Clubs must contend with player points caps, salary caps, money, loyalty, retention and countless other factors when building a list they hope is capable of winning a premiership.

In an era where the lines between country and professional football are blurred, The Standard has quizzed some of the region's most successful clubs on what it takes to build a list capable of achieving the ultimate success.

Warrnambool and District league reigning premier Kolora-Noorat built a list which was a mash of junior graduates, long-term servants and players who'd spent years away but come back.

The list, charged with delivering the club's fifth premiership in a decade, lived up to every internal and external expectation.

Youth in the form of Luke McConnell, Luke Justin, Bailey Kemp, Nick Hoare, Ben Reid, Brad Lucas, Ben O'Sullivan and Henry Kenna contributed eye-watering speed and skill.

Seasoned campaigners - all of which were former players - had cool heads and elite football pedigrees after time spent toiling away at a higher level.

Kolora-Noorat was a snapshot of sustainability.

Of the returning players, Jason Moloney and Ben Fraser came back three years ago after more than five years away. They travelled from Melbourne each week.

Nick Bourke, a 2011 premiership player and former Geelong Cat, also commuted two hours to take the field.

Still only 24, Bourke was building a successful career with Geelong Football League powerhouse Leopold. But the lure of his home club with rock-solid culture was too good to resist.

Kolora-Noorat president Paul O'Sullivan said the Power raised players to respect the work that happened behind the scenes.

O'Sullivan and coach Ben Walsh point to that culture when speaking about the club's strong track record with player retention and recruitment.

"It's something we push from under 12s and under 14s," O'Sullivan said.

"We want everyone to know and respect the work the people who work in the kitchen right through to those on the gate.

"We want players to have a healthy respect for those who are doing the work for them.

"Every club tries to do this but we want to make everyone feel welcome. We would like to think everyone knows everyone. That's a big thing for us."

The demographics of Kolora-Noorat's list meant that in 2019, AFL Victoria's player points system wasn't a concern. Time will only make it less of a burden.

In its 36-point premiership win over Nirranda this month, it used just 23 of its 40-point cap. Walsh carried the highest point value, contributing two.

Next season, he'll carry just one.

The player points system, part of AFL Victoria's Community Club Sustainability Program, was introduced in 2015 to equalise leagues where excessive player payments were running rampant.

Each player is allocated a points value based on their experience and movement around leagues, with 'home' players - those who have played a minimum of 40 junior games at a club - worth one point and ex-AFL players worth the maximum six.

One point is deducted from a player's total for each season of service to a club.

Clubs, meanwhile, are allocated a points cap based on population base, ladder position and junior pathways by their AFL region commission.

With this in mind, Walsh, a former Koroit player who crossed to the Power in 2017, said former and south west-based players were high on his recruiting agenda.

"We're going through the process now and number one for us is to hang on to the players we have," Walsh, a physical education teacher at Emmanuel College, said.

"We're looking at players we have a pretty close connection to. We don't want to cast the net too wide.

"We really want to maintain that culture."

For six-time Hampden league premier Koroit, former players are coach Chris McLaren's first port of call.

Not only does it ease pressure on points, but former players have contributed to the club's success and understand its values.

As it adds more silverware to its coffers, McLaren's side must tread more carefully than its rivals.

The Victoria Park-based outfit has a 37-point threshold, three less than every other club in the league.

Careful recruiting is even more crucial. The Saints' record-breaking sixth flag included a nucleus of 15 one-point players.

"The first thing for me, and it's probably the same for others, is former Koroit players," McLaren told The Standard.

"We work our way through those who have moved away to Geelong, Ballarat or Melbourne and see if they're interested in coming back."

McLaren said a strong culture was vital in luring players back to the fold.

"If our players do move away for uni or work, it's usually easy to get them back," he said.

"Not too many have gone away and played against Koroit and I think that says a lot about our club.

"You look at guys like the Dobson brothers and James Gow who've gone away but come back when the time was right and that makes it easy to recruit and to build a good environment."

Panmure coach Chris Bant, who played junior football as a Bulldog before moving away to suit up for Terang Mortlake, felt a fun factor was key in successful recruiting.

He said points hadn't been an issue for the Bulldogs in 2019, with only five players over one point in value.

"We had plenty (of points) up our sleeve. We targeted blokes who had played here because they know how the club works and they hopefully had a good time here last time," Bant said.

"I've loved being back here. At the end of the day it's country footy and we play for fun.

"It's about having a good time."

No south west club has been officially penalised or found guilty of exceeding its set points limit.

AFL Western District chairman Gerard Lucas said feedback from clubs had been largely positive about the system, now entering its fourth season.

"It's a very competitive world, the club versus club side of things. The points system is designed to give competitions a more even stand," Lucas said.

"If one or two clubs continue to win interest drops off, people attending games drops off. It's designed to help balance competitions."

The system divides football people across the district.

Camperdown co-coach Neville Swayn is a fan, while Kolora-Noorat's O'Sullivan is not.

Swayn praised the points system and said it forced clubs, including his own, to recruit carefully and back juniors.

"It takes away just going to recruit four or five players. Anybody can do that," Swayn said.

Swayn, who is set to lead the Magpies alongside Jack Williams for a second season in 2020, said junior retention was his number one priority.

"You keep in contact with players (elsewhere) all year and then at this time you're flat out on the phone to get meetings and things sorted out," he said.

"We've identified keeping our young kids as a priority. They might be going off to uni so you have to work stuff out with them to try to keep them around."

Warrnambool mentor Matt O'Brien said junior programs were important, but shouldn't be used simply to feed the senior team.

Youngsters have been handed senior opportunities under O'Brien, while 108-goal hero Darren Ewing returned to Reid Oval in 2019 after a decade with Northern Territory Thunder.

"It's important that your junior players have the best experience possible and are treated with respect," he said.

"When they're ready to leave the club to go try a higher level or to play at a district league club it's important they're farewelled on good terms with no bridges burned.

"You want them to have the best football experience they possibly can have, and a spin off of that is that they might become senior footballers.

"The majority of them won't be senior footballers for your club.

"The point of junior footy isn't just to generate players for your senior side."

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