SCOTT BALDWIN - BREAKS CLUB RECORD IN 386th FIRSTS MATCH
Scott Baldwin will break the Tocumwal club record for the most First XVIII matches when he plays his 386th match for the Bloods on Saturday. Baldwin surpasses club legend Robert Crow's 385 matches when Tocumwal play Deniliquin Rovers at Deniliquin.
The other record is that he has never been dropped from the firsts since he made his debut in 1995. He played 4 reserves matches - 2 when filling in from the thirds in 1994 then he played 2 more at the start of 1995 beofre his promotion to the firsts early in the 1995 season.
As his mate David Farrell said, it puts his own achievement of 250 straight First XVIII matches in perspective!!!
As Scott tells it, in his last reserves match he was cleaned up by Alan Trotman - a teammate - and anybody who knows Trotty will tell you he was a pretty tough footballer and he probably lined up an opponent - the shirt-front was allowed in those days - who stepped out of the way and an unsuspecting young fella was on the other side of the pack!! Anyway, Scott obviously showed enough in that match to get a call-up to the seniors the following week as a 16 year old and 23 seasons later he has 385 matches under his belt. He says he was relieved to get the call-up - it was safer in the firsts in those days!!
At 39 years of age he is still playing pretty good football down back where he has played most of his career. He is one of only two current footballers to have played in two premierships for the Bloods. He played in the fourths 1991 premiership then backed up a few years later to be a member of the 2009 firsts flag. The other player is Ken Chellew, another long serving Bloods player.
Like most Tocumwal lads, he had to bide his time until he turned 11 when he was allowed to join the fourths in 1989. He was named in the best players playing on a wing in very wet conditions in Tocumwal's only Under 14 Murray League premiership, a nail biting 1 point win over red hot favourites Mulwala in 1991. He says the fourths premiership coach John Jones had a big influence on his development.
He then graduated to the thirds in 1992 and played there for three years. At this time he joined his dad Ken on the farm and has been farming just north of Tocumwal ever since.
Tocumwal went through a lean period when he started in firsts and he reckons there were only about 5 wins in his first 100 games in the late 1990s.
When the Bloods started to improve under the coaching of Darren "Bull" Atkinson, he had establised himself as a key player across halfback and he was an integral part of the backline as Tocumwal reached the 2003 Grand Final only to go down to the undefeated Deniliquin. Despite the disappointment of the loss, it was a long way from being the easybeats of the league.
Tocumwal continued to be a strong side and under Leon Higgins in 2005 they had an improbable ride to the Grand Final. Second last on the ladder at the half way point of the season, the Bloods had to win 8 out of 9 matches and rely on other results going their way just to make the five. In a remarkable resurgence the team defeated all but one team above them to sneak into the five then rode the wave of momentum to the Grand Final. The fairytale ending didn't quite eventuate as the undefeated Nathalia proved too good in the decider. But as Scott tells it, it was a bloody good ride!! Oh, he forgot to mention he was named as one of Tocumwal's best players in the Grand Final.
The undoubted highlight has been the 2009 Murray League premiership victory in a nailbiting 6 point victory over Moama under the coaching of Stuart Roe.
He still remains close to several premiership teammates in Anthony Mellington, Michael Hare and Lucas White and of course his current teammates in David Farrell and Jeremy Cardillo, who have shared in respectively 252 and 223 firsts matches together. You get pretty tight with premiership teammates - it is a special bond - but when you play together for most of those games in the backline as it is with Farrell and Cardillo, it is an even tighter and inseparable bond. That is one of the reasons he never left Tocumwal. He had some tempting offers to go elsewhere and Blighty chased him hard for a couple of years but he just could not leave.
As for the character test in a bloke and as a footballer, that ticks off "loyalty".
The Bloods then slipped back down the ladder and it was lean times again for the next four years until the move to the Picola League in 2014.
In the lean times Scott just kept on doing what he always did - just kept smiling and produced his best every week. He has played most of his career either at centre half back, fullback or on the back flank. He was undersized to play in the key defensive positions and he would often have to play on bigger opponents but he always stuck to the task without complaint and played his hardest for his team every match.
Character test - "toughness" and "determination" - tick.
He estimated he has missed only 10 matches in his career. He has had two knee arthroscopes for torn meniscus - 2006 for the left knee and last year for the right knee. He missed only 2 matches in 2006 and 6 matches last year.
Character test - "durability" - tick.
He missed 2 matches in 2002 when he was suspended for striking an opponent in the abdomen. This is the only blemish in an otherwise tough but fair career. There was talk of being disowned by his family at that time as his father Ken was never reported in his 322 game career.
Character test - "fairness" - tick.
He has never won a best and fairest but was runner up in 2008 to Lee Warnett in the year Warnett won the O'Dwyer Medal. He was an unofficial assistant coach that year and has also captained the Bloods several times in the 2000s and was on the selection committee under Leon Higgins in 2005-06. He won numerous "Most Consistent" and "Best Team Man" awards and that tells you a lot about him as a player. As he says deprecatingly, it might make him "best of the rest" but to be in the top 3 or 4 players for many years makes him a pretty good player in anyone's language!
Character test - "consistency" and "team first ethos" - tick.
He rates Darren Atkinson and Leon Higgins as the best coaches he has played under and Anthony Mellington, Fabian Carelli and Lee Warnett as the best players he has played with. He thinks if the Bloods can get their best team on the ground they are good enough to beat any side in the league. He also rates current coach Sean Logie as up there with the best players he has played with and believes if the Bloods can sneak into the finals they are in with a real chance to steal a flag.
Obviously Scott has had the support of his family. His father Ken and mother Margaret were instrumental in his development as a gentleman and a footballer and remain some of his biggest and proudest supporters. Margaret's maiden name was Herberte, so Scott had a pretty good sporting pedigree to start with.
Othen than mum and dad, his biggest supporters are his wife Kelly and their three daughters Ella, Ruby and Lilly. Match day is hectic with a young family and without Kelly's support Scott would never be anywhere close to achieving this milestone. Obviously Kelly has given up on having a family ski holiday and the suspicion is all the family holidays are in the summer!!
The netball section of the club's future looks bright if Scott's three girls approach their sport the same way their dad has and grandfather did.
Scott inherited his father'snumber 30 guernsey and they have worn it for a combined total of 707 firsts matches.
In total Scott has worn the red and white stripes for a total of 483 (385 firsts, 4 reserves, 50 thirds, 44 fourths). So with 10 matches to go in 2017 he will need 4 finals appearances to reach 400 firsts matches - you never know!
If he decides to go around in 2018 he will definitely break the 400 game milestone but may also go past Rob Crow's club record for most matches in all grades.
It will be fitting that the three most recent club First XVIII games record holders, all legends of the club, in Rob Crow (385), Ken Baldwin (322) and Jim Cullen (319) will be on hand to congratulate Scott on a magnificent achievement.
All in the Tocumwal Football Netball Club and no doubt all in the wider Picola and Murray League football communities join together to salute a footballing warrior, a bloody good bloke and a true servant of the Bloods and the great game of Australian Rules Football.
Best mates and 2009 premiership teammates David Farrell and Jeremy Cardillo (current club president) give us their thoughts on Scott
DAVID FARRELL
* The four reserves games he has played were all played in his first year out of the thirds so essentially he has played 385 games of seniors since his last reserves grade game (blows my recent record out of the water)!!
* Only bloke to go through his whole career and still be able to kick the ball as high as he does long, the ball coming down with snow on it somethimes, same as his dad Ken used to, I am told.
* Never really ever done a pre-season often turning up a few weeks before the season starts.
* Ability to play through injuries week after week with all sorts of lumps and bumps coming out of his body but still always plays.
* Never been a flashy footballer but one of the most reliable backman Toc has ever seen, rarely beaten.
* Was once at the tribunal for some bloke whacking him and he tried to play it down saying there was nothing in it and they should let the bloke off. They turned around and were going to suspend him for lying at the tribunal. Got a write up in the Albury Border Mail.
* Blighty tried to get him to play out there for many years but he stayed true to Toc and never left.
* Still to this day could be the middle of winter at training Thursday night and he'd have shorts and short sleeve footy jumper on, never ever would wear pants or long sleeved jumper. All the other boys would have long sleeves and skins on.
* A lot of other old blokes get to the end of their careers and don't train Tuesday, then do light stuff on Thursday but not Scotty. He still does full training on both nights, probably a reason he is still going strong these days.
JEREMY CARDILLO
Scotty or Mr Reliable. I have played all my footy with this bloke. I can't recall a single forward who has ever kicked a bag on him. Scott is one of the best contested marks and is very rarely beaten in a contest, he runs in straight lines and never deviates from the contest, Scott keeps his footy simple, beats his direct opponent and clears the ball from danger. There has been no other footballer I have personally taken more from, this bloke bleeds red and white, he never misses training, he never misses a game, he does everything right with his footy, turns up and does his job.
Now Scotty isn't the sort of player to be screaming out on the field or at training but if he sees something he will come up to you when the time is right and give you a couple of quiet pointers on what he thinks could help you and the team. It's an amazing effort and achievement that Scott is about to achieve and I personally don't think it will ever be beaten as the loyalty in footy isn't the same anymore.
I know his family and friends are extremely proud of him and his efforts and it's personally been a privilege to play with a bloke who loves his club and footy so much.
