It wasn’t long ago he actually tried retiring from senior football. 

“I gave football away last year but then came back and played reserves but was called back to play seniors, but it’s still been enjoyable,” he said.

“I’m undecided on next year; I’m getting too old to play but not old enough to be a goal umpire.”

Hill started his senior football career at Pimpinio, where he enjoyed some success between 2004 and 2008.

“We had four seasons where we played finals and it was a good time to be there,” he said.

“We were lucky then to have a lot of guys in those grand final wins who were local guys that came up through the juniors. Daniel Baker was a standout and a Pimpinio stalwart back then.”

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Hill fondly remembers donning the yellow and green to represent the Horsham District league, something he wishes he did more.  

“I’ve never snagged a best and fairest or anything but I’ve been runner up before. I played interleague one year and that was enjoyable – I probably should have had more of a crack at that,” he said.

After his time with the Tigers, Hill crossed leagues and tried his hand with Wimmera league club Dimboola. 

“There was a bit of a connection with Pimpinio and Dimboola so I knew a few guys there,” he said.

“We started at the bottom and worked our way up a bit. In the fourth year we made the preliminary final so I’ve got some fond memories.

“The two leagues are pretty even in terms of their following but the Wimmera league was more open and a higher standard. The move just happened – I never really aspired to give it a go.

“I left a year before Dimboola won the 2013 flag and went to Pimpinio again, this time as assistant coach.”

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Hill is now in his third season with Taylors Lake. 

“My partner, Michelle, is pretty heavily involved with the netball out there so I thought I would give it a go,” he said.

“The group we have is so young, we have a lot of 18-20 year-olds. When you look at the results it would look pretty hopeless but we have a lot of upside. We just need a couple key position players.”

Hill has also had a go volunteering on the committee, giving back to the sporting community. 

“It’s not a real big club but everyone chips in and gives it a go. I’d never been on the committee before and you don’t realise some of the jobs that clubs have to do to keep going,” he said. 

Hill said he now enjoyed being able to watch his children play football and netball.

“We’ve got children, four between us, and the eldest is a keen netballer and Archie is in the under-17s for football,” he said.

“Sometimes you think it wasn’t that long ago you were doing that as a junior. It’s good to see; a lot of kids aren’t playing sport.”