Victorians tend to carry a passion for Aussie Rules more ardent than fans from any other state.
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And though he left Bendigo, the town of his birth, at three years old, Brett Douglas never lost that flame despite growing up in league country.
In fact, their shared passion for AFL is one of the lynchpins of Douglas' relationships with his brothers, Marshall and Shane.
"There's always been a Douglas somewhere [in the Tamworth Kangaroos]," Douglas said.
The Kangaroos president was a founding member of the club, and more than 25 years later, still serves numerous roles.
In 2024, he will once again coach their women's team, which he last two years ago. Douglas takes over from Stu Goldfinch, who oversaw the Roos' men and women in 2023.
While he was pleased by the good work Shannon Campbell and Goldfinch did with the team over the last couple of seasons, Douglas said a small part of him had always hoped to coach again.
"Once you coach, you've always got a taste for it, and a feel for coaching," he said.
"I think it always stays with you, you always want the best out of your players and want to see them develop ... improve, and get the best out of themselves."
As a part of the 1997 Aussie Rules revival in Tamworth which featured four local teams playing weekly, Douglas affiliated himself the Kangaroos when the clubs were rebuilt and the AFL North West competition was introduced in 2002.
They won the competition that year, one of several premierships that Douglas and his younger brother, Marshall, claimed together.
"We'd always kick the footy around," he said.
"Me and my brother played at the same time, and then we got involved [with the Roos], and away it went."
After his playing days concluded, Douglas "went to the dark side" and umpired for a few years, during which he was "not heavily involved in the club" but remained in the periphery.
He eventually began coaching and took various positions on the committee, but joked that he had avoided the presidency until 2020.
"My brother [Shane] was president for a lot of years, then Craig Abbott," Douglas said.
"Then Craig wanted to go, and he said 'How about it?' I suppose I was the right man at the right time."
It was difficult, taking on the job right when COVID struck. And even now, the Kangaroos still have to recruit heavily to make up the numbers ahead of each new season.
But that family element that Douglas enjoyed so much when he started with the club is very much alive more than two decades later.
"[Shane's] boys played ... and then my young fella Zeb's been playing the last few years," he said.
"There's always been one of us around somewhere ... It's a good family club. We've always promoted it as that, it's a good environment to be in."
