Port Fairy's Jimmy Murray, now 77, was a teenager when the Seagulls won their first and only Hampden league flag

Swarbrick collected the first of his two Maskell cups the year Port Fairy won its first, and to date, only Hampden league senior flag in 1958.

Murray and Swarbrick, who passed away in December 2016, are among an elite group of just 19 men who can be referred to as Port Fairy premiership players.

Imposing ruckman Swarbrick, who was good enough to play VFL for Geelong, will be in Murray’s thoughts when the Seagulls’ class of 2017 tries to emulate their feat at Reid Oval on Saturday.

Murray, at 18, was Port Fairy’s youngest player when he ran out onto Friendly Societies’ Park on grand final day 59 years ago.

The Seagulls won a two-point thriller against Colac.

He has fond memories –  soaking up the experience in front of a record crowd, relishing the fact “Murt Murrihy, one of my best mates played on the other wing”, and the selflessness vice captain Ian Martin, a selector at the time, showed in starting himself on the bench as 19^th man.

Some stories in following years took darker turns.

Pat Madden, who played at centre half-back, drowned in January 1959 in a Bushfield dam in his early 20s.

“One fella, Charlie Robinson, left in about 1959 and he’s disappeared off the face of the earth and no one knows where he is,” Murray recalled.

Half of the heroes of 1958 have passed away, including legendary goalkicker Bernie Baxter.

Those remaining are spread over Australia – Murray and Barry Solomon, who played in a back pocket, are the only two still living in Port Fairy.

Colin Lane, who was based in Killarney, now resides in Melbourne.

Then there’s John Elder, Lyle Denning, Pat Matthey and Kevin Cole. Murray hopes all of them can enjoy the grand final on Saturday in some way, shape or form.

He will be at the ground with wife of 54 years Patti.

Son Brett, who has been the Seagulls’ timekeeper since 1989, will be perched above the oval doing his job.

Their other children, former players Peter and Mark and daughter Michelle, who had a stint as a boundary umpire, will be among the crowd too.

Murray knows his old mate Swarbrick will be barracking.

“I get a bit emotional with old George, he was a great fella,” he said. 

“We were never in any fear  when George was there, you knew you were safe.

“He was an outstanding player. Where the ball was, he was. He could direct play.

“He’d played 23 games with Geelong. I have seen some memorabilia his son showed me of him when he was at Geelong. And there was no way known Geelong wanted him to leave.

“But because he was a country boy, he wanted to get home.

“He won two Maskell Cups and had two runners-up in four years. He was a gentleman.”

Murray played a key role in lifting Port Fairy to the 1958 decider – their second appearance on the big stage after finishing runner-up two years earlier. He kicked the winning point in the first semi-final against Warrnambool at Cobden.

The Seagulls knocked over Camperdown in the preliminary final convincingly to book their grand final spot.

“Being able to play in a grand final at 18, I was very well excited, I can assure you of that,” Murray said.

“It was something we will never forget because on that particular day Russell Mockridge, Australia’s greatest bike rider at the time, was killed in a bike accident on that morning.

“I can still remember we had to stand for a minute’s silence before the game.”

Murray said he expected celebrations – should the 2017 flock knock off Koroit on Saturday – to bring back memories from ‘58.

“Port Fairy have the greatest lot of supporters you will ever see,” he said.

“I can vividly remember the night we won the grand final, it was one of the biggest nights you’ve ever seen.

“Mr J.C Wiliams was president at the time and we had dinner at his place in Warrnambool and then we came over here by bus and went from the monument corner down to the village green on the back of a semi-trailer.

“It was a bit of a parade down the street and the streets were completely filled with people. There was probably 3000-4000 people there.”