Long-time Montmorency president Greg Bowman reflects on decade-long tenure

After 11 years Greg Bowman stepped down as Montmorency president late last year, he reflects on his legacy and handing the reins to Justin Mills.

Greg Bowman steps down as Montmorency president.

The 2025 season will feel different at Montmorency.

After 11 years, Magpies president Greg Bowman stepped down late last year, calling time on one of local footy’s longest presidential tenures.

While the club hasn’t managed to win that elusive senior men’s premiership, he leaves an incredible legacy at Para Road.

Bowman was elected in 2014 and has helped build Montmorency into a powerhouse of the Northern Football Netball League on and off the football field and netball court.

Justin Mills takes the reins for 2025 and hoped he could provide just half the contribution Bowman had made.

“Greg has done a magnificent job for many years, I’m riding on the coat tails of his great work,” Mills said.

“What he’s done for the club, I can only hope to do half as well.

“President probably understates what he does.

“He had a really good balance between the tone of a president and his relationship with everyone, my kids tell me Greg knew everyone, knew all their names.”

Bowman was made a life member of the club in 2023.

Looking back on his legacy, he was pleased to be leaving the club in a strong position.

After missing Division 1 finals for four straight years, the Magpies have finished top three in each of the past three seasons and reached the grand final last year for the first time in 2013.

“We were in a little bit of trouble when I took over the presidency,” Bowman recalled.

“We’d just gone out of finals in straight sets, we had a bit of a player exodus and our financial position was poor.

“The executive of the day – with Mark Smith and Mark Clearly – despite our on-field situation looking a bit dire, we felt our off-field situation was a real issue.

“The financial position is a hell of a lot better, the junior club relationship is a good one and the connection between the players and the club committee is a lot, lot better.

“We realised our next best asset after the juniors was our playing group, times have changed and footy club committees need to understand that as well – you can’t ram demands down the throats of players.”

Strengthening the ties between the senior and junior football clubs has been one of Bowman’s most important jobs.

Montmorency has one of the biggest junior bases in metropolitan football and has a production line of talent funnelling into the senior club and to elite pathways, including the Northern Knights.

Montmorency has seen three juniors drafted to the AFL in recent seasons, Nik Cox, Darcy Wilmot and Tom Sims, while 16 players were listed by the Knights in 2024 across four teams.

“Certainly I felt our biggest asset was the junior club and going forward we had to make sure we were a united front,” Bowman said.

“We worked particularly hard in making that relationship better and the transition for a 16 or 17-year-old boy to the senior club a lot better.

“With salary cap and player points introduction, the clubs in the best position have strong junior bases.

“I played cricket at a club called Riverside, which has been a powerhouse for a long time, and the strength of Riverside is the junior club – so that was a model I had in mind to replicate.”

Bowman has seen five coaches come and go at Montmorency Park; Jack Cole, Ben Haynes, Garry Ramsay, Jono Manzoney and lastly Nick Rutley.

After finishing runner-up behind Heidelberg in Rutley’s first season last year, Montmorency will be looking to go one better in 2025.

Mills said the club was the heart of the Montmorency community.

“I’ve been in and around the club for many years, I played there myself in the juniors and my dad is a life member of the juniors,” he said.

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“Clearly we still want to get better and we’ve got a bit of a catch cry at the moment, getting more professional on and off the field, which was something Greg was very passionate about.

“You feel obligated to the wider community taking a job like this because a lot of people get their Saturday entertainment for the men, Sunday for the women and the netball as well.

“It’s not just senior men, it’s the junior club, affiliation with the cricket club, women’s football and netball – how do you make netballers who play on Friday night feel integrated.”

Under Mills, Mark Cleary and Jai Cesari will serve as vice-presidents, while Jodi Rigg is treasurer and Rachel Crick is secretary.