A much-loved Russells Creek player celebrated turning 34 in style on Saturday, July 6, notching a win in his 100th game for the club.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Loyal clubman Phil 'The Falcon' McKellar kicked a goal in his milestone Warrnambool and District league appearance as the Creekers reserves triumphed 22.14 (146) to 3.0 (18) against South Rovers, a day after his birthday.
The achievement was a long-time coming and a reward for McKellar's hard work and perseverance after he made his reserves debut with the club in 2009.
Since then, excluding a two-year stint at Hawkesdale Macarthur and a season at Warrnambool, he has been a constant presence at Mack Oval.
The forward, who has played four games for the Creekers' reserves so far this season, had only become aware of his impending milestone this year but nonetheless was thrilled to reach triple figures.
"I didn't really know much about it until the start of the season to be truly honest," he told The Standard.
"It wasn't really on my mind until I got told about it. I've been in and out of the side during the year because we've got a lot of numbers to choose from. So it was great to get out there and get it done."
McKellar said the "great people" around the club had led to him sticking around for so long.
He recalls fondly one year when his contributions were recognised at the end-of-year celebrations.
"At the presentation night, this was when Matt Auld was coaching, I got the coach's award," he said.
"It truly meant a lot, it was very unexpected..."
The 100-gamer may not feature in every match but he is as committed as they come, as his close mate and Creekers senior coach Dylan Herbertson can attest.
"He's definitely one of the favourite sons up there and he's the type of guy who's the first one there at training running laps before everyone else even gets there and he's always at the functions," he said.
"If anyone ever needs help he's always happy to put his hand up to help out."
Herbertson was fortunate enough to play alongside McKellar at the weekend and enjoyed hearing the warm response to his goal, late in the final term.
"(It was) just good to hear the crowd and the players all get around him," he said.
"It was one of those moments that really makes it very special for guys like Phil to look back on. It's probably taken him a long time to get to 100 games at Creek but he's persevered and that probably just goes down to the bloke he is."
McKellar, who works with timber at Pontings Mitre 10 in Warrnambool, hopes he has a couple of seasons left in him yet.
"I'm just happy with the way the body's feeling, I haven't really had any interruptions or anything," he said.
"Just coming to training every night, just the people around the club that makes you want to keep going.
"Everyone at the club's worked really hard to get to where we are. Both reserves and seniors will be playing finals this year, everyone's really working hard to get there."