JUST running out in a Hepburn jumper fulfilled a long-term ambition, but now the premiership desire is really starting to burn bright for Ricky Ferraro.
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Son of triple Burras flag winner Greg, the 25-year-old onballer has been a hit since joining the club with his brother Jason for the 2015 Central Highlands Football League campaign.
An impressive debut season with the club has already seen him finish runner-up to Ballan’s Shaun Campbell at Monday night’s Geoff Taylor Medal count and has him as a vital part of the team’s engine room.
But like just about every footballer will tell you, it’s not the personal accolades that are a driving force, it’s the team success.
And Ferraro is no different.
"I was very surprised about how I polled in the league best and fairest, but in saying that, it's not something that I really think about much,” Ferraro said.
"Fortunately enough we are still in contention for the big prize, which is the premiership.
"That's what I've come to play footy up here for.
"As far as my form goes, I feel like it has been pretty consistent. It's more about consistency instead of having a good game and then having a bad game.
"It's always about trying to minimise the in-between."
While he rarely makes the trip to train in Hepburn, Ferraro keeps fit with his brother in Melbourne and joins in on sessions with nearby Chelsea Heights Football Club to keep in touch before game days.
Ferraro said the timing was just right for he and Jason to play with the Burras in 2015 and help realise a dream.
”We have always known we were going to come up to Hepburn because just how much the old man speaks about the club and how much he has loved his time here,” he said.
"It was just a matter of time as to when we did come up here.
"It has been good. I was surprised at how much satisfaction we get out of doing it for the old man this year.
"He has come up most weeks when he can."
Ferraro, who played the past two years with Peninsula league side Bonbeach, arrived at Hepburn with a strong football background. He is a former captain of the Dandenong Stingrays, who took the side to the 2008 TAC Cup grand final and was sixth in the Morrish Medal of that year. He went on to play VFL with Collingwood, Sandringham and Casey Scorpions before stepping away from the high level environment.
“I went back to Casey Scorpions just because I knew I wanted to give it one more crack and then I probably got to round six or seven and work commitments took over and that was the final straw where I had to make a decision,” he said.
“That high level of footy had to be put on the back-burner a bit.”