Andrew will this weekend play her 300th Warrnambool and District league match, joining the likes of Old Collegians’ Trish Porra and Lyn Bull to reach the milestone.

Her career includes one flag with Northern Districts in 1996 and — agonisingly — at least eight grand final defeats with Panmure.

“I might be the bad omen,” she joked, ahead of the milestone match against Dennington at Panmure Recreation Reserve tomorrow.

Andrew, 35, grew up with two older brothers, joining footballers Mark and Craig at Panmure before crossing to Northern Districts.

She returned to the Bulldogs a year later and has been a regular fixture in defence for the A grade, and now A reserve, side since.

Andrew said she had fond memories of her years at the club, despite the lack of success on the grand final stage.

“There have been some great memories. The boys’ first grand final and then all the friends you make along the way,” she said.

“I went from being one of the youngest players to being one of the oldest.

“There are a lot of girls that I’ve made friends with, and not only that but friends with other girls in other clubs, right across the District league.

“I play Wednesday nights at the stadium with all the Old Collegians girls. I’ve always played at the stadium with the Dennington girls.”

But longevity at Panmure is not the only reason Andrew holds the club close to her heart.

She recalls the support she received from officials and clubmates when her brother Mark died in a car accident 19 years ago, aged 23.

Panmure, as a club and community, is no stranger to tragedy. It has become a place where the saying “strength in adversity” rings true.

“We’ve had huge tragedies out at Panmure, you think of Billy Browne and the (Wright) twins recently, Jackie Carroll and the wonderful people who have passed,” Andrew said.

“The community as a whole is fantastic with their support. Hopefully all those families all still feel that support.”

Andrew nominated Old Collegians’ Sue Pettigrew — formerly Hardiman -—and Russells Creek’s Janet Stonehouse as her toughest opponents.

She said she could break even with Stonehouse but Pettigrew regularly “ran me around the park”.

Her most admired teammate is current Panmure A reserve netballer Kelly Jones, who Andrew helped rise through the junior ranks and now plays alongside.

Sharon Roberts was also respected: “She is the same type of player, hard at it, always puts herself where I needed her to be.”

Andrew said the Bulldogs’ A reserve side had a chance to earn her a long-awaited premiership this season, sitting in third place on the ladder.

“We had a fantastic opportunity last year, just the way it happened we had players end up playing seniors and the reserves couldn’t hold on. Hopefully with the seniors, they’ve got their set team and it’s all structured, they’ve got heaps of players, they can leave us alone and we can go through and get to the end.”