Rob’s highlight a family flag
ROB Birch says the chance to play with his son — and win a premiership — ranks as his most memorable achievement in a career that will reach a significant milestone this weekend.
Birch, who will celebrate his 400th match for North Geelong today, said the opportunity to play alongside son Tim in the 2010/11 flag was the highlight in 40 years of cricket.
“I’ve played in four premierships and playing a team sport, that’s always what you’re after,” Birch said.
“And the last premiership I managed to play in it with my son, who was only about 14 at the time, and that was pretty special.
“He’s still playing seniors at the club and I’ve been able to play a few games with him. There’s always those great memories and then there’s the general mateship of cricket.
“You get to have a laugh and a joke along the way, which is really important.”
Birch is among a cluster of the Magpies’ “old timers” who have celebrated milestones this season.
He follows in the footsteps of Shane McNamara and Geoff Ryan, who clocked up game 400.
North Geelong club legend Neil Alford is also approaching 400 matches.
“We’ve had a run of milestones this season which has been great,” Birch said.
“We’re all really close. We’ve played together since juniors and we’ve been playing for close to 35 years.
“It’s an amazing achievement. And then there’s Neil Alford and he’s around the 370-game mark and he’s another North Geelong junior.
“He’s been the most suc- cessful of all of us. He’s played more than 300 games in the firsts.
“Because we’ve known each other for so long we socialise together and at social functions we tend to gravitate to each other.
“I had my 50th birthday just before Christmas and the old timers came along to that.”
Birch arrived at Osborne Park in 1976 as a result of a strong recruiting drive.
“I went to North Geelong primary, which is no longer a school any more, and the club came along to see if they could start up an under-13 team,” he said.
“I went down and I’ve been there ever since.”
Birch has made four career centuries and won five club batting averages.
“I just love the competitive nature of getting out on the field,” Birch said.
“It’s got harder and harder over the last few years as the body gets more tired but I just love the competition and mateship.
“And you get to know the opposition. A lot of the guys that have reached 400 games this season such as Anthony Devlin at Newtown and Andrew Richmond at Little River, we’ve played against each other for years.”
And while he continues to enjoy the game, Birch is unlikely to play beyond this season.
“Certainly Shane and Geoff look like they’re going around together,” he said.
“I’m finding it harder and harder. My role at work changed about four or five years ago and there’s a lot more pressure now, so I hardly get to training.
“I would say there’s a bit of doubt whether I front up again next year but we’ll see how that goes.”