By Michael Scalzo

Long-time Wimmera locals and Essendon supporters will know the name David Flood. 

He made his VFL-AFL debut at Windy Hill against St Kilda in 1986.

Flood, a Nhill boy, became a talented utility during the early ’90s success of the infamous ‘Baby Bombers’, after being spotted playing as a junior in Nhill.

Essendon Football Club had a strong recruiting presence in the Wimmera during the ’80s.

Before the creation of the modern draft system, football clubs often drew talent from regional recruiting zones  and had more freedom to develop their own club-affiliated junior talent.

A talented, tall key-position player, Flood was in and out of the senior side during his early career until he found his feet under coach Kevin Sheedy.

Despite featuring in the team’s semi-final and preliminary finals wins, he was dropped from the winning 1993 grand-final squad.

Flood remained involved in football after his AFL playing days and re-joined Essendon as a development and welfare co-ordinator. 

He went on to be a senior coach at VFL club Coburg, a development coach under Alistair Clarkson at Hawthorn, as well as coach the Oakleigh Chargers and Vic Metros, two prestigious Victorian AFL pathway sides. 

For the 2022 Wimmera Football Netball League season, he will step back into Wimmera football and become a leading hand in Nhill and District Sporting Club’s attempt to climb up the ladder. 

Flood said when incoming Nhill senior football coach and former Wimmera league chief commissioner  Trevor Albrecht asked if he wanted to be more involved with his former club, he said he would ‘do what he could’ to help. 

“When Trevor was appointed, he rang me. I wanted to help in some capacity. I had really great coaches when I was young and, hopefully, I can help some of their younger players become great coaches themselves in the future,” he said.

During the COVID-19 interrupted 2021 season, Flood, having stepped back from football club involvement, watched some Nhill senior football games in person and some online. 

He said he appreciated the way the club relied on local talent and how he felt the club emphasised its connection to the Nhill community. 

“They played with great spirit, although they didn’t win a game all season,” he said.

Like some other clubs in the Wimmera, they were going about it with locals, who were enthusiastic about their club and played a clean brand of footy.

They certainly recaptured his attention.

“I started my football career with Nhill and it would be nice to finish it at Nhill,” Flood said.

Community

He said country football clubs were still such an important part of the community and the Wimmera was no exception. 

“In Nhill’s case, the club is a composite of many of the local sporting clubs in the town, which makes it a great community hub,” he said.

“These hubs are an integral aspect of any regional town. I have been lucky with my football, I suppose, so if I can give just a little bit back – that is all I want.”

Flood said while he was aware the link between sporting clubs and regional communities remained strong, the dynamics been local teenagers and football clubs were changing.

He said he was aware these shifts were part of broader changes in regional demographics and employment circumstances.

“I think it is important community sporting clubs establish themselves as a community base, where everyone works together to get as many people as possible involved in the broader community,” he said.

“It is something Nhill as well as other clubs have done, they have created this hub. While it always nice to focus on winning, there was a bigger picture at stake.”

Metropolitan differences

Flood said the game had evolved since his Nhill days.

“From what I’ve seen of Wimmera football games recently; players are young and there is a greater emphasis on running,” he said.

“It is all about moving the ball and developing appropriate game styles to accommodate that. The grounds are also in a much better condition than 30 years ago.”

Flood said the way regional sporting clubs entwined themselves with the community fostered a unique respect between teams.

“On and off the field, the idea of ‘fair play’ comes more naturally in the regions,” he said.

“People live and work together and they appreciate the link between football and real life.”

However, he said he was disappointed opportunities for young footballers in rural Victoria still lagged behind those in cities. 

“One of the biggest disappointments I have, when I think about country football, is that it can be extremely difficult for young country players to compete with opportunities available to young footballers in cities,” he said. 

“Outside of the Ballarat area perhaps, country footballers don’t have the same elite pathways and development structures metropolitan players have. 

“In my day, Essendon had a huge presence in the Wimmera, but now the centralised draft and pathway programs have developed an urban focus.  

“Elite stepping stones still exist but are just further apart than they are in Melbourne.”

Flood said pathway clubs such as the Ballarat Rebels ‘ran on the smell of an oily rag’ and a lack of club resources was ‘disappointing’.

However, he said while regional players found it hard to access elite pathways, young regional footballers often benefited from exposure to senior football at a young age.

“City kids have more pathways, but country kids get a chance to play senior football earlier, which I feel was always beneficial for their development as footballers,” he said. 

Development

Flood said the connection between football and netball clubs and the community remained the most important aspect of regional sport. 

“These clubs keep you engaged. They also keep you humble and down to earth,” he said. 

“These ideas are even more relevant now more women’s leagues are up and running in regional Victoria. 

“It is great to see the development of women’s football and I can’t wait to see what happens in that space in the years ahead.”

Flood now lives in Melbourne’s inner north and works in sustainable golf course design. 

As COVID-19 restrictions ease in Victoria, he hopes he can get up to half-a-dozen Nhill games in person. 

He referred to his involvement with the club as ‘informal’. 

But given his development coaching experience, perhaps Nhill club leaders hope to drop that ‘in’ prefix, in time. 

“I want to help in a small manner,” he said. 

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