When Shepparton Swans players, volunteers and supporters descend on Princess Park on Saturday, one harrowing and striking image will be front and centre of their minds.
It will have been 181 days since almost 40ft of water engulfed and consumed the very ground they call home.
October’s devastating floods impacted far and wide across the Goulburn Valley and Princess Park was an epicentre of that disaster.
Flood water, from the neighbouring Goulburn River, spilled into the home of the Swans and like an unwanted guest, stayed there for more than a fortnight despite efforts to pump out the ruinous beast.
Once the water receded, worst fears, unfortunately, became a reality.
The W.B Hunter Pavilion, which housed the Swans’ clubrooms and change rooms, was left soaked and ruined and the John Riordan Oval no longer looked recognisable as it resembled the surface of the moon.
Initial thoughts had many predict Princess Park would not see a centre pass thrown or hear the noise of a car horn following a goal in 2023.
Incredibly, that will happen on Saturday as the Swans prepare for their first hit-out on their home deck against Mansfield in round three of Goulburn Valley League.
“It’s been pretty tough for Swans people (since the floods),” senior football captain Nathan Rachele said this week.
“We had our presentation night the day before it happened and the clubrooms looked fantastic, but then you start to see videos of water coming in and then two days later it was completely under, so it was really hard to take it all in.
“There was a handful of people in a race against time to get what they could out ... but a lot of stuff just floated away which was hard.”
In the months since, a mountain of work has been undertaken to get the Swans back out on the park.
The oval has been resown and the main netball court has received a fresh lick of paint and been resurfaced.
Portable change and clubroom facilities have been installed — supplied by AFL Victoria and Ausco Modular — serving as temporary accommodation while the Swans’ existing facilities are repaired.
Rachele revealed even he had his doubts about seeing football and netball return this year.
“It was a little bit of uncertainty, especially when you used to drive past here and everything just looked grey,” he said.
“I remember thinking, ‘gee, there’s no way they are going to get it right for footy this year’, but look at it now, it’s so cool to see it like this.
“It was good being able to train up at Rumbalara. It’s kind of been training like usual and nobody has made a fuss of it or spat the dummy, they’ve all said, ‘righto, these are the cards we’ve been dealt’ and I think that’s the best way to approach it.
“But it’s nice to be back. We came back the Tuesday before round one ... it’s a good feeling, everyone has been up and about which has been good.”
For A-grade co-captain Chelsea McDonald, it’s a feeling of relief to finally have the courts up and running again.
McDonald, fresh from a year off playing, thanked everyone involved for their efforts to get the players back out on their home deck.
“It’s such a relief to finally be back after an interrupted off-season,” she said.
“The netball girls are very excited about the new court, hopefully this is a flow on effect and continues with the reconstruction for most of our facilities.
“A big thank you to all who have accommodated the club in these trying times.
“Well done to the Swans community for being able to get organised so early in the season.”
The senior football match commences at 2pm, with the A-grade netball to follow at 2.15pm.