LIFE is a juggling act for Footscray/Western Bulldogs AFL favourite son Stephen Macpherson. The 44 year old is on the go just about 24/7, but he wouldn't want it any other way.
"Life's great," he said.
The devoted father of four combines family life with a demanding job as a counsellor/case worker with Mission Australia and still manages to find time to coach two footy sides - Greenvale's senior team in the Essendon District Football League's A grade and Diamond Creek's under-12 team in the Northern Football League.
'Super' Macpherson is certainly living up to the lofty nickname he earned during his playing days at the Whitten Oval.
He is speaking on his mobile telephone as he keeps an eye out for a spot in the car park at the Puffing Billy railway in Belgrave on Friday morning.
He and wife Karen are about to enjoy a day out on the famous train with their children, Darcy, 11, Molly, 10, Ewan, 7, and Charleze, 3.
Macpherson is passionate about his footy and keeps a close eye on his beloved Bulldogs, the team for which he played 188 games between 1982 and '95 after being recruited as a 16yearold from Clarence in Tasmania.
Fiercely determined, he is thrilled to be coaching and
is gunning for his third premiership as coach of Greenvale.
He's also in charge of Diamond Creek's under-12s to have fun with son Darcy, a promising onballer.
Macpherson loves what he's seeing from the Western Bulldogs as they take aim for their first premiership since the glory days of 1954 when 'Mr Football', Ted Whitten senior, Charlie Sutton and Jack Collins were the undisputed footy kings of the west.
"It's their time. I like their run. The way they can move the footy and use the ball."
Inspirational captain and 300-gamer Brad Johnson is Macpherson's favourite.
"'Johnno' is an absolute joy to watch. He keeps stepping up." Other favourite players include Shaun Higgins, Mitch Hahn, Brian Lake, Ben Hudson, Matthew Boyd and Daniel Cross.
After dabbling with coaching with Coburg in the Victorian Football League in 1999 and 2000, Macpherson has achieved legendary status at Greenvale.
He wrote himself into the record books by coaching the Jets to a history-making premiership in 2004 then spearheaded the side to another flag in '07, this time without losing a game.
Greenvale appeared on track to do exactly the same last year before inexplicably faltering in the grand final.
Retribution of sorts is a driving force for coach and players this season.
They are men on a mission,
the Geelong of the EDFL's A-grade. Just like the Cats in the AFL, the Jets blew a golden opportunity to celebrate back-to-back premierships last year.
Both were just about unbackable favourites in their respective grand finals.
Geelong had lost only one game before being upset by Hawthorn in the biggest game of the year.
Greenvale had an even better record. They were gunning for successive flags without losing a single game.
The Jets had won 20 games in a row to win the 2007 premiership and seemed certain to do exactly the same last year.
They finished six games clear on top of the ladder after the 18 home-and-away rounds and then thumped Keilor in the second semi-final.
Celebrating a win in the grand final appeared a formality for Macpherson's all-conquering line-up.
But Keilor coach Michael McGuane and his players arrived at Windy Hill that fateful day ready to play and proceeded to pull off one of the most stunning grand final wins in EDFL history.
Not surprisingly, Macpherson says motivation is a powerful force among his players this year.
"We had a bad day. We can't get that back, we can't change it.
"We probably went into it too comfortable [with ourselves].
"Nothing really went our way.
"Our midfield didn't get their hands on the ball, which put a lot of pressure on us all over the ground.
"[But] that was almost two years of being undefeated. We're doing something right."
Although the pain remains, Macpherson and his players have been fiercely determined to bounce back from the bitter disappointment of it all.
Rarely far from the headlines, Greenvale is undefeated after seven rounds.
It enjoyed the breather over the Queen's Birthday long weekend in the knowledge it had opened up a handy two-game break on arch-rivals Keilor, Maribyrnong Park and Strathmore.
Macpherson couldn't be more delighted with his side's winning run.
"We can't complain.
"We've got a two-game break on the rest of the competition," he said.
But he implored his players to keep their eyes on the hard ball and not to get ahead of themselves.
Macpherson has tremendous respect for Keilor and Strathmore and is certain Maribyrnong Park under playing coach Brodie Holland will be a force to be reckoned with come the business end of the season.
"There's four sides who could quite easily win it," he said.
"I think it's going to come down to fitness and an ounce of luck with injuries and those sorts of things."
He had a word of warning for the competition.
"We're still nowhere near full strength. We haven't had the best of luck with injuries."
But that hasn't stopped the Jets from enjoying a turbo-charged start to the season.
Dashing half-back flanker Travis Jorgensen has played an important role.
Macpherson loves his style.
"Very exciting. He's freakish with some of the things he can do. He's very hard to contain."
Ball magnet Paul Lenne has also been a driving force.
"[He's been] outstanding. Regulation 25 to 40 possessions every week."
Hard-tackling forward Joe Gazzo has impressed as well.
"He's made a real difference to the side.
"He's a Greenvale kid who has come back after having a crack at the VFL [with the Coburg Tigers]."
Full forward Jonathon Kent, the son of club president Bruce Kent, has slotted in well after returning to the line-up after kicking 100 goals in Glenroy's B grade premiership last year.
Other consistent performers include full back Teaukura Paiti, half-back flanker Chris Burns, ruckman Rhys Bloomfield and onballer Anthony Aloi.
Crumbing forward Jaryd Thompson has also caught the eye. "He's an exciting player. He can kick goals from anywhere," Macpherson said.
In a stunning twist, given the side's remarkable parallels with Geelong, Thompson is the nephew of Cats coach Mark 'Bomber' Thompson.
His father Steve has been a tireless worker around Greenvale for many years.
"Stevie is a great fella," Macpherson said. "He's always helping out around the club."
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