FINALLY, Ballarat football fans will get a taste of the most exciting drawcard this region’s country football has had on our turf for a long time.

It is not like we have not had football stars grace our paddocks. But this is a complete ‘Fevolution’ sweeping the Ballarat Football League.

This season is different because Brendan Fevola is committed to playing with BFL club Melton South for a whole season as a co-coach.

He is not new to the BFL – Fev made a guest appearance for Bacchus Marsh at Maddingley Park in 2013.

This is no one-off. Fev has made clear he is about the team and desperate to help the success-starved Panthers be on the prowl for a premiership.

Now we finally gets to see exactly what Fev is all about, up close, in his first Ballarat appearance when he leads the Panthers into battle at Sebastopol on Saturday.

Fittingly, the match will be under lights.

This fixture was always going to be big for Sebastopol in the club’s first game on a high-quality, resurfaced Marty Busch Reserve.

The Fev factor adds pulling power, particularly as the league’s only game scheduled that night.

He may be about the team, but there is no denying the hype Fev inevitably seems to create. 

We have heard about Fev’s work in the BFL: his tenacity in hunting down a rival to drive home a tackle; his trademark power in the forward lines (Fev has already booted 16 goals from three games); the crowds that follow him.

Fev is the talking point of Ballarat football and, after three games with the Panthers, brings his game in from the eastern bloc. You can still see the qualities in Fev that made him such an AFL fan favourite character. 

This is what Carlton fans would travel up to Yarrawonga to watch in the Ovens and Murray. 

There is always a buzz when former AFL stars play one-off games or a handful of matches in the region. Former Saint and Kangaroo Nick Dal Santo is going to line up with Hepburn in the Central Highlands a couple of times this season.

But no-one seems to have mastered it, and with such flair, week-in and week-out as Fev.

This is great for all BFL clubs. Fev brings people through the gates. The BFL is capitalising on the phenomenon with blockbuster fixtures around him.

Melton South supporters alone have been turning out in numbers not seen at the club in years. Before Fev, the Panthers’ last senior win was in late July 2015.

Fev in action is great for rival clubs.

All the talk is who gets The Job on Fev each week (Burras’ skipper Tom Petersen is likely this round) and he is proving a massive challenge for our grassroots back lines out there trying to stop him.

Young Ballarat footballers have heard the tales, now they have a chance to learn a big lesson on the field. The experience is invaluable.

Fev is 36 years old, dominating and – if he got fit – was confident he could play AFL again in the wake of a Collingwood’s fan petition.

He has re-ignited a magic that has been lacking from the Ballarat football for awhile: a genuine super star.