Hampden league leading goal-kicker Tony Russell goes Under the Auld Pump

AT A GLANCE

Born: Coleraine, January 13, 1961

Wife: Deb

Children: John and Kate

Parents: Phillip and Heather

Siblings: Trevor, Jodie and Maree

Education: Coleraine Primary School before going to Hamilton Technical School.

Sporting highlight: Would have to be kicking 1020 goals in total for three clubs within the Hampden league.

Tony, we'll talk about your footy achievements in a moment, but away from the footy, you've held what I would describe as an interesting job.

Can you give me any details about your work life since you left Warrnambool a few years ago?

The few years would amount to 12 years.

Deb and I moved up to Broome in 2010, and I got a job as a prison officer.

I had been driving trucks for a while but it used to get too hot driving around in the trucks, so an opportunity came up for Deb and me to work in child protection.

We both took up the opportunity and have been involved in the legal system ever since.

Is the Broome prison very big?

I can't say much about the work I've done in the prison system but I will say there are usually between 90 to 100 prisoners at Broome.

It's a maximum prison that contains some people who have been found guilty of bad crimes.

Deb and I left Broome just a few weeks ago after being up north for 12 years.

We've relocated to Mount Gambier and got jobs in the Mount Gambier prison and will start the job next month.

What details can you give us about the prison in Mount Gambier?

It's a lot bigger than Broome.

Mount Gambier has around 650 prisoners.

I'm looking forward to getting back into work.

We've purchased a block of land in Mount Gambier and will build there in the future.

Our son John lives in Mount Gambier, and Kate is in Portland, so we will be closer to our kids.

Tony, let's wind back time for a moment.

Where did your footy career begin?

I started playing juniors with Coleraine.

I was 12 years old when our house in Coleraine got burnt to the ground, and we moved to Hamilton.

I suppose the first time my footy ability really came on the radar was when I booted 112 goals for Hamilton in the old Western Border Football League back in 1980.

I was 19 years old.

My footy career took a turn in 1982 when I went to Collingwood. I played a few games before injuring my left knee.

They wanted to operate on my knee, but I didn't want an operation, so I came home.

I struggled to walk and was in a lot of pain and was advised to see a bloke at Heywood called Stan Bannon.

He was self-taught but had previously fixed people with various injuries, including knees and legs.

I'll never forget I could hardly walk into his place but I did end up walking out of his place.

I went back and played for Collingwood in 1983 but I struggled to get a game with the Magpie seniors as they had blokes like David Cloke, Peter Moore, Craig Davis and Craig Stewart playing up forward.

I'll never forget I kicked 11 goals in the reserves one day for Collingwood against Danny Frawley at St Kilda, but I struggled to get a game in the seniors; I was in and out of the senior side.

My career took a change in 1984 when I joined Preston in the VFA.

We won the flag before I had a stint with Cavendish and Beaufort, and then I joined South Warrnambool.

The Roosters won premierships in 1990, 1991 and 1994, and I played in those three premiership sides.

In between those years, I played with South Rovers in 1993, and we won the flag.

I was lucky enough to kick 165 goals that season before returning to the Roosters, where we won that flag in 1994.

For the 1995 season, I played with Caramut.

I was the assistant coach and booted 171 goals for the year, but sadly we lost the flag to Tatyoon before I went out to Koroit for three seasons from 1996.

I helped coach the under 18s and the Auskick side at Koroit during that time.

I found coaching young players very rewarding.

Port Fairy was struggling, and they asked me to go over there to be the playing coach.

I ended up kicking my 1000th goal in the HFNL with Port Fairy before I finished up booting 1020 goals in the league.

Was playing with Port Fairy the end of your footy career?

No. I went out and played for Deakin University in the Warrnambool and District league for two years.

We lost a grand final to Panmure, which was a bitter blow.

I would have loved to have played in a premiership side with the Sharks.

It's disappointing to see the club folded a few years ago, but it was always going to happen as the club struggled for players for years.

We moved up to Broome and got involved with Cable Beach Football Club in 2009 and 2010.

I was the senior coach in 2009 when we won the flag, which was really special.

It's a different type of footy up in Broome to what gets played here.

I would say the clubs in the Hampden league are more professional in their approach.

Tony, your record in the Hampden Football Netball League is quite remarkable.

Three premierships with South Warrnambool and the leading goal-kicker in the competition in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 and 1994.

Who were some of the good players you saw play in your journey with South Warrnambool, Koroit and Port Fairy?

There were plenty of good players but forced to name a couple, I would have to say Roy Sutherland, Brendan Dobson and Frank Lourey were good, and so was Noel McConnell.

Each side in the HFNL was littered with good players in my era.

I was very lucky to have such great support from teammates at South Warrnambool, Koroit and Port Fairy, which enabled me to kick those 1020 goals in the HFNL.

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