Hawks’ star set for 200th game
Drouin ruckman Bob McCallum on Sunday will become the seventh Hawk to notch up 200 senior games with the club.
The milestone game against neighbourhood rival Warragul at Western Park will be another acknowledgement of the 33-year old’s outstanding career.
It also earns him well-deserved life membership of the club.
McCallum is among the most decorated players in Drouin’s history.
His four best and fairests (2006, 2008, 2015 and 2017) are matched by only one other player, he is only one of two Hawks to win a Trood Award and Rodda Medal as Gippsland League’s best and fairest (2015) and has been a regular inclusion in league “teams of the year”.
McCallum captained Drouin in 2009 and 2010, played in two Gippsland League grand finals and coached the senior side for three years from 2015 to 2017 including to the finals in 2016.
And he has made a big mark beyond the Drouin club.
A strong advocate of representative football he has played nine years in interleague sides for the West Gippsland Latrobe/Gippsland leagues, captaining the team last year, and also represented Ellinbank and District league side during a two-year stint as an assistant coach at Buln Buln.
Last Sunday McCallum was at Ballarat representing Vic Country for a third year, this time further recognised by being appointed one of the side’s vice-captains.
After a decade coaching Vic Country from 2007 to 2016 former Hawthorn champion Peter Knights named McCallum in his “best of” team for that decade describing him as “the epitome of the modern day ruckman”. High praise indeed. McCallum is a strong advocate for players grasping any opportunity to play representative football.
“I have enjoyed the experiences and think I have come back (to the home club) a better player each time after training and playing with the best”.
Fitness has also been an aspect to which he has given plenty of attention and commitment.
“I felt fitness was an area where I could beat an opponent with quicker movement around the ground and pushing forward,” McCallum said.
He also believes the centre circle rule for ball-ups has boosted the longevity of ruckman by reducing the risk of injury and making ruck contests more tactical.
As a youngster McCallum’s “first go” was basketball and didn’t play football until a couple of school mates talked him into joining Drouin’s Under 14.5 team.
The following season he moved up to the Under 17 thirds in West Gippsland league, by-passing the fourths, and in 2004 he made his senior debut with the Hawks mainly as an interchange player giving the side’s number one ruckman an occasional rest.
The ruck and resting in the forward line has been the story of McCallum’s senior career virtually since day one and he is no different to any other player in saying he “enjoys kicking a goal”.
Married to Krystal, with daughters aged two and four and settled in Drouin, McCallum’s football career looks to still have plenty of hit-outs and marks to come.
Other than a year with Frankston in the VFL, during which he was still able to play finals with Drouin, and two years gaining some coaching experience at Buln Buln he has been a loyal player through thick and thin at Drouin.
There are plenty of clubs that come knocking each year keen to lure him to wear their colours.
This year was the most, McCallum says, “18 clubs ranging from a 10-minute drive from Drouin to an hour-and-a-half”.