Riley Brooks with his wife, Brooke, and children Hudson and Daisy. Credit: Melanie Bowden.
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Not many people can say they’ve played 350 games of football with the same club.
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But Barooga’s Riley Brooks can.
The 31-year-old defender ran out for his 350th game in front of a bumper crowd in last week’s Good Friday derby against Cobram at the Barooga Recreation Reserve.
While it was a disappointing result for the young Hawks side, which went down by 152 points to a classy Cobram outfit, it was a special occasion for Brooks.
Add 207 senior appearances to 60 games in the fourths, 54 games in the thirds, and 29 games in the reserves, and you’ll get almost 20 years of loyalty to the club Brooks calls home.
“I’ve got a lot of family connections here,” Brooks said.
“My mum played a lot of premierships here, it’s family at the end of the day. And I love the club and I wouldn’t play anywhere else.
“It just feels like home, and I couldn’t see myself playing anywhere else.”
He sang the praises of the club that has been such a huge part of his life.
“I’d just like to thank the Barooga footy club for recognising the milestone,” he said.
“It’s like family now. And I really appreciate the effort that went into the game day with the banner and everything,” he said.
The defender ran out for his first seniors game in the 2011 season, eventually ending up with 10 games under his belt that year for the maroon and gold.
Over the next several years, Brooks shared his time across the seniors and reserves.
“I’ve been really lucky with injury, I’ve probably only missed five or six games over all those years due to injury, so I’ve been lucky in that sense,” he said.
“And it’s just about trying to stay fit outside of football — that helps a lot, really.”
Riley Brooks, 31, led his team on to the ground against Cobram in the Good Friday derby.
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It all started when Brooks first played with his mates in the fourths during 2008.
“I had a lot of mates in the same age group playing fourths back then, and [alongside] my twin brother — he played as well — it was a good group of mates to play footy with,” he said.
“I’ve just kept playing, I suppose. I think that’s the key to it: getting a good group of mates when you’re younger and all sticking together.”
His family and friends came from across Victoria to see him play in the Good Friday derby.
While his fondest memories of playing for Barooga pivot on playing in two grand finals — for the reserves and seniors teams in 2016 and 2018, respectively — a flag has remained elusive.
“I’ve never tasted premiership success or anything like that; it’s been a long road but that’s what has always been on my radar — a premiership,” he said.
Over his many seasons of football with the Hawks, Brooks said he had never thought about trading the maroon and gold for a Cobram guernsey.
Perhaps unfortunately for Tigers fans and fortunately for Hawks fans, things will stay that way as far as Brooks can see.
“They’re our arch enemy, Cobram, and I love playing them every year,” he said.
With a young family and a dairy farm keeping him busy, Brooks has found there’s less time for footy than what there once was.
“I’ve had to put footy on the back burner a little bit in regards to making trainings and things like that,” he said.
But that hasn’t deterred him from giving the Hawks his all when it matters most.
“It does get harder, with kids and work, but if you’re committed 100 per cent, it makes it a bit easier I think,” he said.
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