It’s true Port Fairy has not won many flags. I’m hoping the senior side can add to the tally when they play against Koroit this Saturday.

We defeated South Warrnambool by three points to win the premiership. Alan Blackburn was our coach.

The most amazing thing about the flag win in 1989 was the under 18 side folded after two games in the 1988 season. We were short of players and there was no other option but to fold for the year.

The club went on a recruiting drive in late 1988 to try and get under 18  players back to play for the 1989 season.

It all worked out and we won the flag.

We had some very good players in that side including Dean Dwyer, Ben Thomas and Scott Crow.

Thomas and Crow were only 16-year-olds. To give you an indication how good they were, they got drafted the next season.

Peter Anson was the senior coach at Port Fairy back in 1989.

I thought he was a very good coach, but we had a very young senior side.

I take it that you came through the junior grades at Port Fairy?

Yes. My parents had a farm about four kilometres out of Port Fairy.

I was 12 years old when I started in the under 14s and then the under 16s.

I played in Port Fairy’s senior side in 1990 when Brendan Mason was the coach. He was a tough coach, but very good. He set high standards.

It was a shame that he was only there for one year, as he was recruited to coach Hawthorn’s under 19 side in 1991. We finished in sixth place in 1990.

Alan Blackburn was coach of Port Fairy’s senior side in 1991. I played most of the season. We missed the finals.

I ended up playing 48 senior games with the Seagulls before I joined Russells Creek.

A few of my mates were playing in at Russells Creek and they enticed me there in 1992.

I was only 21 years old. Daryl Gunther was the coach at Creek in my first season at the club. I stayed with Creek until the end of the 1998 season.

We made the finals in 1996 but were beaten by Merrivale.

We made amends to win the flag in 1998, when we defeated Panmure. 

Brendan Broadbent was our coach. We had a really good side and Broady was a top coach.

He loved it tough. He led by example and never took a backward step.

Glen, which path did your footy career go down in 1999?

I hung up my boots. I had a good run at the footy and I just thought I needed a break because of family and business interests.

I kept out of the footy for a few years until my son Will started playing in the under 12s at North Warrnambool.

I used to just go and help out, and my daughter Tayla was playing netball at North. I ended up coaching North Warrnambool’s under 16 side in 2013.

We lost the preliminary final to South Warrnambool but turned things around in 2014 when we were premiers and champions.

We recruited aggressively for the 2014 season as we lost a few players from the 2013 side.

The senior coach, Graeme Twaddle, came with me to speak to the young players, which was a wonderful help in attracting them to play for the club.

The most satisfying thing about coaching the junior grades is seeing the kids develop, not only as footballers but as people.

I coached North Warrnambool’s under 18.5 side last year.

We were undefeated during the season but were defeated by Cobden by three points in the grand final. Cobden were just too clever for us. We developed a lot of kids, which is what junior football is all about.

North Warrnambool’s under 18.5 side lines up against Koroit in the grand final this Saturday and you’re at the helm. How do you think they will go?

It should be a great game. We never had good numbers at the start of the season.

I never thought at the start of the season that we would be playing off in the grand final. It’s been a great achievement by all the players to make the grand final. Koroit has a very good side. I’ve got a healthy respect for Koroit. We’re going to give it our best shot.

How do you sum up the performance of North Warrnambool’s senior side this season?

There has been a huge turnover of players at the club over the last few seasons.

I think there has been 15 players that have played in the under 18.5 side over the last two seasons that have made their senior debuts.

It takes a while for the players to get used to playing senior footy. We would have one of the youngest lists of senior players in the competition.

The future looks really positive for the club.

I think we’re heading in the right direction.  

We’re lucky that blokes like Jarrod Lewis, who has been a co-coach with me, are there to get the young players through the grades.

Jarrod is an excellent communicator and really passionate and the kids like him. I’m confident the club is heading in the right direction.

Having played lots of local football. Who are some of the best players that you have played against?

There’s two players that stand out in my mind and they are both former HFNL champions.

The first one is South Warrnambool’s Shorty Anderson, while the other is Wayne Billings from Warrnambool.

I played on both of them during my career and I was always amazed how good they were.