Rout, one of several footballers who gathered to discuss the idea of forming a cricket club in 1978, has watched Creek rise from B grade newcomers to a division one powerhouse.

Creek’s proud – yet premiership-starved history – is set to be celebrated on Saturday with a four-decade anniversary celebration.

For Rout, it’s a chance to reflect on the growth of a club which battled through slim numbers in its early years to emerge as one of the Warrnambool and District Cricket Association’s biggest entities.

“I’m extremely proud. At some stages, we were hanging by a thread, but we’ve just grown and grown,” he told The Standard.

“We’ve had a colts team since 1984 and haven’t dropped that since then. That’s a compliment in itself, because other clubs had struggled at times with that.

“We started with a B grade side, and won that after about five years to get promoted to the old A Reserve division.

“We landed up at the Mack Oval and then when turf wickets came into discussions, it was a drawn out process but we’ve ended up with one of the best cricket precincts in the town at Jetty Flat.”

As a part of the celebrations, the club will present two legends teams – one of players from 1978 to 1999 – and another from 2000 to present.

Rout said while Russells Creek’s success couldn’t be measured in senior flags, it had laid the foundations for success with strong junior grades.

“We had those junior premierships all through the early part of the decade and winning division two last season was fantastic,” he said.

“It was probably the highest seasonal award we’ve won. We’ve been in a lot of finals, but have never been able to get one – so it was great.

“Our division one side has been picking up a lot of the (short-form) trophies over the last couple of seasons as well and we’re very happy to have those.”

Contact Russells Creek president Nathan Divall on 0418 503 758 for more information on the reunion and celebrations.