Strathmerton retired dairy farmers Elsie and Dennis Caughey have always held a keen interest in Australian rules football.
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Dennis in particular had his first exciting experience when, as a young boy, his dad took him to Essendon where he saw champion goalscorer John Coleman for the first time.
Coleman drew the crowds to the home games at Windy Hill after joining the club in 1949 and in his first appearance booted 12 goals from a total of 18, a record that stood for 45 years.
In 1952, he was in blistering form, kicking 103 goals for the season, but unfortunately two seasons later, at the age of 25, he dislocated his knee and his career was over.
Over his relatively short playing career, he kicked 537 goals in just 98 VFL games.
In 1961, Coleman took on the role of coaching the side and won premierships in both 1962 and 1965 over a period of six years.
Tragically, he had a heart attack and passed away at the age of 44.
The Essendon Football Club has remained in the hearts of the Caughey and Munro families.
Elsie’s grandfather Robert Munro joined the club in 1891 with membership number 412 and remained a staunch supporter throughout his life, and his family has continued the tradition.
Elsie still has his original membership ticket, a valued memento that brings with it special family emotions that trigger happy times.
In fact, Essendon has provided some bragging rights for the Munros, as it has been documented that the club won four straight Victorian Football Association premierships in 1891, 1892, 1893 and 1894, a record equalled only by Collingwood.
Essendon played 95 matches during that remarkable period, winning 84, drawing eight and losing just three.
The team kicked a staggering 718 goals and conceded just 305 and, at its peak, went 781 days and 57 matches without a defeat.
In 1896, the Victorian Football League was established and in 1990 the Australian Football League was introduced to take it to the highest level of professional sport around the country.
Today, besides the original eight clubs, the AFL includes clubs from South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and soon Tasmania.
It is Australia’s most popular national sport, and last weekend saw attendances of 96,000 and 98,000 people at both finals games at the MCG.
Dennis, 87, and Elsie, 88, still hold a keen interest the sport, which they took to at an early age, particularly Dennis, who as a young boy lived in Glenroy and became a member with his dad of the Essendon club.
“I guess I became an avid supporter because of players like Jack Jones. He played at full-back and worked as a butcher, and he delivered saveloys to the Essendon Tech canteen each week,” Dennis said.
“Jonesy was a very good player, big and strong, and he lived until he was 98.
“Greg Sewell played on the wing and lived several houses away from us in Glenroy, and later he became president of the club.”
While Dennis was keen to play football himself, when he was in Year 7 at Essendon Technical School he contracted polio, which affected the left side of his body and weakened his left leg.
With months of treatment, he missed most of the school year and was required to repeat the class the following year.
“I had a good teacher, however, and he took me from previously getting a score of 45 to three months later achieving a 75,” Dennis said.
At the technical school he had the opportunity to learn a range of trades and eventually, his uncle Albert Stuart, who managed the Kraft factory at Strathmerton, offered him a job.
Dennis promptly accepted and moved to Strathmerton where he lived with his uncle and his family.
He later secured work on a good soldier settlement dairy farm, riding his bike out and back each day, and where he learnt a lot.
When his parents, Fred and Teeny Caughey, who dairy farmed in Gippsland, were visiting to see their son, they noticed the Strathmerton General Store was for sale and quickly made the decision to purchase it.
The business and the district seemed just right.
From then on, they worked seven days a week until Fred had a heart attack and his wife Teeny was under pressure to keep the store going until they sold it in the 1960s.
It was around this time that Dennis met Elsie Munro.
The pair hit it off immediately and later married and became share farmers for Jack Ryan.
When Elsie’s father passed away, they took over the family farm where they worked together milking 150 cows, built a modern dairy and later a brand-new family home.
The couple always followed the football at Strathmerton and particularly Essendon.
Dennis played in the reserves side for a time at Strathy, but unfortunately the effects of polio on his left side and leg let him down.
However, he and a mate helped supervise a group of young footballers and he became a lifetime supporter of his local club.
Elsie and Dennis produced four children: Patrick, Michelle (stillborn) Kathryn and Craig.
When his parents retired, Craig ultimately took over the farm, which today is predominantly involved in crop growing.
He played football with Strathmerton until damaging his knee and still supports his home club and Essendon.
Going back three generations, the pride in his AFL team remains the same as it did for his parents and grandparents, who hope their once proud team will soon produce the skills and ability of past years.
“I am disappointed in my club at present but I think they are improving,” Dennis said.
“It was a hard time and terribly disappointing that the players copped it! It has taken years for the club to pull itself together.”
This period during the early to middle part of the 2010s was significant and controversial when 34 players were found guilty, together with their coach, James Hird, of the use of banned peptide thymosin beta-4 and suspended.
Today, Essendon, Carlton and Collingwood share the honour of 16 premiership cups each and although none of the three will face off in the 2025 grand final, there is always next year!