Proud Poowong
Poowong Football Club's senior side beat league newcomers Yarragon 91 to 75 on Saturday. Right now they sit third on the ladder.
They are cautiously optimistic about where their season will finish. 2003 was the last time they held aloft a premiership trophy.
Poowong is truly a community club. A community feel at Poowong is a source of great pride for the members and supporters.
Within the club, members, players and supporters maintain a unique bond, partly because of the relative isolation of the club compared to other sides in the Ellinbank and District Football League, but also because of a strong volunteering culture.
Members are at pains to ensure the countless volunteers who do things like coaching teams, running the bar, maintaining change rooms, washing clothing, preparing umpire pay packets and opening gates on the morning of game days, receive the praise they deserve.
But the community feel at Poowong extends further than just those explicitly associated with the club.
Poowong is a small country township of under 1000 people. In effect, the town of Poowong is an extension of the Poowong club. Whatever happens at the football and netball clubs attracts the whole town's attention, and often has the whole town's support.
In decades gone by, developments at Poowong have been funded by community efforts -- in the 1990s generous farmers grew potatoes on their land, which were later sold by volunteers and the profits directed to the club. Previous fundraising efforts have also included the purchase of cattle, generously run on the land of club supporters, which were then sold and the profits given to the Poowong Football Netball Club.
An upcoming netball court project will be one of the first projects undertaken with the help of shire and government funding. There have been numerous previous improvements facilities at the ground like upgrades to drainage systems, the installation of sprinklers, reshaping of the ground and the building of social rooms and change rooms. But these projects have typically been completed thanks to community fundraising.
President Ted Attenborough is an EDFL and club life member. He has been playing at Poowong since 1967, when he was 12 years old.
"It's always been a very community oriented club," he says.
During Attenborough's playing days in the 1970s and 80s, Poowong locals made up around 85 per cent of players. Remarkably in today's country football landscape, that ratio remains high, with around two-thirds of current players residing in and around Poowong.
Mick Hawken is the coach of Poowong's senior football side. His team has enjoyed a fair amount of success of late and he hopes the Magpies can maintain their form in season 2019.
"We'd like to finish top three if we can," says Hawken. "We gained a lot of confidence last year." It is Hawken's third season as senior coach, previously helming Devon Meadows in the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League.
It has not been easy for the senior side this year. They have been unlucky to see a spate of injuries in the early part of this season. It is believed many of those key men will return before finals.
The culture at the club is a big talking point and Hawken is quick to sing its praises.
"It's just so friendly, everyone welcomes you with open arms," he says.
Russ McNally is coach of Poowong's under 16s side. Five years ago that team did not exist, lacking under 16 numbers.
Russ took up the role of under 16s coach. His son was in the age group. "I'm going to give you a side," Russ told him. Although Poowong's under 16 team now enjoys relative success -- they currently sit at fifth on the ladder -- at the start the club struggled to put numbers on the field. But it did not take long for that to change, perhaps due to a different approach.
"We want to teach them how to enjoy the game," explains McNally. The enjoyment of their players in Poowong's central mission. There is no "win at all costs" mentality.
"It's all about having a bit of fun," says McNally.
"We try and make sure they're having fun and we can teach them some stuff along the way," adds Ted Attenborough.
They say when kids receive the encouragement and support they require, their performance on the field improves exponentially.
"What we teach is life skills that'll go further than footy," says McNally.