A HOPPER of more than twenty years, Troy Mellington will mark a major footy milestone at the Rokewood Recreation Reserve this weekend.<\/p>\n
Along the backline in the reserves, Mellington will play his 200th game with Rokewood-Corindhap Football Netball Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be able to play at a club for so long.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re playing Creswick at home, so it will be good to play my 200th game at home. I think Creswick is about even with us, so it should be a good, hard game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mellington joined the Hoppers aged 11 and played over 130 junior games before stepping up into the reserves as a senior.<\/p>\n
\u201cI played forward all in juniors, and when I went up to seniors, I started playing back,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Now in his 30s, and with two children of his own, Mellington said he continues to enjoy the club\u2019s feel and atmosphere, which has always been family focused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you live around the town, this is just what you do, you play footy and netball for Rokewood,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife, Jess, has played netball there all her life, too. She\u2019s nearly played 200 games too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having been a key part of the club for decades, Mellington said he\u2019s reflected on Rokewood-Corindhap FNC\u2019s past, and how they\u2019re tracking into the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cComing out of the Lexton Plains Football League, we were a very good side, and going into Central Highlands, we were down for quite a long time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in the last four years, since the year before COVID, we\u2019ve been able to recruit better coaches, and the players have started to come.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s exciting to play with the Hoppers now, having played through the tough times, and now hopefully the better times ahead of us. Hopefully in five or six years\u2019 time, my kids will be playing in juniors too.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A HOPPER of more than twenty years, Troy Mellington will mark a major footy milestone at the Rokewood Recreation Reserve this weekend. Along the backline in the reserves, Mellington will play his 200th game with Rokewood-Corindhap Football Netball Club. \u201cI\u2019m excited,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s good to be able to play at a club for so […]<\/p>\n