By Tyler Lewis
The Pakenham Gazette’s Volunteer of the Week segment is returning in 2022, as we recognise some of the best volunteers of local footy and netball clubs in the region.
The AFL Outer East season kicked off on Saturday night, with Narre Warren hosting Pakenham.
The Magpies and all their volunteers were working around the clock before the bounce, with a VIP function in the recently renovated rooms to celebrate the commencement of the season.
One of the busiest people on the evening was, unsurprisingly, barman Daryl Weir.
Weiry is this week’s Volunteer of the Week.
“Call me Weiry,” he said while pouring pots in preparation for the interview.
Weiry has been at the club for three decades this season and has had two very important roles, one on field and one off the field.
The discussion as to which of his main two roles have been more important is left to be decided, with 1992 premiership runner and nine-year pot pourer on his list of many roles around the club.
He left his junior club and joined the Magpie’s in the early 90’s and was straight into the thick of things.
Weiry brought down some key figures at the club, who have moulded some of the stable foundations today.
“Since 1992, my old club we finished, so I came here,” he said.
“My father played here in the 50’s, I brought Peter Lindsay down who brought all them down.
“The black and white jumper, the good people, (I am here) every day of the week.”
Since joining the Pies, Weiry has seen eight senior premierships, those eight along with the good people are the reasons he is willing to spend every day at the club.
“Not just premierships, but good people,” he said.
“I was runner for t-bone, I stopped playing for a couple of years and ran for my best mate.
“1992 is clearly the favourite one, we hit the front from the very first bounce and they never got back, we beat Keysborough.
“All my mates were playing, all the boys. We kicked probably the first four or five goals and that was it, Keysborough kicked a lot of points.”
A total of 49 senior football, junior football and netball flags are currently hanging around the Narre Warren social rooms, and while 1992 is an outlying favourite, the most recent one in 2019 is second… for one reason.
After all Narre Warren’s hatred for Berwick does come to the fore whenever the Pies sing the song after a win.
“That was huge,” he said of the 2019 flag.
“Just to beat Berwick, we hate Berwick, everyone from Narre hates Berwick.
“It is weird (this season)… no Berwick, Beacy, Doveton.
“They will go alright (this current side), they should make finals.”
Weiry is just one of many volunteers the Gazette plans to recognise this footy/netball season, if a volunteer is going under the radar, the Gazette encourages readers to reach out to let the sports desk know.
