Reigning Moama best-and-fairest Nick Pavlou was on the cusp of an AFL career. His journey to the Murray Football League hasn’t been straightforward.
The Sandringham Dragons have produced a number of out-and-out stars at AFL level.
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Household names such as Chris Judd, Luke Ball, Jobe Watson and Tom Hawkins have all pulled on the navy blue, maroon and white jumper in what is now known as the Coates Talent League before making the jump to the big time.
But none of the aforementioned players have ever had the distinction of being named captain of the representative side.
Nick Pavlou has.
The reigning Moama best-and-fairest was identified as a junior star, being selected as a bottom-age talent for the Dragons.
It was in his top-age year in 2015 that he was given the honour of captaining the side, succeeding the recently-drafted Angus Brayshaw.
“That was a really interesting time for me,” Pavlou said of his time at the Dragons.
“The Sandy Dragons are one of the unique teams where a lot of their players are private school students who have to actually play for their school team as a priority, opposed to the Dragons.
“I was actually the sole captain of Sandy Dragons, however I probably only played eight or 10 games throughout the year because I had to go and play school footy as a priority.
“It was a pretty unique circumstance trying to juggle it all together.”
On top of being named captain for the Dragons, Pavlou was captain of the Brighton Grammar first 18 side, while also completing his Year 12 studies.
As an 18-year-old, the AFL was within reach for Pavlou, a dream he had held since first pulling on a pair of boots.
But it was to go unrealised.
“A lot of kids growing up, it's their dream to play footy, and yeah, I was close, but unfortunately didn't get the chance,” he reflected.
“It's a pretty political industry trying to get drafted, and you not only need to be a good footy player, but you need a lot of luck on your side. I didn't have a bit of luck in a few circumstances, so I missed out."
In his draft year, Pavlou captained two bottom-age players by the names of Andrew McGrath and Tim Taranto.
They would go number one and two respectively in the draft just one year later.
There is disappointment in his voice when discussing some of the players he called teammates, which he makes no effort to hide.
“Of course, you take pride in it, but not only those blokes (McGrath and Taranto), when I was at school I was playing with Josh Kelly and Christian Salem, and bottom age Dragons I was playing with Angus Brayshaw and Brayden Maynard, the list goes on,” Pavlou said.
“It's awesome to play with some good players, but in some respects to look back on it's a bit of a difficult thing in circumstances, because you compare yourself to others and, maybe put yourself on the same level as them.
“Then you look and some of them have played 200 AFL games and you've not played one, so yeah, I guess it's a funny one.”
As a young man dealing with the reality of not being drafted, Pavlou threw himself into his studies and work, graduating from the Dragons to the Sandringham VFL side.
While he followed the VFL pathway for a number of years, he ultimately came to the realisation that there was more to life outside of football.
“It's an interesting one, VFL, because you've got a lot of pressure on you in terms of training commitments, but you've also got a massive load on outside of footy regarding university and work,” he said.
“(It’s) certainly something that you've got to balance, and I had a crack at it for a couple of years there, but then my priorities altered a little bit.
“I just wanted to enjoy my footy a little bit more and enjoy some things outside of footy like travel, which are difficult to do when you're giving semi-professional or professional footy a crack."
Taking a step back, Pavlou found himself back at childhood club Hampton in the VAFA, before moving to Old Brighton Grammarians to play in the premier division of the amateur competition.
There was no denying his class, as he claimed the 2019 Old Brighton best-and-fairest in a stellar year that included a 54-disposal, two-goal performance against VAFA powerhouse St Kevin’s.
Ever humble, Pavlou played down his exploits.
“I think it was just right place, right time,” he said.
“Lots of people play good games of footy.”
But with an eye-catching 2019 season behind him, COVID-19 lockdowns and disruptions sparked a desire within Pavlou to escape the Melbourne bubble, a decision that led him first to the Northern Territory, before ending up in Moama.
“That was mainly sort of to try and get out of Melbourne because we were in lockdown with COVID,” he said of his decision to venture up to the NTFL.
“I've got some really good family friends who live up in Darwin and they've always been in my ear a little bit to come and try the footy up there. Then with COVID, Darwin was a really good opportunity to go and enjoy a bit of freedom and I guess on the side play footy, which was an added bonus.
“I decided to move up there for a season and absolutely loved it. I made a lot of great mates, played at the Banks Bulldogs Football Club, which is a great footy club with some great people, and yeah, I've gone back a couple times since and won a flag as well, which was pretty cool.”
Winning the best-and-fairest in his first year, Pavlou returned and won a premiership in the 2021-22 season.
Alongside him in that best-and-fairest season was Moama assistant coach Jye Warren.
“A few of my teammates at Banks Bulldogs were Moama boys,” Pavlou said.
“Obviously I created a bit of a connection and friendship with them when I was playing footy up in Darwin.
“They were in my ear a bit to come and give Moama footy a crack, (there was) a number of reasons, but it was good timing.
“I was keen for a change and to get out of Melbourne, so yeah, played there last year and have been absolutely loving it ever since."
That Pavlou is loving his time at Moama is evident. He was best-and-fairest in his first year at the club, kicking 28 goals from the midfield to finish just one behind Fraser Buchanan in the club goal-kicking award.
The club is firmly in the premiership window this season, with Pavlou among the many that are excited about the prospect of going deep into September.
“We're very eager to see where we could go this year,” he said.
“We've brought a couple of players into the team and pretty much kept, you know, 90-95 per cent of last year's team. We're really excited to see where we can go.
“I'm not sure we've found our most consistent and best footy as of yet, we're all sort of still trying to find that, but from glimpses of what we have shown so far, I think everyone's pretty pleased with where we're at, and we've got a keen eye on what we can do later in the year.”