There are few things for local football clubs that create as much excitement as the signing of an ex-AFL player.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
It is a double-edged sword of success for the clubs who land such quality players, with the new recruit adding to the team's talent and also drawing big crowds to watch them play.
The Hampden league is blessed at the moment to have ex AFL players such as Nathan Vardy, Ben Cunnington and Daniel Nicholson running around.
But today with our history hat on we have a quick look back over our shoulder at the 1970s to 90s period.
Of course an ex-AFL player can come in different guises.
There are the high-profile players who have had successful careers at the top level but have become a little long in the tooth to play at the highest level.
A prime example of this is Ronnie Wearmouth, a rover originally from Noorat who went on to be a champion for Collingwood, playing 186 games.
At the conclusion of his AFL career, Wearmouth returned to the south-west to coach Port Fairy.
The feisty character almost won the holy grail for Port Fairy, with only another former AFL player getting in his way.
Like Wearmouth, Steven Theodore was in his early 30s when he returned to coach his former club Colac-Coragulac. Theodore was a tough-as-nails rover who played 134 games for St Kilda, including the 1971 grand final.
These two champion rovers were to come head-to-head in the 1993 Hampden league grand final at Mortlake. But it was Theodore and his Tigers who won the day in a memorable grand final in front of a huge crowd.
While Wearmouth and Theodore were genuine stars at the highest level, probably the most common player to come back to country football are the ones who have carved out a solid AFL career, but are in their footballing middle age and who are seen as dispensable by their clubs.
Over the years these have been the players who have had the greatest impact on the Hampden league.
Grant Thomas played 83 games for three clubs, but by age 28, with some niggling injuries, he was seen as surplus to needs.
It is now history that Thomas made the move to coach Warrnambool in 1986 and the Blues then went on to record four premierships in a row.
This was not a new path for the Blues, with former Collingwood star Daryl Salmon coaching Warrnambool to multiple flags in the late 1970s.
These two Blues' leaders were examples of players with no earlier ties with the Hampden league (Thomas) and someone coming back home (Salmon was originally from South Ecklin).
Salmon was also an example that not all former AFL stars who come home return to the club they started.
South Warrnambool went down this track when they recruited former Fitzroy and Richmond winger Noel Mugavin in the 1980s.
Mugavin had begun his career at Tower Hill before moving on to Port Fairy, and eventually the big time.
Mugavin came back and coached the Roosters, not the Seagulls, leading South Warrnambool to five grand finals in a row.
Mugavin's men lost the first two and the last one, but in between, 1990 and 1991, claimed premiership flags.
Thomas' Blues won two of the other grand finals while former Geelong draftee Mark O'Keefe returned to Warrnambool to coach the 1992 premiership. O'Keefe also coached Terang to the flag in 1995.
Another example of that mid-tier AFL player was Michael Lockman, with the brilliant full forward coming to Colac in 1993, replacing former Geelong player Dwyane Russell, and coaching the Tigers to a flag in his debut season.
Ken Hinkley was born and bred in Camperdown before forging a successful AFL career with Fitzroy and Geelong.
When Hinkley returned to the Hampden league in 1996, it was not with the Magpies, but Mortlake.
After an unsuccessful stint with the Cats, Hinkley eventually returned to Camperdown, coaching the Magpies to premierships in 1999-2000, with the first flag a premier and champion year.
But it wasn't just an era of coaches having AFL experience, with plenty of these former players running around. The lead photo on this story is a perfect snapshot of the time.
It was taken in June 1988 during a game between Koroit and South Warrnambool.
It shows four players, three of which played at AFL level and one who played a senior game in the old AFL night competition.
Just about to pick the ball up is Koroit coach Brian Brown (53 games Fitzroy, Essendon), who is pursued by South Warrnambool's Stephen Anderson (four games Collingwood).
Moving in on this duo are Koroit's Brendan Dobson (one senior night game Fitzroy) and Chris Stacey (four games Fitzroy, Brisbane Bears).
Interesting to note other players in the South Warrnambool team that day included Darren Bolden (two games Fitzroy), Leon Cameron (256 games Footscray, Richmond), Tony Russell (eight games Collingwood) and Richard Umbers (four games Brisbane Bears).
It is little wonder during the 1970s to 1990s the Hampden league was regarded as one of the best competitions in country football.
This was officially confirmed in 1991 when Hampden won the division one interleague title.
