Enemies and friends. John “Rooster” Ladds (left) and Peter “Brolga” Marsh ham it up at Saturday’s EDGL grand final.
By David Nagel
Grassroots footy … what does it really mean?
Well, those lucky enough to be at Nar Nar Goon last Saturday, the explanation is right before their eyes.
The Ellinbank and District Football League grand final pits two traditional, working-man clubs, Neerim Neerim South and Garfield, against each other.
Success, on Saturday anyway, will be determined by 42 warriors, who can show, physically, what the day means. And that means everything to the supporters, the heart and soul of any club.
John “Rooster” Ladds, from Neerim Neerim South, and Peter “Brolga” Marsh, from Garfield, are the sort of blokes every footy club needs. They’ve been around for years and put their hand up for every job imaginable. Probably the only thing they don’t put their hand up for is a pat on the back.
This is how their day unfolds …
We’re in the Neerim Neerim South changerooms, players are getting rubbed down and encouraging words bounce around. “C’mon boys, this is it” and “Right from the start today, fellas.” Ladds, in his self-deprecating way, knows it’s a big day for a lot of people.
“Mate, don’t make this (story) about me,” he says. “You just tried to talk to Rocky (Ralph) Reid (who became emotional when we asked him to talk), “and you saw what it means to him. That bloke started coaching juniors in the ’70s and had sons, has grandsons who play for the club, he still does maintenance around the club,” Ladds said. “This is enormous for a lot of people, enormous for the whole community. We’re a small town and they all get behind us. We won flags in ’98 and ’99, then the West Gippsland clubs came in and lifted the standard. We’ve had to lift as well,” Ladds said.
In the Garfield rooms, “Brolga” Marsh, 50, who followed his father into Garfield as an 11-year-old and has been involved in all facets of the club since, is watching his three sons – Ben, Ned and Tom – prepare for the game. He also has two nephews playing, Nick Marsh and Dylan Collis.
“Yeah, it’s been a big build-up, today’s about the whole club,” Marsh said. “You go back two years and we were almost defunct. We were playing in the La Trobe league and nearly folded. The move back to the local league has been really well supported by local players and supporters, we’re a lot closer now.
“This is what country footy is all about, you play for days like this. We have 16 home-grown boys playing today and it’s all for one thing. But win lose or draw, we’re pretty content,” Marsh said.
The first half is tight, tough footy. Lucky for the goal umpires they’re not paid by the two-finger signal. It happens only once. Quarter time: Garfield 1.5 (11) Neerim Neerim South 0.7 (7).
“Brolga” and “Rooster” play up for the cameras, giving each other a headlock and a friendly dig, then say why their team will win the big one.
Make no mistake, these two men are competitors, but they have respect for the opposition and for each other.
Over the past two years, Ladds and Marsh have umpired reserves games for their clubs and half-time is a chance for the two to reflect on their connection through umpiring.
“We complement each other, let the game flow. We don’t take any rubbish, I’ve got a lot of time for Brolga,” Ladds says.
And Marsh: “I take my hat off to him, it’s absolutely incredible what he does, he umpires, he runs the bar, everything, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. If we don’t win, it’s good to know a club like them will.”
The second half sees Garfield get on top and kick seven goals to three to run out 31-point winners. The players shake hands and as Neerim Neerim South sits down to watch Garfield receive the spoils of victory, “Rooster” is disappointed, but typically graceful in defeat.
“Very hollow, mate, it’s gonna burn,” he says. “They just played a better brand of footy than us, a little bit tougher at the ball and a few of our older legs tired at the end. They were just better than us today, no excuses from us.”
And just to show that sportsmanship lives on at grass roots footy, Marsh’s last words before celebrating with his boys are: “Where’s ‘Rooster’? I want to shake his hand.”
