Old Haileyburians will return to the top division of Victorian Amateur Football Association - and one family has been instrumental

They are back up, a club rejuvenated.

For that, Old Haileyburians can thank in part a family that has served them with distinction for many years, on the ground and off it.

There were four Secculls to the fore last Saturday when Haileybury secured promotion back to the highest division of the Victorian Amateur Football Association by routing Beaumaris in the preliminary final of Premier B.

Given the two-up, two-down system, they are assured of being in the top bracket of amateur clubs next year regardless of the grand final result against Uni Blacks this weekend.

The gusto with which the players sang the song in the Elsternwick Park change rooms was an indication Haileybury had achieved something significant.

If there was a player who sang it with more passion than energetic ruckman Lachie Treverton, it was captain Brede Seccull.

“I think that’s the next chapter of my footy career, bringing my home club back up to A grade,’’ Seccull, 28, had said 18 months ago when he returned to the Bloods after a successful run in the state leagues.

His teammates against Beaumaris included his brothers Rayner, 26, and Durras, 23.

And their father, Darren, was on the bench, serving as an assistant to senior coach Daniel Ward.

Seccull senior has seen the ups and downs, the ins and outs, and the thicks and thins of the football club for 40 years.

He joined it in 1982, as a Year 12 student at Haileybury College.

Old Haileybury, he says, is “the one constant in my life … I just love the place’’.

Seccull was a three-time premiership player – in 1989, 1990 and 1995 – the club captain and, when he was done as a player, the senior coach.

The 1995 success was the club’s last Premier B premiership.

The Bloods rose to the very top of the VAFA in 2006, landing their one and only Premier flag under the coaching of former Box Hill VFA star Peter Nicholson.

Darren Seccull’s brother Mark was part of that breakthrough team; he was a Bloods player of spirit and stature across many seasons, tallying a record 402 games.

Darren and Mark Seccull are life members of the club, as is their father, Peter, a former Preston VFA player.

When Brede Seccull made his senior debut for Old Haileybury in 2012, he played alongside his uncle, then aged 44.

And his father was his senior coach.

The Bloods were relegated the year after the Nicholson-engineered premiership and later took the drop to Premier C.

Amateur clubs can drown in the ups and downs of promotion and relegation.

One bad season can set off another; the system is as unforgiving as a landlord when the rent is overdue.

The Haileyburians were in the third tier when former Melbourne dasher Ward took over as senior coach in 2017.

They immediately won the premiership, but the jump to Premier B was difficult.

Five wins were outnumbered by 13 losses in 2018, and they were 6-12 a year later.

Last year Covid killed off what had been a promising season for Old Haileybury.

With Brede Seccull returning, and with a bunch of young players bursting through, it was 9-2, behind Uni Blacks and the Guy McKenna-coached Beaumaris.

Brede was the co-winner of the competition medal, and he also claimed the club best and fairest, 10 years after winning it as an 18-year-old.

He was then on Collingwood’s VFL list. He joined South Adelaide in 2013 and shared its best and fairest with Magarey Medal champion Joel Cross in 2016.

The midfielder returned to Melbourne in 2018, joining Sandringham.

He was club champion in his first season and, as captain of the Zebras, shared the award with Brandon White in 2019.

But Brede Seccull always figured he would finish his career at the club he thinks of as home.

He calls Old Haileybury “family’’ – and last Saturday there were three lots of brothers on the field for the Bloods; the Secculls, Will and Noah Gown, and James and Will Paul.

The Pauls are the sons of Roger Paul, who won six senior best and fairests and is regarded by many people as Haileybury’s greatest footballer.

James is the club captain and has himself won two best and fairests. His brother has come up from the under 19s, like quite a few of the Bloods.

A St Kilda connection was also at play in the 79-point victory over Beauie.

Sam Loewe kicked four goals. As he did, his father, Saints’ team of the century forward Stewart, watched on in his capacity as an assistant to Ward.

Loewe played for Old Haileybury and coached it too, as did fellow former St Kilda players Simon Meehan, Mark “Mick’’ Dwyer (the brother-in-law of Darren and Mark Seccull) and Jamie Shanahan.

Then there was ex-St Kilda left-footer Jack Lonie, who was outstanding with five goals and a pile of possessions.

“He gets tagged most weeks, but he’s almost untaggable,’’ Ward says.

“He’s quick, he’s got a tank, he’s got class, he’s hard. He’s been super for us.’’

*****

After the siren Darren Seccull posed for a photograph with his three sons.

He was emotional. “As a dad watching that, it was a proud moment,’’ he said.

When they left him to do their warm-down stretches, he could not hold back the tears he had been blinking away.

Mention of little Rayner set him off.

Brede is one of the best players in Premier B – more, he is among the best players in local football – and Durras has won the club’s past three goal kicking awards.

Like Brede, Durras was at Sandringham VFL, kicking four goals on debut in 2019.

“Rayner is a bit different to the other two. He played soccer and he turned to footy in the last few years,’’ Darren Seccull says.

“He’s a special kid. He just tries his guts out. He’s had stuff in his life he’s had to work really hard for … I can’t be any prouder of him. He honestly thought he was going to get dropped this week. He was so worried. Sorry to lose it, mate. But, yeah, he just keeps trying.’’

Ward says: “That’s right. Up until Thursday night, Rayner was worried about his spot. But he fights and scraps and does everything right. Loves the footy club and he’s super-reliable. He’s found a spot in our backline. He’ll be playing next week, don’t worry about that.’’

Bloods president Michael Constable says the Seccull family’s contribution to the club is remarkable.

“They’ve underpinned Old Haileybury for generations,’’ he says. “There are families who tend to dominate sometimes in football clubs, and for us the Secculls are one of those.’’

After what Constable calls “some grinding times’’ trying to stay in Premier B, the Bloods and their band of brothers are heading to the grand final.

Promotion is assured, but Darren Seccull and Ward want more for their team.

“You don’t go out and celebrate losing grand finals,’’ Seccull says. “We did beat Uni during the year, so we know they’re beatable.’’

Ward says: “This group really wants to challenge itself. Yeah, we’re going to A grade, but they really want to win a flag. We’re not done yet.’’