For those looking for omens in the lead up to Saturday’s AFL premiership decider, a team wearing Sydney’s livery in a one-point grand final win at Warrnambool’s Reid Oval on the weekend probably isn’t it. The South Warrnambool Roosters are very much birds of a different feather to the Sydney Swans – while they may wear the red and white, they are a part of the fabric of Fitzroy and, by extension, the Brisbane Lions.
One of the club’s early coaches was Fred Hughson, who moved to South Warrnambool after a 164-game career with Fitzroy that included captain-coaching the 1944 VFL premiership. On leaving Fitzroy, Hughson took a role with the Victorian Police Force in Warrnambool and found a home at the South Warrnambool Football Club. He immediately formed a strong connection with the Roosters, parlaying it into three sons who also played for the club.
