Born: Port Fairy, January 1971.

Partner: Tammy.

Parents: Peter (dec.) and Maree.

Siblings: Janet, Richard and Robert.

Education: St Patrick's Primary School Port Fairy before attending Warrnambool Technical School, which is now Brauer College, and then Deakin University.

Sporting Highlight: Playing for Port Fairy's under 18 side when they won the premiership in 1989.

John, let's go back to that under 18 premiership win for Port Fairy in 1989. What are your memories of that win?

We beat South Warrnambool by four points to win the flag. South Warrnambool was the hot favourite.

The Roosters were in front leading into the last quarter in the game at the Reid Oval. Alan Blackburn was our coach and Trevor Kemp team manager.

A memorable thing about that grand final was the Hampden league changed the starting times for the reserves and the under 18s.

Instead of the reserves starting at midday, they started at 10am while the under 18s began at midday.

It's the only time that the starting times of both games were changed.

Why did the HFNL change the times for both grand finals?

It was a highly anticipated under 18 game.

There were some handy players on both sides that played in the game.

The seniors game was between Warrnambool and South Warrnambool.

We had some very good players in that 1989 premiership side including Ben Thomas, Scott Crow, Peter Roche was our captain, Matthew Coffey, Barry Stevens, Glen Scriven, Scott Moore, Jamie Squires, David Gilmour, Wayne Heard, Dean and Leigh Dwyer.

There were 11 players who played in Port Fairy's under 12 side which won a lightning premiership down at Simpson in 1983, and then the Warrnambool JFL under 14 premiers, that went on to play in the under 18 premiership side in 1989.

I often think back that we were lucky to win that flag, because in 1988 Port Fairy's under 18 side disbanded after five games.

Why was Port Fairy's under 18 side disbanded in 1988?

From the first five games in 1988 we had won two and lost three, but a lot of our under 18 players came from out at Yambuk.

It was the last season that Yambuk played in the Warrnambool and District Football League, so the lads that were playing for us went back out to play for Yambuk for that season before coming back into Port Fairy.

I take it that you would have started your footy career playing with Port Fairy's junior sides. Is that right?

Yes. Port Fairy's junior footy started back in 1983.

People like Mick and Velma McNamara, Terry and Carmel Dwyer, George and Betty Roche, Colin and Jenny Crow, Effie Thomas, Christine Quinn, Alecia Dodson, Rita Coffey, Ian and Jenny Blackmore, Sabby Ciavola, David Sharp, Gerry and Val Dwyer, Bob and Ann Mallett, Brian Taylor plus Frank King put in countless hours helping set up junior footy in Port Fairy.

Where did your footy career go after that under 18 premiership win?

The HFNL changed the under 18s to under 19s in 1990, so I played there before playing in the reserves with Port Fairy.

A few of my mates were playing with Old Collegians, so I went and played in the reserves in 1992 before I got the shock of my life in February 1993.

I then backpacked overseas to Jersey in the Channel Islands in 1994 and 1995, where I played club rugby union for the Jersey Hospital team.

John, you said back in February 1993 that you got the shock of your life. Can you please elaborate on what happened?

Yes. I was 22 years old and was working as a service station attendant at the old K and S Ampol service station in West Warrnambool, just near Rafferty's Tavern.

It was a Saturday night and a masked bandit brandishing a sawn-off shotgun attempted to rob the premises.

The bandit was wearing a gorilla mask and entered the back of the service station at 9.55pm. It was just on closing time.

I was struck in the middle of my back by the shotgun. I went to the ground.

I got back up to my feet and ran across the road to the Shell service station, where I called the police. There was money in the till but it was locked so the bandit got nothing.

I must admit I was pretty shaken by the ordeal.

I went back to work the next day but I never worked the late shift again.

Did they ever catch the bandit?

No. The police searched all around Warrnambool and never caught the bandit.

They even went as far as asking through the pages of The Standard if anyone knew of people that had a gorilla mask.

Do you still follow Port Fairy in the footy?

Yes. I'm a passionate Port Fairy fan.

I bleed purple and gold.

I live in Melbourne and it's hard to get home to watch them play, but I was there when the Seagulls won their first game for the season against Cobden a few weeks ago.

The Seagulls have only won the one HFNL flag back in 1958.

I caught up with 1958 premiership hero Jimmy Murray when I was at the Cobden game.

Jimmy is one of only three players from that premiership side that's still alive.

We've made grand finals half a dozen times since the 1958 win, but have not measured up on the field.

I'm confident the club is heading in the right direction regarding its future.

The club is blooding young local players and they should be the backbone of the club.

I can't forget about the netball. We've had a fair bit of success on the netball courts in various grades, which is great for a small country town.

John, away from Port Fairy who do you barrack for in the AFL?

I'm a one-eyed passionate Hawthorn fan. I've been there to see them win nine flags, in saying that I've been to 20 plus AFL grand finals.

I love my footy and my music. I could go to two AFL games and see four bands at various locations in Melbourne and it's a perfect week for me.

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