IN the Victorian town of Girgarre, there are two passions – football and dairy farming.

The town, with a population of 200 has been heavily affected by the drought, with spirits of the town only pepped up by the guarantee of a weekend game of footy.

Despite its relatively small population, the town successfully fields three football and four netball teams.
The club, which is part of the Kyabram and District Football League, has developed an unlikely relationship with another Australian football heartland – the Northern Territory.

Last year club recruiters ventured to Darwin for their annual footy festival in January where they recruited five Northern Territorian players, one of whom, Shane Mullandad got a permanent job, has relocated his wife and two children to the town and is still playing football for Girgarre.

One of the recruits, Adrian Corrie, brother of Brisbane Lion Anthony, went on to win the club’s best and fairest award, he along with two others have returned to play a second season with the club.

Girgarre secretary Samantha Hobbs said the recruiting move had paid off.

“There was a recruitment officer in Darwin who had a son play for us last year. We told them what sort of players we needed and they produced these guys,” she said.

“As you can imagine it is hard to get local players on board so we thought we’d broaden our horizons.”

Samantha said the arrival of the Northern Territorians had created a buzz in the football-mad town.

“They are good players and they seem to really enjoy it and a lot of people come to watch them play,” she said.

“People really take an interest.”

Corrie is not the only recruit with AFL connections. Clayton Irwin counts the Brisbane Lions’ Jason Rowe as a cousin, while Jayden Kickett is continuing to build the family reputation that relatives Derek and Dale built in the 1990s.

Samantha said the club would hope to harvest a few more recruits from the top end.

“The boys are extremely fast and skilled and we’re hoping to go back there and maybe find a few more recruits for next year.”