THE phone rings.
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Sometimes a prospective recruit on the other end answers.
Often they return a missed call.
Occasionally the message goes unanswered.
As country football has morphed from a weekend pastime to semi-professional setting, the demands on coaching and recruiting panels have increased exponentially.
Winning and losing isn't just done in the winter months on a Saturday now.
The off-season - be it productive or barren - can have huge ramifications on a club's fortunes the following campaign.
The hype a big recruit can provide - think AFL star Ben Cunnington choosing Warrnambool as his new home for 2024 - is immense.
On the flip side, a mass exodus - often for a myriad of reasons - can discourage players from signing with a particular club.
The recruitment period is one of the busiest and challenging for coaches across Victoria, and those in the Hampden and Warrnambool and District league competitions aren't exempt.
For many, it's the most energy-sapping part of the job.
It's also one of the most rewarding.
Camperdown coach Neville Swayn is preparing for his sixth season at the helm and is well versed in the recruiting merry-go-round.
"It's a bit like winning a game and losing a game," he told The Standard.
"If you have a win you're on top of the world and when you land a recruit you feel unreal.
"Then you might have done three or four months' work to try and get a guy and he says no and that's like when you get beaten by a point."
Swayn has had more reasons to smile this off-season with Camperdown, which just missed out on a finals berth in 2023, luring Billy Arnold, Fraser Lucas, Matthew Field, Jake Dowell, Paddy Baker and Isaac Stephens back to Leura Oval while also signing Eric Guthrie, who has shone in the Northern Territory league.
"Everyone says 'you're in your off-season now' but this time of year is the worst in terms of you're just that busy," he said.
"If you'd ask how many phone calls you make, my god. I reckon last year Steve Sinnott, who is our footy manager, and myself would've rang over 100 each.
"A lot of those you won't get an answer. A lot of them you don't get any follow ups with.
"This year I won't do 100 because things have fallen into place where we have a lot of guys coming back."
Just 15 minutes down the road, Cobden coach Brody Mahoney, who is preparing for his first season as solo coach, is adjusting to the "mountain of work" involved in recruiting.
Mahoney, who will be playing coach, has welcomed Colac Imperials defender Sam Lucas and the returning Angus Uwland to the Bombers so far.
"It's definitely an eye-opener. I am spending a lot more time on the phone and on the computer than I thought I would but I guess that comes with the job and being a successful side, retaining players and keeping that good relationship with everyone," he told The Standard.
"It is not natural for me to be on the phone all day, being a chippie and trying to work, but it is something I have to fit into my schedule now."
Tim Nowell, who is entering his third season as Allansford coach, has noticed a stark difference to the Cats' recruiting strategy this summer too.
"Last year I found it really tough because I didn't take over the senior coaching until late so I contacted 50 people to try and work on 10 per cent (committing), thinking you'll get five of them," he told The Standard.
"This year because we've had such an improvement in our younger list and what they've delivered and know they're going to step up to a new level next year, we have targeted certain players.
"At the end of the season we sat down with our playing group and asked them 'what do you guys feel we need to take us to the next level?'"
Port Fairy was one of the success stories of 2023 under new coach Dustin McCorkell.
The senior team won eight matches and had a draw after going through win-less and even forfeiting a match 12 months earlier.
"From our point of view, last year we basically needed 25 players just to put two teams on the park, so it was a big team effort to do that whereas this year we've got our list together (for season 2024) and we've identified a few needs that we need to improve so we can be a bit more specific," McCorkell told The Standard.
There is no one way to land a recruit. It's like a recipe - everything has to work together.
Swayn said gut feel often helped when going through the recruitment process.
"It's a hard one because how long do you hang in with them if they don't want to respond?," he said.
"It is fine to go and try and recruit but you have to bring the right people into your footy club. There's times we've spoken to guys who might be really good players but they're just not the right fit for whatever reason.
"It is one of the most important jobs you've got because you could bring in one person who might not be the right fit and it can affect the whole group."
Swayn, who believes luck plays its part, also understands on-field success eases the pressure when it comes to recruiting.
"We have been on the bad end of it sometimes and it's a train-wreck and you think 'my god, the phone is ringing, is someone else going to leave?'" he said.
"This year we've had a really good run and you feel a lot more confident when you talk to guys because you think 'we're on a good roll here, things are happening'."
For McCorkell, turning the Seagulls' fortunes around meant he lost count of how many calls he made in his first off-season.
"Last year we worked out pretty early that the players who were possibly a chance to play were the players who had a connection to the Port Fairy footy club," he said.
"Over the previous couple of years, whether it was through COVID or whatever, a few of them gave footy away, so it was re-motivating a lot of guys who had played locally.
"We made sure it was going to be a really professional place, did up our gym and made sure they had quality things like that which showed we want to be an elite country footy club.
"The good thing was because they're pretty close-knit in Port Fairy once we got a couple on it sort of snowballed a little bit."
Promotion is a crucial part too. In effect coaches become salesmen in the off-season.
Mahoney said he spent a lot of time "speaking with people you don't know and trying to sell your club to them".
Cobden made the first semi-final in 2023 after a strong off-season recruiting drive.
That success, as well as "word of mouth" from Bombers' players emphasising the club's positive environment, has helped Mahoney's cause this year.
"All the people we've spoken to have been really good, always up for a chat and happy to find out about your club," he said.
"Our recruitment committee, like Hook Smith and Reggie Davis, they do even more work than me.
"Grady Rooke as an assistant coach has jumped onboard with it as well to spread the load."
But sometimes phone calls go unanswered.
"You definitely get ghosted off a few people for sure but they might already be signed (elsewhere) or have no interest and that's fine, it's part of the job as well," Mahoney said.
"You can't take things personally."
Nowell too has noticed a difference when coming off a promising season.
"In 2022 we win four games and it's really hard to sell that but then this year when you look at our side - we only had Brad Bull for half a year before he did his knee and then Brad Williams who came into the side (as recruits)," he said.
"It's an easy story to sell to someone to say 'we've gone from four wins to 10 wins with one recruit in our side'.
"We sat down with a potential recruit last night and he even made the comment 'well, the club's obviously going in the right direction if everyone has signed on for next year'.
"At the end of the day we put our best case forward and so far we've had a bit of success with that and there's others that have stayed at the higher end Hampden level that we fully respect."
The darkness has lifted at Gardens Oval and Port Fairy is using its remarkable turnaround to appeal to the next generation.
"Now the club's in a really good spot - there's plans for a whole new clubhouse and facilities and we're getting brand new lights which will be ready for round one," McCorkell said.
"They'll be lights you can play a match under if you wanted to and we've put on a really good assistant coach who has AFL experience in Ricky Henderson.
"When parents are looking at bringing their kids into football, they have a place like Port Fairy which is doing everything professionally well and has the right people in place."
Swayn, Nowell, Mahoney and McCorkell are all advocates for developing junior players from within a club's four walls.
They have seen the benefits and know those progressing from the under 18 programs are just as valuable as recruits.
"I love the points system," Swayn said.
"It gives incentive to develop your junior program. Our entire list will be one-pointers except for Eric (Guthrie), so it rewards clubs that develop their junior program.
"Any club could go and get four or five guys out of the AFL system and completely dominate but the points system does not allow you to do it.
"Koroit have shown that over years and years where they've just developed their junior program and just won flag after flag.
"They could then go and get one or two really good recruits and still be well within their points."
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