Campbells Creek preparing for a 2022 country footy return
The country club where Dustin Martin took some of his first steps in the game is building momentum in its return to the field after going into recess for 2021.
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One of the biggest turnarounds in country footy is quickly unfolding several months out from the start of the 2022 season.
Campbells Creek, about 90 minutes from Melbourne, has moved from the brink of extinction as it prepares to re-enter the Maryborough Castlemaine District league.
After going into recess for the return of footy this year, despite attempts to field a reserves side and netball teams, the #creekreboot22 campaign has plenty of momentum behind it.
The face of the push is new president Maddy McMullin who is acting as a leading voice in the club’s return to the court and field.
Supported by a new look committee, McMullin said there was already plenty of excitement surrounding the club where Richmond superstar Dustin Martin played his junior football.
“We’re in a really good position at the moment,” she said.
“The hype around the town is growing really quickly and we’ve had great support. We’ve managed to fill a lot of our coaching positions already which is going to make our job as a committee much easier.
“When we decided to go into recess for 2021 earlier in the year it was our goal to put in as much work as we could to lay a strong foundation for next year.
“We’re very thankful the previous committee really helped us in that area.”
The Magpies moved swiftly to get their coaching set-up into place for next season when Kris Bagley was named senior coach in August by the previous administration.
He will be assisted by Bradey Tranter and Daniel Petter, meanwhile, Luke Dzioba will take charge of the reserves.
“We’re really excited by what ‘Bags’ is going to bring to the club,” McMullin said.
“He’s already got on the front foot and brought in a lot of new faces which is only going to boost our playing numbers along with the returning guys.
“We can’t wait to get pre-season training started.”
Campbells Creek return to the MCDFNL will see the competition return to an even number of clubs with 14.
McMullin said league officials had been extremely supportive of the Magpies’ resurrection.
“They’ve been fantastic with me in my new role as president and offering any help they can,” she said.
“I think the general vibe around the competition is that everyone is excited to see us back.”
McMullin said the next challenge for the Magpies was to continue recruiting junior players for its football sides.
“Having juniors in footy and netball will give us strong foundations for the future,” she said.
Jordan Bagley has been named as the club’s senior netball coach with Jessica Carr (B Grade), Renee Brown (C Grade) and Tarni Williams (Under 17s) also handed positions.
When it does return to the field, Campbells Creek will be dreaming of its first senior footy win since 2018.
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