BEST MOVE I MADE

THE urban myth is that Zane Vail just walked in off the street one night at Bell Park and started training.

And it’s actually not too far from the truth.

Vail knew no one when he turned up at the Dragons in 2005, after being pointed in the club’s direction when he told people he wanted to give footy a crack in his early-20s.

He was a raw talent and it was a gamble, giving away a semi-professional basketball career at the Geelong Supercats to plunge into a sport he had barely played, not even casually as a kid.

Today he plays his 200th GFL game, a feat not lost on anyone at the Dragons, who believe his elite standing in GFL footy has long been understated outside of the club.

“What does (200 games) mean? I’m really proud of representing Bell Park, but also after coming down to footy training and just giving it a go,” Vail said.

“It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve done. I didn’t really know anyone. I never really played juniors, and I changed codes.

“It was definitely one of the best decisions I’ve made and it means a lot to play 200. I didn’t think I’d make it. It goes quick.”

Vail’s loose links to the club came through his dad, Leigh, now the club’s footy manager, who played a few games for the club in the 1980s.

It didn’t take long for word of Vail’s interest to filter back to the Dragons and they made a phone call that would put in motion a switch that is still benefiting the club today.

For more than a decade Vail has anchored Bell Park’s ruck division through a strong era of deep finals finishes, squeezing every inch out of his towering but battle-weary frame.

At 34, he says this will “definitely be” his final year — “it’s the right timing” — though he has had a few near-retirements in the past, mainly due to injury concerns.

“I’d put so much time into basketball and I’d been doing it since primary school, so I thought if I didn’t give footy a go then, while I could, it might be something I’d regret later on,” he said.

“It was a chance to just trying something new.

“But I had a great time at the Supercats.”

It will be a sentimental day for the club, with stalwart Matt Uebergang further extending his club games record when he brings up his 350th match in the early game.

Uebergang, who filtered into the senior grades in the late-1990s, has long been a rusted-on part of Bell Park’s reserves sides and in 2015 overtook club legend and two-time premiership player Garry Finnemore as the alltime games record holder.