The figure hit me like a thunderclap.

In July 2017, I was giving a talk in the social rooms at Blackburn Park in Ouyen when I mentioned the unique nature of the totem poles that were lined up behind the forward pocket on the other side of the ground.

The totem poles represented the nine clubs that had folded into each other over the course of 30 years to create the Ouyen United Football Club, wh...