Richardson, 42, is a father of three who was educated at Daylesford Primary School and Wilson Park Secondary College in Melton.

He played football across country Victoria before a knee injury ended his career prematurely.

Richardson goes Under the Auld Pump with TIM AULD.

Adam, let's talk about your sporting highlight relating to the win of your greyhound Mepunga Isla in the Geelong Oaks. When did your involvement in greyhound racing start?

I suppose my involvement came about because my dad Paul used to have greyhounds when we were living in Donald.

I had been playing footy but I had suffered a knee injury so I got the greyhound bug - that would have been in 2006.

I started out messing around with a few greyhounds out at John Hosking's place at Bushfield.

We ended buying John's property in 2011.

I had came across Barry Smith who breeds greyhounds.

He's bred some top dogs and is in the greyhound hall of fame.

I got a couple of dogs off him and was having a bit of fun when one day he said to me he thought another young dog had a bit of ability and it happened to be Mepunga Isla.

She's had 11 starts for me for six wins and a couple of minor placings and picked up more than $22,000 in stakemoney.

The win in the Geelong Oaks was big for me. It would be the most prestigious race that I've won.

Has Mepunga Isla had any runs since her win in the Geelong Oaks?

Yes. I ran her in a heat of the Geelong Cup. She was a bit unlucky. I'm getting her ready to run at Sandown in a week or two.

I'm confident she can win in town. I would say she's got above average ability. She's the best dog that I've got in the stable now.

Do you get up early in the mornings to work the greyhounds?

Yeah, I usually get up pretty early to train the dogs.

A couple of mornings in the week I take them down to the beach to have a swim behind the boat. I've found the water takes the pressure of their joints.

I usually take them for a good walk after work or I might head out to Barry Smith's. Barry has 100-metre runs at his property.

There's always something to do with the dogs.

I've found having greyhounds is a way to keep fit and healthy as you do a lot of walking with them each day.

How is greyhound racing going in Warrnambool?

It's very strong.

We've got some top greyhound trainers around the area including Kevin Mugavin, Norm McCullagh, Dustin and Ray Drew.

I'm not sure how many greyhound trainers there are in the local area but I would say there's a lot and they all do a good job.

Local greyhound trainers often have runners at Horsham, Ballarat and Mount Gambier during the week plus at Warrnambool on Thursdays and then there are the trainers that have a runner in Melbourne at the Meadows or at Sandown.

It's coming into the busy time of the year for the Warrnambool Greyhound Club as they are preparing for the summer carnival.

The carnival presents excellent prizemoney and lots of visitors who love going up to watch the greyhounds run.

Greyhound racing in Warrnambool is getting bigger each year.

Adam, let's go back to your footy career. Where did it start?

I started playing in the under 12s at Rockbank before we moved to Donald and I played in the junior grades and then the seniors.

I had a few mates that were going over to play with Rupanyup and they asked if I wanted to play in 2000.

We lost the grand final in that year.

I was appointed assistant coach for 2001. We were lucky enough to go through undefeated.

I then went back to play for Donald in 2002 and we won the flag.

Our family came down to Warrnambool for a holiday in the summer of 2002. I got talking to a bloke and said we were interested in moving to Warrnambool.

He suggested that I play for South Warrnambool.

I had a chat with South Warrnambool and ended up playing for them in 2003.

I played some games in the seniors and reserves but I kept on getting hamstring injuries.

I was right to play in the reserves grand final for South Warrnambool against Terang Mortlake.

We lost the grand final.

I sat down and had a chat with Butch Smith in the off-season.

He was coaching Dennington and I ended up going out there for the 2004 season, but everything went terribly wrong when I injured my left knee.

I needed a knee reconstruction and spent a lot of time in rehabilitation and started thinking of the 2005 season.

Was the 2005 footy season any better for you?

No, it turned out to be disastrous.

I'll never forget the first night of pre-season training with Dennington in 2005.

I was just doing a bit of lane work and then the next minute my left knee went again.

I hobbled from the ground in a distressed sort of state because I knew there was another operation and lots more rehab in front of me.

I ended up saying I was going to quit footy.

I admit I was not a top-grade footballer.

But I loved having a kick of footy with my mates and then to realise your career is over at the age of 27 years old - well, it's pretty shattering.

Do you still follow the local footy?

Not that much.

I might go to a few South Warrnambool games during the year but my biggest sporting interest is now centred around the greyhounds.