Bernie, your nickname is Pussy. How did you get the nickname?
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That's a funny story. I've had the nickname for more then 50 years.
My family had a lot of cats at the family farm in Koroit's Nine Mile Creek Road back in that era.
I was going down to watch footy training on the Tuesday night and a couple of blokes were complaining they had mice at their houses.
So I turned up to training on the Thursday night with three cats under my arm to give away.
The next minute Ray Walsh came around the corner and he saw me with the cats.
He said 'here comes Pussy Cat' and the nickname of Pussy has stayed with me ever since but there are some people who just call me Cat.
Pussy, you mentioned footy training more then 50 years ago at Koroit is when you got the nickname. When did you first get involved with the Koroit Football Netball Club?
I went to primary school in Koroit before going to a school in Essendon.
It was a boarding school and I would only come back home on school holidays.
I moved back home to the family farm in Koroit when I was 16 years old.
Stan Sharkey and Pat Sharkey encouraged me to go down to the footy club.
A couple of my brothers had played footy in the juniors with Koroit.
My brother Richard played in the Koroit premiership sides in 1971 and 1973.
I was 21 years old and was at the grand final when Koroit won its first flag in 1971.
I'll never forget the game we played Port Fairy in at South Warrnambool's ground.
We were the underdogs and Les Cameron was our coach.
It was a wet day.
We all ended back at the Koroit picture theatre for the celebrations.
It was a huge night in Koroit and the celebrations continued for a few more days.
I was also there when we won the flag under Gary Cameron in 1973.
We defeated Colac at the Reid Oval.
Koroit has won 10 flags since it entered the Hampden Football Netball League and you have mentioned that you were a spectator at the grand final wins in 1971 and 1973. How many of the 10 premierships have you managed to witness?
I've been there when they won the 10 premierships and hopefully our senior side can win its 11th flag on Saturday and I'll be there.
We're going for our sixth consecutive flag (when we play) against North Warrnambool Eagles.
Win or lose, it's been an incredible effort by a small country club.
It'll be an amazing feat if our senior side can win.
I can't forget we've got the reserves footy side and netball teams in the grand final.
Netball has played a big role in the success of the club over the years.
It's going to be a big day for the club.
Pussy, you mentioned Koroit's premiership win in 2003 as your sporting highlight in front of the other grand final victories. Why was 2003 so special?
We played Camperdown and were 43 points down at half-time and I must admit I didn't think we could come back to win but coach Jason Mifsud had different ideas.
I was in the rooms at half-time when Jason addressed the players.
There were not many fans in the rooms. Jason got stuck into the players.
I'll never forget part of his rousing speech.
He said keep the forward line open and kick the ball to me.
Jason did the rest, he booted seven goals after half-time and we got up to win.
It's a game I'll never forget.
Have you filled any roles at the Koroit Football Netball Club?
I've been the club goal umpire for Koroit in the under 18s and reserves for 37 years.
I've still got the original set of flags that I started out with 37 years ago but now I've got another set which has the Koroit logo on and the words Bernie 'The Cat' Murray.
I've only missed a few games in all those years.
The club goal umpire does the job in the home and away games not in the finals.
I just love doing the job.
I don't get paid any money.
I just want a cup of tea and a sandwich at the end of the game.
I would say going forward to next year I will only be goal umpiring in the under 18s.
I'm coming up 70 years old next February so I reckon one game will do me for next season.
I've been on the committee at the club for the past 27 years and I've donated trophies at the presentation night for the firsts, seconds, under 18s, under 16s and under 14s for more than 25 years.
Pussy, I suppose over the years rival fans would have given you some cheek in your role as the club goal umpire. Would that be a fair statement?
That's right.
There have been some rival supporters who have said I've cheated but I've never cheated.
I've just told them I might make a mistake occasionally over the last 37 years.
Having been involved in local footy for so long, who are some of the best players that you've seen play at Koroit?
That's the toughest question you've asked me.
We've had lots of top players including Jason Mifsud, Andrew Foster, Joe and Chris McLaren, Anthony Mahony, Des Keane, Des Noonan, Brendan Dobson, Mark Dwyer, Les Cameron, Brian Collins, the list goes on and on but for me I think Ian Chambers was a top player.
He was a premiership player in 1971 and 1973 and the other one would have to be Ben Goodall.
He's played in eight premiership sides for the club so that says it all.
I used to think Ronny Wearmouth at Port Fairy and Grant Thomas at Warrnambool were good players but I never liked them because they were at opposition clubs to Koroit.
