McKimmie, who grew up playing for his home club Federal, believes the struggling Upper Murray League should consider a merger in order to join neighboring competition the Tallangatta and District League, before it's too late.

"There's differing ideas and beliefs across the competition on how the future should play out," McKimmie said

"Sure, there is animosity between clubs, but if we can't put our differences aside and look at this predicament through our kids' eyes, who are the future, then we're all fools.

"Having witnessed at Brock-Burrum how good mergers can work and what it can do for a community, I can't help but think the best way forward is to consolidate the Upper Murray Football Netball League into one club and head down the road to the Tallangatta and District comp.

"I think most people have had enough, and the danger is that if we don't do something soon, I believe we'll have nothing."

The former Lavington captain booted the Panthers' premiership winning goal during the 2005 grand final and led Brock-Burrum to a drought-breaking flag in 2013 as the Saints' playing coach.

Having returned home to run the family farm, 44-year-old McKimmie came out of retirement last weekend to aid the Swans to victory against Corryong, in what was his first game since 2014.

He made his senior football debut for Federal as a 15-year-old under coach Bruce Shay.

After watching clubs battle for numbers week in, week out this season, McKimmie admitted the competition is in a sad state.

"When I first came back, I knew to expect that the standard had slipped from speaking to different people, but the biggest shock was the lack of involvement, with supporters, volunteers and players all at a shortage," he said.

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"I know it's not just the Upper Murray that's seeing this decline, it seems to be across the board, but for the Upper Murray, I feel it's getting to a breaking point."

McKimmie pinpoints the development of juniors as one of the biggest dangers the competition faces if changes are not made.

As it stands, the league runs under-11 and under-15 netball grades, as well as under-11 and under-14 football competitions.

"The under-14s is where things are really suffering. Not one club can field a full side, with Corryong and Federals only having a couple of kids each," he said.

"The fact is, out of the five clubs we have in this competition, three of them are pulling from the same pool of kids, and the Corryong community just isn't big enough to sustain this anymore.

"These are important formative years for kids and it's a shame we can't give them a quality competition with fully structured trainings and games.

"It's impossible to expect boys and girls who play here to reach their full potential, hence why some parents choose to commute to the TDFNL or Albury-Wodonga to give their kids a complete football experience, and you can't blame them.

"The direct flow on from this is that we then don't see enough locals filtering into the senior grades, we then need to recruit from outside the area more and money leaves the community."

The whole McKimmie family pulled on Swans' colours for the first time last weekend, with Darryn's wife Narelle playing A-grade netball and kids Paige, 14, Madi, 12, Lachy, 10 and Brax, 6, all playing for the club this season.

The Tyrell family, Cameron, Lauren, Blake and Immy have also achieved the same feat this year.

McKimmie hopes to see opportunities continue to live on in the community for the next generation.

"I'd love to see the UMFNL thrive and get back to the days I remember as a kid, but unfortunately, I can't see this trend changing, or changing quick enough before clubs are forced into recess, or fold," McKimmie said.

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