AT THE end of season 2014, Michael Searl made the tough decision to step aside from a long career with the North Ballarat Roosters, where he had become a household name.
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But, in some ways, he has remained closely linked to the Victorian Football League club.
Searl admits his move to Springbank this year had been centered around the desire to play alongside former Roosters Paul McMahon, Billy Driscoll, Matt Tyler and, on a part-time basis, Nick Couch, who all call Tigerland home.
The 30-year-old said the step back from the demands of VFL had been great.
"It has been just the perfect mix I've been looking for," he said.
"Obviously playing at North, your time requirements are quite high, but stepping out of that, that was exactly what I was looking for – to have less time commitment-wise, but also still taking my footy seriously and be out there to play as part of the team and share success with your team.
It has been just the perfect mix I've been looking for."
- Michael Searl
"The whole club has been incredibly welcoming and making me feel at home. And not just me, but my family as well. They really go that extra effort to look after recruited players and their own players."
Searl arrived as the GJ Gardner Tigers’ gun recruit during the pre-season and he hasn’t let them down.
He has proved an important swingman for the team – spending time at key posts at both ends of the ground – but admits down back is where he feels most at home.
“That's where I've played most of my footy growing up and at North Ballarat and the football that I'm most comfortable with, so it's probably where I'm suited,” he said.
And Searl’s success hasn’t only been at club level this year, with the Roosters’ dual premiership player and past captain winning best-on-ground honours in the Central Highlands’ interleague thumping of Horsham District early in the season.
But it’s with the Tigers and his good friends that the triumphs will mean the most.
"The boys have certainly spoken about the bad taste that the grand final loss left in their mouth from last year,” Searl said.
"Being a member of a team that loses in the finals, you know the feeling that they go through, so you want to just play as deep as you can.
“And also having had that feeling of playing in a premiership, you know that euphoria feeling that you get is irreplaceable and a moment you can share forever that no one can take away from you."
And while his focus is on this season, Searl admits he would consider a senior coaching role at Springbank if the opportunity presented.
“If they said that I'd be a good fit for that position, I'd certainly consider it,” Searl said.
