By Russell Bennett
Brent Hughes is a little bloke with a giant heart, and he’s exactly the type of person who embodies what it means to be a part of the Nar Nar Goon Football Club.
The Goon’s skipper led the side out on Saturday at Korumburra against the hometown Giants in his 150th senior game, and the boys from Spencer Street came away with a vital 74-point win to keep their season alive.
The last thing on Hughes’ mind was any personal milestone.
The Goon’s tightknit culture built around mateship and togetherness has been instilled in Hughes since coming across from Pakenham in the Under 14s.
Matt Rice, Brodie Howe, the Fromholds, the Keanes – they all made the move from Pakenham out to the Goon, and they all bought into the culture from a young age.
It’s the same culture that the likes of Trent Noy and Jake Rose bought into immediately when they joined the club as senior players.
Hughes made his senior debut in 2005 against Poowong, and five years later was part of a famous premiership win over fierce local rival Cora Lynn on enemy soil.
He was 19 at the time and played deep in defence – not in-and-under on-ball role he’s known for now.
The premiership was his biggest career highlight to date, and for a range of reasons.
Throughout that period he was playing on the likes of Beau Runnalls and Kael Bergles down back and had to learn on the job.
Former premiership team mates such as Brett Dore and Matt Wade have had a massive influence on Hughes’ career with their professionalism on game day and on the training track, but so too has former coach Clint Williams.
“It was just his honesty more than anything,” Hughes recalls.
“Playing in the backline, he said if I wanted to get into the midfield I had to get fitter, so I knew that’s what I had to do.”
Though he’s an inside-outside midfielder, Hughes is known – along with the likes of great mate Josh Grant – as a real in and under hard nut. At the Goon, they’ve never struggled for role models in that regard, and Williams was as hard at it as anyone.
Hughes was named Goon captain at 22, but the 26-year-old has also had some particularly trying times – like missing almost two seasons of footy to workplace injuries including a badly damaged hand, and a shoulder that required a reconstruction.
They’ve helped to give him a slightly different perspective on the game – to truly enjoy it while it lasts.
“You don’t realise until after you do all the extra stuff to reap the rewards that it’s the most satisfying feeling,” he said.
“That’s why 2010 (the premiership) was so special.
“It’s working out where you want to get to, and trying your hardest to get there.”
Hughes would always prefer to let his actions on the field do the talking, and that’s where his leadership shines. Having had the likes of Chris Adams and Nick Henwood around him for so long, it’s easy to see why.
He’s loving his footy this season under Kris Fletcher in the new West Gippsland comp, which he said challenges every single player and team to improve each week. If not, they’ll be caught on the hop.
“You learn not to take it all for granted,” he said.
“You can let a year slip so quickly, and once you miss one through a forced layoff you just don’t want to miss out again.”
