each other after the games, we don't split off and do our own thing, we're all together, supporting each other."
They say you don't know what you've got until it's gone and for A-grade coach Emily Browne, back with North Albury after a spell at Rutherglen, the phrase rings true.
"I started at Lavington and won a premiership there but I decided it wasn't for me any more," Browne said.
"I came across to North Albury and loved it - but I had a pretty personal year that year.
"My stepmother passed away from motor neurone disease at the start of the year and the club really rallied behind me. They decided to give me some space and let me do my thing.
"They were really good, always up for a chat and always there if I needed a cuddle. They just let me go, which was really good.
"They allowed me to grieve whenever I needed to but they also picked me up and put me back on the court when I needed it. I owe them a lot for that.
"They've always been a good club in that sense and it's one of the best clubs I've played for. It's one in, all in, and that's a good mentality."
The tone, of course, is set from the top and while president Tony Burns normally spends up to 20 hours a week on club business, the departure of senior coach Luke Norman last week means that figure is likely to have been a conservative estimate lately.
"The last two weeks have been pretty busy," Burns said.
"Luke's business moved to Benalla the week before the season so it just got too hard, from that distance.
"He knew, that to be a senior coach, you've got to put 100 percent effort in and he wasn't able to do that.
"There were a few busy days there but we're lucky we were able to fall on our ex-players who were helping on the coaching staff.
"We've got a great junior network coming up and a lot of our ex-senior premiership players are in that too.
"Our junior and senior football programs are very close-knit.
"We like to think of ourselves as one club, not separate identities.
"The kids we've got coming up are fantastic. The under-16s are undefeated, the under-14s have been winning games and our under-12s are going great guns too.
"I love the club and I want to see it succeed.
"There's great people around it, too, so that makes it more enjoyable. We're in the best financial position we've been in for years and our new lights will be up by the end of this month.
"We've got no seating at the moment and no fencing around half of the field but we're doing all voluntary labour, Working Bees, and that's what's great about the club.
"They all come out of nowhere and help us.
"Lights are just the beginning. The masterplan's in for the canteen, there's no change rooms for netball and the toilets are old.
"It's been way too long.
"It's not going to happen overnight but steps are being taken."
The rebuild has begun.
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