Anthony DePasquale remembers a time when he’d kick the dew off the grass at Kyabram Recreation Reserve as a junior before settling down and watching the stars play.
Now he’s been plunged into a Goulburn Valley League (GVL) grand final alongside them.
The local Ky boy grew up to be a mark-taking, ball-raking forward worthy of donning the sash and is pinching himself at making his first ever grand final at his home club.
“I know going to the footy as a junior, you look up to these kind of blokes: your Lachie Smiths, Kayne Pettifer, Jason Morgan,” he said.
“They’ve been bloody awesome, they just wrap their arm around you and give you so much help.
“They’ve won premierships, they’ve done this so I think to do it with blokes like that this week, it’ll just be bloody awesome.”
DePasquale himself was ‘bloody awesome’ in getting the Bombers to the grand final.
The 20-year-old racked up 15 touches and kicked three majors in Kyabram’s 13-point preliminary final victory over Euroa.
But he’s not interested in individual merit.
“We’ve put so much work in this year and just to get there, it was a bit of a relief,” he said.
“We’re just so optimistic and just to play a role in that win was just awesome.
“You could tell with the emotion after the game too; in the rooms so many supporters and all the boys were up and about so hopefully we can ride that into this weekend.”
DePasquale’s story resembles that of the Bombers he once peered up at in awe.
He grew up in the Kyabram area and was a bona fide multi-talent, excelling at soccer, cricket and, of course, footy.
The young forward played his juniors at St Augustine’s before filtering into Kyabram’s junior rank-and-file, where he played for a couple of years before going away to boarding school.
Not just any school, however: the footy factory that is Assumption College.
“I had limited opportunities to play footy at Ky (when I was at boarding school),” he said.
“But whenever I could get back on the weekends I always looked forward to it because you play with your mates that you grow up with.
“The journey into senior footy the last couple of years has been really good.”
DePasquale, or ‘Dipper’ as he’s known at the Hangar, runs into the final off the back of his best season in front of the sticks.
His 28-goal tally in the GVL is nothing to be sneezed at as he ranks 17th among the competition’s best forwards, above the likes of former AFL talents Jarrad Waite, Josh Mellington and teammate Kayne Pettifer.
During an off-season stint in the Northern Territory Football League, DePasquale also slotted 43 majors for Nightcliff’s reserves.
But if Kyabram is to capture its first flag since 2019, even he knows he will need all his goal-kicking acumen on Sunday.
“They’re (Echuca) an unbelievable outfit and everybody knows it,” he said.
“They play such a good brand of footy and they’ve got a system that stacks up really well.
“They’ve got the better of us this year and I’ve actually never beaten Echuca in my few years of senior footy.
“If we’re to do it, it’s just 22 contributors and everybody playing their role.
“Paulo (Kyabram coach Paul Newman) is really big on that; if we play our role and we win our key match-ups it will go a long way towards winning the game.”
Winning would be the perfect parting gift DePasquale and co could deliver to their outgoing coach.
With Newman stepping down from the role after the grand final, it makes the scale of an already massive game even more significant. Or does it?
“He’s been an absolute stalwart of the club and that’s another bloke that you used to go to the footy as a kid and want to watch him play,” DePasquale said.
“He’s an absolute legend, a lot of blokes have played with him and now to play under him has been awesome.
“He’s been unbelievable for the club so there is that bit of emotion being his last game.
“It’s obviously a big game, not that he’d talk it up like that for his last game but there definitely is that emotion to get the boys up and about.”