CHFL: James Evans a Bulldog to his boots

By Tim O'Connor
Updated November 2 2012 - 5:28pm, first published September 1 2011 - 9:11am

JAMES Evans wouldn’t change Daylesford’s journey for the world.He’s experienced the culture of the Ballarat Football League, but is relishing the club’s success since its switch to the Central Highlands in 2006.Evans was part of the club’s breakthrough senior CHFL flag in 2007, as well as the memorable last-gasp triumph over arch-rivals Hepburn in 2009.The 26-year-old has played in the last four grand finals, and could make it a fifth in succession should the Bulldogs get over Buninyong on Sunday.“I started playing senior footy when Daylesford was coming back. There were guys like Luke Adams and Scott Winduss at the peak of their powers when I started. Daylesford had really struggled for many years,” Evans says.“I have been really fortunate to play when I have. There are guys who have played 300 or 400 games and been in only one or two finals.“The last four years I have played in a grand final and had some pretty successful years of senior football.”Evans, a teacher at Ballarat Clarendon College, said the move from the BFL to the Central Highlands was met with a lot of trepidation by older supporters, but believes it was the right one.“I think in the long term it has been the best thing that has happened to the club,” he said this week.“Hepburn and Waubra initially started the push to competing with each other. With us moving in the standard of the league picked up further.“I think while it’s probably not going to reach the quality of the top echelon of the BFL, there is some really good football.“ With five football teams and seven or eight netball teams all there on one day, the families stick around and it’s a wonderful atmosphere.“I think it’s what country football is all about and should be about.”Evans has played all his football – junior and senior – with Daylesford, and has no intention of leaving the Bulldogs.“I’m a big believer in sticking with the home club and I’ve got a lot of good mates and family there. I’ve got no interest in playing anywhere else,” he said.“I’ve had people talk to me about playing in Ballarat as I work over here, but really it’s not an issue. For me, footy is with your mates and is about having fun at the weekend.“In country football there are certain teams that have lost that, and I think it’s going to come back to bite them in the long term.”Evans, an under-17 league best and fairest, has been used in varying roles throughout his career, with his versatility fully utilised this season by coach Andrew Button.He played as a forward during the early part of the season, booting 22 goals, including a haul of 10 against Bungaree. As the season has gone on, Evans has drifted down back and had an enticing battle with Hepburn spearhead Lee Cox in the Bulldogs’ qualifying final win a couple of weeks ago.“I just do what the coach wants. It doesn’t really worry me,” Evans said.“In my junior days I played ruck and forward because I was a bit bigger boy in those days. The first few years of senior footy I played a bit more forward but the way the team was structured, we needed to get some bigger guys down back. That’s a role that I have filled.“I love both roles. From a backman going forward, you take every chance you get. It’s really good, but at the same time I think the backline is like a team within the team. The work you do as a backline goes unrecognised a lot of the time, which is the way I’d prefer to play my footy.”

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