SOMETIMES it’s hard to find a truly loyal and faithful club member but that isn’t the case at Dimboola with Al McKinnon.
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McKinnon will play his 350th senior game for his hometown club when his team, which he coaches, face Stawell Warriors at Dimboola on Saturday.
“While you’re still playing it’s just another day. You’ve got to go into battle and try produce a win,” he said.
“It’s a honour but when you are in the heat of the battle, it’s not really what you focus on.”
McKinnon said the milestone is a different experience as a coach.
“You approach the milestone differently, I always coach first and play second. For us, it’s just about being competitive and trying to win games,” he said.
The Roo stalwart, 37, played his maiden senior game for the club when he was 15 years old alongside his father Harvey.
McKinnon said playing with his father was something to savour.
“That was probably one of my highlights of my career,” he said.
McKinnon said football style and football player types had changed over his time playing in the Wimmera league.
“I played with blokes I’ve looked up to like Peter Harradine and Bruce Miller. They are those stalwarts who were around the club for a long time,” he said.
“You don’t get those kinds of players in senior football anymore, it’s more of a younger man’s game. When I started playing I had a number of those good, experienced players who took you under their wing. The game is faster and officiated differently now. Things you could get away with back in the day, you can’t anymore… for obvious reasons.”
Mckinnon captained Dimboola’s 2013 premiership, the club’s first premiership since 1985, he has player-coached the Roos since 2017.
“You need to put the team first, before yourself, and I think there is a trap where you could try to look after your own boot before the rest of the team,” he said.
McKinnon said he has total dedication for Dimboola, a club which gave him so much.
“It’s the smallest sole club in the league. Everyone knows everyone and there are locals who have been there since I started playing senior football. There is a feeling of mate-ship and you are apart of something,” he said. McKinnon said the Roos are finding it difficult to find their feet in 2018 but said when he started playing for the Roos, a 100-point loss was a good day.
“We got some bad touch-ups. It wouldn’t be unusual to have a 200 or more points loss. Things go in roundabouts and these times are the most important for the club. Eventually it will turn and you want to be there when it does,” he said.