Oakley admitted a night on the town with a couple of his now-team mates swayed him to have a crack in the Wimmera Football League.

“I had been speaking with Nhill for a couple of years and they had been trying to get me out there,” he said.

“I knew they needed some bigger guys, so I sort of relented after a night on the drink with a couple of them.

“Be careful what you agree to when you’re drinking.”

After stints in the Sydney AFL competition and Victorian Amateur Football Association, Oakley feels like he has found his home at Davis Park.

“There are some really good people out at Nhill. I didn’t really enjoy my last couple of seasons in Melbourne, so it’s been a breath of fresh air,” he said.

“Nhill gets really good crowds and they really enjoy watching the games, I didn’t get that playing amateurs.”

The Melbourne-based gym owner, who played in two premierships and four grand finals in his past six seasons, has been an impressive addition to the Tigers.

Not only is he in ninth spot in the Harvey World Travel, Wimmera Mail-Times player of the year award, Oakley has also been named in his side’s best four times out of six matches.

The 198-centimetre giant said things were travelling well at the Tigers.

He believes they have what it takes to play finals football.

“I think we’ve got the most improvement out of any side in the competition,” Oakley said.

“We just need to keep beating those teams below us and maybe even take a scalp or two along the way.

“I thought we were the better side against the Saints. I guess it was the one that got away.”