!["It's all coming around quick," Matt Gillham says of fatherhood. Picture Facebook "It's all coming around quick," Matt Gillham says of fatherhood. Picture Facebook](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/d869d5a0-bdcc-48d5-9095-c85ee00a8e9c.jpg/r0_0_1068_928_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"Here lies Matt Gillham, a gentleman and a footballer."
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The headstone epigraph would not encapsulate all that the Boggabri Roos No. 9 and captain is, not even close, but it would be accurate.
For now, the 26-year-old has a lot of living to do, with his life about to be transformed in a most marvellous way: he and his partner Caitlyn Dewar are expecting their first child in early September.
One of Group 4's best players and most respected figures - who divides his time between Ag-Fix Hydraulics in Gunnedah and his family's nearby sheep, cattle and cropping farm - will soon cradle nature's ultimate gift, something he has longed for.
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"It's all coming around quick," the fitter and turner said of parenthood, adding: "It's exciting but a bit daunting at the same time - not knowing what to expect.
"But I've got plenty of young nieces and nephews. So sort of semi-prepared, I guess."
Gillham and Dewar met through the Roos (she was in the league tag side), and live in the old homestead on the farm.
"It's a pretty big house," he said. "My grandparents lived in it, and my grandmother moved to Tamworth. Yeah, we moved in."
![Gillham is once again leading the Roos. Picture by Sue Haire Gillham is once again leading the Roos. Picture by Sue Haire](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/3653c0a3-c274-4279-8f6b-541e972c4122.jpg/r0_0_1506_1361_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Gillham has previously said that Dewar is "supportive of everything" he does.
"So, I couldn't ask for much more than that," he said, adding: "Everything just seems to be busy all the time.
"If you're not at work, you seem to be doing something at home. And if you're not there, you're at footy training. So, that's about how life is at the moment."
Well, it's about to get considerably busier.
We seem to play well at home and just can't seem to travel.
Before the baby's arrival, Gillham's Roos have a season to complete.
On Sunday, the sixth-placed Roos travel to last-placed Narrabri. The Roos are four points behind fourth-placed North Tamworth, whom they beat for the first time, in round one.
Boggabri have also toppled second-placed Werris Creek and third-placed Dungowan this year, but are yet to win on the road.
"We seem to play well at home and just can't seem to travel ... which is sort of costing us now," Gillham said as the finals loom.
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