Ovens and Murray: Damian Sexton’s two passions, farming and footy
Old foes Ovens and Murray and Goulburn Valley will meet again in an interleague match at Albury this month.
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More than 30 years after starting his own career with back-to-back premierships in the Murray and Ovens and Murray leagues, Damian Sexton’s passion for country football is stronger than ever.
Few care and have given more to interleague football than the Finley farmer, who will coach Ovens and Murray against fierce rivals Goulburn Valley for the second year in a row at Albury on May 20.
Sexton explains what motivates him to still be involved.
TWT: You’ve played in or coached representative football teams in the Murray, Picola and Ovens and Murray leagues since the early 1990s. Why is it so important to you?
DS: “I believe everyone should aspire to play the highest level they can. Whether it is the Ovens and Murray or Picola league, if you can play rep footy, you bring so much back from the experience of playing at that higher level. As a player I never wanted to miss a game of interleague footy. We’ve got to be appreciative of the fact that the Ovens and Murray and Goulburn Valley want to play this game because no other leagues are at the moment. The best part about it is the rivalry. It’s genuine. We don’t like them and I’ve got no doubt they don’t like us.”
TWT: You spent a decade coaching the Victorian Country under 19s. How did that role come about?
DS: “It was a fantastic time and I understand now why I got the job. I’ve got a wide network of people because I played for Vic Country. I got to play with a bloke like Matty Bruhn, whose son Tanner is playing for Geelong. Joey McLaren was another one from down at Koroit. It is a big job to get 40 blokes into one squad from all over country Victoria and you’ve got to listen to the right people. We had seven wins and three losses and that was fantastic. The thing I really stress is that when we’re playing, we’re representing our league and all those volunteers back at our clubs, because without volunteers at club level there is no club.”
TWT: Who were some of the success stories from the Victorian Country under-19 teams you coached?
DS: “We had a stack of them. Jack Geary and Hamish Morcom from Bendigo were great players, Tom Atkins now plays for Geelong, Dom Brew and Shaun Mannagh are both playing for Werribee. One who stands out is Matty Taberner from up at Myrtleford. He played in the wet against the VAFA one day at Elsternwick Park and took 14 marks at centre half-forward and kicked seven goals. Next thing he is at Fremantle. But they’ve all come from the grassroots and having that game every year gave them an opportunity to be seen.”
TWT: Last year’s Ovens and Murray team you coached had a couple of good ones.
DS: “Dead right. Joe Richards and Kaelen Bradtke are on AFL lists now, but if you dig a bit deeper there are a couple of other success stories. Fletcher Carroll and Max Beattie are now in Adelaide playing. I’ve already said to our group this year ‘you never know who is watching and how you conduct yourself is so important’.”
TWT: Take us back to the start of your career. Where did it all begin?
DS: “I played my junior footy with Finley and then went to boarding school at St Bedes in Mentone. I came back home in 1987 and played in a losing grand final that year and then we won it the next year.”
TWT: You joined Yarrawonga in the Ovens and Murray the following year, but the coach who recruited you didn’t end up coaching. What happened there?
DS: “‘Salty’ Parish recruited myself and Kerry Brain from Finley. I can still picture the day he came over in the middle of summer. He was an imposing figure, he was only wearing a singlet and you could see all his tattoos. He was a hard bloke to say no to. But a month out from the season he and the board at Yarra had some issues they couldn’t see eye-to-eye on and, ‘Salty’ being ‘Salty’, he left. But then came along Neil Davis, who is the best coach I’ve ever had and became a lifetime friend.”
TWT: John Brunner was a teammate of yours at Yarrawonga and is widely regarded as one of country footy’s best players. How good was he?
DS: “In country footy there was none better. He could win a game off his own boot when a game had to be won. To play with him and alongside him was a real honour. His training ethics were second to none. But he is still dirty that I got best-on-ground in the ’89 grand final ahead of him.”
TWT: You were invited to train with Sydney at the end of 1989, but the experience was short-lived. What happened?
DS: “They promised me the world and I had just bought my first farm. Interest rates were through the roof and just before round 1, they came to me and said they couldn’t pay for the bloke I had looking after the farm. I had a rice crop that needed to be harvested. I went back to Yarrawonga and played four or five games and then St Kilda picked me up in the mid-season draft. I played four games in the reserves and then the last four games in the ones.”
TWT: What do you remember of your senior debut?
DS: “It was against Hawthorn at VFL Park and I played on Michael Tuck. Before the game he shook my hand and said ‘well done on your first game, but today is my 401st’.”
TWT: Different times, but how did you juggle the farm and playing at VFL level?
DS: “I was travelling, which was silly, and never going to work. I was going down Tuesdays and staying a few days. It was crazy how much I was on the road and I was driving a little Subaru ute at the time. It was a fair trip.”
TWT: Any regrets?
DS: “I had commitments at home and that was fine. Ken Sheldon was my coach at St Kilda and he pleaded with me to stay on. But farming is what we love doing.”
TWT: After returning to Yarrawonga to play in 1991, you headed back to Finley and then to Blighty where you had more team and personal success.
DS: “Blighty was the best club I coached because I learnt so much about community sport. My wife Di coached netball when we were there. I still think about a lot of the old blokes, and sadly a fair proportion of them are gone now, but they were just great people. We got them a flag in 2000. In 1999, we played a drawn grand final against Tungamah and had to come back the next week. In the replay we were playing our fifth final and they were playing only their third because they finished on top. At three-quarter time of the replay the scores were still level and we just ran out of gas.”
TWT: For people not familiar with Blighty. What is there?
DS: “It’s a pub and footy ground, that’s it. I think about that time a lot. Our reserves coach’s biggest dilemma was telling blokes they had missed out on a game. It was an amazing time. We had good players, but didn’t spend a heap of money despite what people might think. We just had an environment people wanted to be part of.”
TWT: Your two sons, Jack and Will, are playing in the VFL this year after nearly winning a flag with Yarrawonga last year. How are they going?
DS: “They actually played against each other the other week. VFL footy is pretty good. It’s very fast and very competitive. Jack is up at Southport and Will, who is younger, is holding his own at the Northern Bullants.”
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