Gary O'Brien’s batting prowess made it clear to all that he could play.
It all started for O'Brien at St Brendan's Cricket Club when he was in Grade 6 in the 1960s where he was able to develop into a champion cricketer.
"I was really an aggressive batsman and I was always like hitting big, like hitting sixes over the covers to start my innings off," O'Brien said.
O'Brien was pushed up to play C-grade at 12 years old, then two years later, at 14, debuted for St Brendan's’ A-grade side.
"Oh, I guess it was making hundred after hundred on a Saturday morning in juniors and batting well in B and C-grade that they decided to pick me for A-grade against Shepparton United in 1966," O'Brien said.
"I can remember the day quite clearly, such as the bowlers were quick and I didn't make many that day on what was a sticky wicket.“
He said the exciting part before his match was himself and fellow students carrying out the curator duties.
"I can remember on Friday, as we played on the school ground back in those days, well I can remember our principal (telling) us you need to prepare the wicket, so just imagine 15 and 14-year-old boys moving a roller and prepping a wicket, just crazy now thinking about that," he said.
O’Brien move to Assumption College Kilmore for boarding school, where he also dominated with the bat with a batting average of 70 .
With this district cricket came calling in the form of Collingwood, now Camberwell Cricket Club.
"I averaged 70 in school cricket and got to about 17 and there was a chance to play a few district games for Collingwood," he said.
O'Brien went on to play two district games for Collingwood's seconds, but returned to Shepparton for work as a school teacher.
"I had a couple of games with Collingwood and I can remember training with Robert Rose and Keith Stackpole, which was really great for my cricket, but as I finished my studying at La Trobe I decided to head back to Shepp for teaching," he said.
O'Brien returned to St Brendan's and in the season of 1977-78 it won the premiership against Mooroopna on a wet wicket at Deakin Reserve.
The aggressive left-hander made 35 runs to get his side over the line.
"After a tough first day where I remember the wicket was quite wet, and there was a bit of controversy around that, where the Mooroopna guys were complaining, but I can remember we were not chasing much, but I (scraped out) 35 runs to get us over the line," he said.
"It was a great feeling winning the premiership after some time of the club falling short a few years back.“
After that premiership in 1978, three years later, in 1981, St Brendan's’ decision to merge with Central Park made shockwaves across the league.
"I can remember the merger for us made sense; we needed clubrooms and so we merged with Central Park, and some were critical of it, but for me, it just made sense in terms of needing the facilities," he said.
The left-hander was part of the first team to play under the merger, which went through heartbreak with the new club losing eight grand finals in the 1980s.
"There was lot of internal criticism after losing those premierships, especially eight of them. I think we just had the mozz on us a bit which didn't help," he said.
After nearly a lifetime at Central Park-St Brendan's, O’Brien decided with fellow cricketer Damien Woodman to jump ship to Kialla Cricket Club at the start of the ’90s, which was a significant transfer at the time.
"Yeah, I decided with Damien to jump across to Kialla, which was the right decision in terms of wanting to enjoy my cricket," he said.
That decision turned out to be a successful one for O’Brien, with Kialla going on to win four premierships, with one coming against his former side the following year.
"We called ourselves the foreign legion with the players from all across the competition coming to play with us which led to our success,” he said.
"The following year, well, we made the grand final against my former side, we got a win by one wicket and can remember the angst in the game, but it was a great one to be part of.“
The opening batter finished his playing career at age 50 with a career spanning 36 years of playing cricket in Shepparton and further abroad.
Further to this, he was able to play in country week and against England and Sri Lanka in tour matches.
"I love that we were able to be part of the country week. It was a real highlight of my cricketing career and playing against international sides, including Sri Lanka and England," he said.
O’Brien said making the Team of the Century shortlist was an honour considering the other names in the squad.
"I am very grateful to be part of this, considering the number of players who were in the past who were top cricketers and especially in my era as well like Rohan Larkin and Dave Shaw," he said.