At the weekend, one player returned from a seven-year hiatus to rack up a ton of games at Avenel, while this Saturday, Undera will celebrate a centennial premiership among a swag of other happenings.
In addition to celebrating the 1925 senior premiership, the Lions will host premiership reunions of the 1955 senior and 1985 thirds flags.
Throw a past players’ day into the mix and you’ve got one heck of an occasion.
Bob Boyer, who is helping drive the event, said Undera was calling in the cavalry both on and off the field for what promises to be a red-letter day on the Lions’ calendar.
“We’ve got people travelling from as far as Adelaide for the day,” Boyer said.
“We’ve got one of the patrons of the club, Mavis Sellwood, she’s 96, and she’s coming along for the day which is pretty exciting.
“She’s organised a heap of cronies to come down — her grandson is going to play.
“Daniel ‘Piggy’ Campbell is going to play for us for the day; his grandparents are both life members, his uncle coached — it’s a Sellwood connection.
“He’s really pumped about the chance to throw the jumper on.”
Having Campbell, a two-time Murray Football League goal-kicker (2021-22) wheeled in from Congupna, is a big in for a winless Undera outfit.
Though the Lions’ senior side hasn’t been able to get the monkey off the back in 2025, the thirds and fourths are perched inside the top four, while the club’s remaining football and netball sides are all proving competitive this season.
“Outside of the seniors, the club is absolutely flying at the moment,” Boyer said.
“It’s been a revival of sorts — we’ve just got to get the seniors to get up to speed as the last thing, but that’ll be a bit of a slow burn.”
Undera’s task doesn’t get any easier on Saturday when welcoming Avenel.
The Swans may have come off second best against Nagambie in the previous round, but Josh Delaney’s charges are expected to be right in the mix when finals rolls around.
Yet, the big news emerging from the Swannery comes out of the club’s reserves.
Nathan Thomas wasn’t just a regular in Avenel colours during the 2010s — he was part of the club’s fabric.
He booted 136 goals across 99 games for the Swans, the majority of which were for the seniors, from 2012 to 2018.
Then, for seven years, his name disappeared from team sheets.
But on Saturday gone, Thomas made a low-key return to the field, suiting up for Avenel’s reserves where he kicked a goal in the Swans’ 100-point triumph against Nagambie.
No build-up, no headlines. Just a man chasing closure.
And in doing so, he reached his century: 100 games for the club he once helped anchor.
It wasn’t a grand final or other grand occasion — it wasn’t even a senior fixture.
But for Thomas and for those at Avenel who’ve followed his career, it meant just as much.
Thomas may have thought he left the game — but the game, it seems, waited patiently for him.
