Under the Auld Pump: Long Run participant Paul Ross urges men to get tested for prostate cancer

Wife: Rachel. Children: Eliza and Chloe.

Parents: Henry and Carmel. Siblings: Rebecca, Lynne, Rodney, Bernadette, Andrew, Elizabeth, Catherine and Michael.

Education: St Joseph's Primary School Penshurst before going to Monivae College Hamilton. I finished my secondary education at Hamilton Secondary College.

Sporting highlights: Playing senior footy for Penshurst when it won premierships in 1990, 1991 and 1992.

Paul, what are your memories of those premiership wins at Penshurst?

I was only 17 when I played in the 1990 premiership. We had some top players including Paul Block, who was the coach, and I can't forget Shane Dempsey. He kicked over 100 goals for us in 1990.

We defeated Tatyoon to be premiers and champions.

We went on to win the flag in 1991. We lost a couple of games during the year but were too strong in the grand final and the same applied in 1992.

I also played in the reserves premiership with Penshurst in 1989.

Where did your footy career head to after Penshurst?

I moved to Port Fairy in late 1995 before playing with them in 1996.

Peter Hobbs was playing coach. We made the grand final in 1997 but were beaten by Cobden by 15 goals.

There was a huge crowd because neither side had won a flag for a long time.

Cobden broke an awful long drought of 48 years to win the flag.

We had a good side in 1997 but just never turned up to play.

We lost a fair few players for the 1998 season. I injured my right ankle against Camperdown in 2000.

I had three operations and played a few games in reserves in 2001. My footy career was over. I ended up playing 99 senior games with Penshurst and 110 with Port Fairy.

I had played a bit of cricket with Port Fairy but was concentrating on my golf and my business at Robertson Real Estate when my life and that of my family came crashing down in 2018.

Can you elaborate on that comment - how did things come crashing down?

I was diagnosed in August 2018 with prostate cancer. I was 45 years old when I was diagnosed.

I had no problems in March 2018 but I started showing symptoms in July 2018.

The first sign of problems related to my urine flow. I went to the doctors for a test and it came back my prostate specific antigen (PSA) reading was 38.

I then had numerous tests including scans and MRIs.

The Australian health care system has been fantastic.

There's no doubt my family and I have had a lot of worrying and trying times since August 2018 but I'm going well now.

I'm fit and healthy. I have blood tests every three months.

I've been lucky to have had such wonderful support from my family, friends and medical people over this journey.

I've learnt a lot of things but the main one is to try and stay positive in tough times.

Paul, what's the reason for discussing such a personal health issue?

September is Prostate Awareness Month.

Prostate cancer is a quiet killer of men - about one in six Australian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer by the age of 85 and yet 70 per cent of Australians don't know the signs or symptoms.

With a growing Australian population and increasing life expectancy, the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer will continue to rise.

I urge all blokes once they're 40 years old to get checked out by their doctor.

It's all about having constant check-ups and being diligent with your health.

Blokes tend not to worry about their health and put things off but it's so important to have regular check-ups with your doctor.

With September being Prostate Awareness Month, The Long Run has been organised to raise funds for research and awareness for those impacted by prostate cancer.

The Long Run is a physical challenge which encourages people to run, walk or wheel 72km. Participants can cover the distance across the month of September anyway and anywhere they like.

There's a group under Team Ross which has taken up The Long Run challenge.

The team includes my young nephews and nieces Harry, Grace and Oscar Pollock.

They have been sensational in selling various things like personal items to raise funds.

The community support for Team Ross, in particular around Port Fairy has been amazing.

We've currently raised over $35,000 and that places us as the number one team in Australia for raising for the Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia.

People who would like to donate can visit www.thelongrun.org.au/s/2496/2547.

Paul, thanks for being so honest and upfront about your health problems and let's hope blokes take your advice on board. Let's get back to sport for a minute. The history books show you won the senior Warrnambool and District Cricket Association cricketer of the year award on two occasions. What years were those wins?

The first one was in 1995-96 and the other one was 2001-02. I used to open the bowling and bat at number three or four so I was always a chance of getting votes.

I started playing cricket at Port Fairy in the 1995-96 season after playing for Byaduk in the Hamilton Cricket Association.

I was playing coach of Port Fairy in 1996-97 and 1997-98.

The highest score I made was 175 runs in division three for Port Fairy in 2016.

I was lucky enough to go over and play in a senior cricket premiership with Dennington in 2004-05.

Paul, you've mentioned golf. What's your handicap?

My handicap is five. It was four at one stage.

I love playing golf. We're lucky to have a world-class golf course in Port Fairy. It's an amazing golf course.

The toughest hole is the 14th. It brings a lot of good golfers down, because you often are hitting into the wind on the par four hole.

I suppose my highlight on the golf course is getting a hole-in-one on the fourth hole at Port Fairy.