NOT QUITE the suburbs, not quite the country. The place in question is Olinda, nestled in the picturesque environs of the Dandenong Ranges, 45 kilometres east of Melbourne.
The township, which borders Mt Dandenong and Sassafras, is a thriving tourist destination, best known for the Cuckoo restaurant, the National Rhododendron Garden and for some of the closest snowfalls to Melbourne.
At 10am on Sunday, the main street was typically populated with visitors enjoying the cafes and arts and crafts on offer, while just out of the shopping strip, Olinda Reserve was equally prominent for the start of the day's junior football matches.
Today, Olinda Ferny Creek Football Netball Club (formed in 1946 after Olinda and nearby town Ferny Creek merged - the netball component was added in 2006) hosted Yarra Glen, the club of origin of Carlton coach Brett Ratten.
As the youngsters arrived before the 11am start, parents enjoyed the popular egg-and-bacon rolls, as others manned the gate (a heater is always nearby due to the chilly mountain conditions), fired up the canteen and bustled completing pre-match duties.
Soon it was time for under-10s coach Brett Knight to give his kids a pre-match gee-up. Knight spoke earlier of his involvement with the club, but summed it up best when he said: "It's all about the kids".
The first quarter sees Olinda Ferny Creek lead by five points, after talented youngster Daniel Raymond kicked truly. It's a positive start by the home team.
Although trailing by eight points at half-time, Knight continues to encourage his young charges, as they devour their oranges. But a third quarter blitz from Yarra Glen and a 40-point lead heading into the final change will ultimately thwart a home side victory.
Still, Knight urges his side to "win the quarter" and that is exactly what his young changes do, with Jake Swanson kicking his side's second goal for the match, as Yarra Glen adds one behind in the final term. Olinda Ferny Creek goes down by 35 points.
But at this level it's all about participation, fun and building a positive environment - something junior vice-president Marc Cottam-Starkey says is vital.
"I love coming down here to the club and seeing the kids play and be involved - that's what it's all about," Cottam-Starkey said.
"The club's in a pretty good position now … and the mythology of the club is changing with a greater emphasis on family involvement. We don't have any idiots at the club and that's rare to see in junior sport.
"The club is also in a better financial position now - in a sense the [junior] club had bottomed out - but we have some very good people at the club and it is now in a sustainable position. People are now saying: 'What can I do [to help]'?”
Today, the junior club has around 160 kids participating from Auskick to under-16 level - a staggering improvement from bygone eras - and roughly 50 families involved. Each junior home match has more than 500 people in attendance throughout the day.
It all bodes well for the future, as Olinda Ferny Creek great Tim Scott hopes.
"Lots of great juniors continue to progress through to the senior ranks and the club is doing what it always tries to do and that is to do its very best to provide local footballers with the opportunities to improve themselves and enjoy playing the game we all love," Scott said.
"Many great names of the club are life members [and it's] particularly strong in family circles; husband and wife names such as the Rankins, Fowlers, Harris's and Wicks's; Bill and Dorothy Gardiner are life members as is son Stewart; brothers including Mick and Chris Hill; Steve and Mick Scott; brothers-in-law John Faull and Sandy Gammon - family ties have always been very pertinent at Olinda Ferny Creek Football Netball Club."
'The Bloods', sporting the red and white colours, have their own proud and unique history.
The senior club has won six premierships: 1965-66-67 and 1978 in the third division of the Eastern Football League and 1988 and 2005 in the second division of the Yarra Valley Mountain District Football League. The juniors have two flags - almost 50 years apart - with its 2007 under-16 premiership their most recent.
Two players have gone on to play in the AFL - Andrew McKinnon (15 matches with Carlton in 1989-90) and Matthew Allan (140 games with Carlton from 1994-2003 and 21 appearances with Essendon from 2004-05).
The club also gained the services of ex-AFL players Graeme O'Donnell (seven matches with Geelong from 1961-62, 16 games with North Melbourne from 1963-64 and the father of former Essendon skipper Gary) and Michael Cooke, who famously made two appearances with Hawthorn in 1975 - the second semi-final and Grand Final against North Melbourne.
Former newsreader David Johnston (a member of the Under 16s 1958 Premiership), radio announcer Rick Wall and actor David Lyons, now in Sea Petrol and the movie Cactus with Bryan Brown, also played at the club. In fact, Allan, Lyons and Scott all played together at junior level and although Scott may not have the public profile, his family is synonymous with the club.
Tim and older brother Mick have won a staggering 13 club best-and-fairest awards, with the duo sharing 11 club championships from 1995-2005. In 2006, the award was renamed the Mick Scott Medal, in recognition of his club record of eight.
Mick, now senior coach, also has a division one YVMDFL best-and-fairest to his name and is the club's games record holder with 317 matches.
Although Peter Milic, Noel King and Peter Jones are other club greats, Tim said Mick will "always be one of Olinda's very best".
"Eight times best-and-fairest - I doubt that record will get broken - not anytime soon anyway,” he said. “He deserves every accolade he's received, it would've been nice to have won one [more] before I finished. We joked afterwards, [oldest brother] Steve and I, that he [Mick] now has to go to presentation nights for the rest of his life to present the medal. In truth, we're probably both a bit jealous of him. His record is exceptional."
