Euroa’s Marcus Varley to play 200th GVL senior game just weeks on from ‘good mate’ Andrew Bell’s milestone match

And that’s the way it’s been for some time now.

Varley — or “Gus” — and Bell — or “Belly” — grew up next door, lacing each other up as they now do in the Goulburn Valley League week upon week.

It’s become routine for them for the past 15 years. They just wear bigger boots now.

However, this past month has been a big one for the boys who bleed black and white, with Bell celebrating his 200th senior Euroa game against Mooroopna in round 10.

Varley follows suit this Saturday, notching his double ton when the Magpies trek to Victoria Park to take on powerhouse Echuca.

He’ll reach the milestone a decade and a half after his senior debut in 2009 and, according to the man himself, he couldn’t see himself doing it anywhere else.

“I’ve grown up in Euroa playing junior footy then progressed to under-18s and started playing seniors when I was about 16,” Varley said.

“We weren’t too strong back then; I got an opportunity pretty early on, maybe because of that.

“I had a couple of years at uni where I played in Bendigo when I was studying, but outside of that I’ve been at Euroa pretty much ever since.

“I just enjoy playing for the club, it’s a fantastic environment within our club and it’s always been really well led by Scott Watson throughout almost my whole career.”

Watson, Euroa Football Netball Club’s president, watched Varley and Bell go from teens to titans while earning their Magpie stripes since their 2009 debuts.

He also taught them maths in Year 12.

And as Watson indicated, they weren’t the only ones from that year group to hit great heights in those neutral hues.

“It was interesting; one of their best mates also debuted that year for the senior footy side, and his name is Jamie Elliott,” Watson said.

“They all love playing in the black and white; fortuitously Jamie ended up in the black and white at AFL level.

“There will be plenty of people outside the club — people with key links to the club like Jamie — who’ll be looking from a distance and saying how amazing it is that we had Andrew play his 200th a few weeks ago and now Gus gets to play his 200th this weekend.”

Certain sacrifices have been made for Varley and Bell to rack up a double ton of Magpies games.

For one, they haven’t lived in Euroa for several years.

So when Saturday arrives, the two great mates load up the car and hit the tarmac from city to country, with each circuitous journey amounting to hundreds of kilometres.

“We’re both living in Melbourne and we travel up to the games most weekends together, so it’s pretty special,” Varley said.

“I have a lot of family connections to the club and just the sense of community in Euroa is the reason why I travel back from Melbourne every week.”

The milestones of Euroa’s dynamic duo denote its devotion to the badge and ability as footballers.

But beyond that, they’re simply good guys.

“They’re great fellas, wonderful leaders, and they have really wonderfully supportive families that they come from,” Watson said.

“They’re both ex-captains of ours and now, having stepped away from that role, I think they’re both flourishing as our elder statesmen of the senior footy side.

“Both continue to keep themselves very, very fit, and that’s a credit to them in knowing what’s required to play what I would consider to be elite level country footy.

“The way in which they bring others along with them, that’s part of that leadership. They just have that natural leadership aura about the two of them.

“They’d be the first to say that the success of the group is what they’re after, and they haven’t achieved that ultimate success yet.”

Watson and the entire Euroa collective are crossing their fingers and toes that ultimate success arrives in two months’ time.

It all starts this weekend with a 2022 grand final rematch against the Murray Bombers, and Varley knows what’s at stake in his 200th.

“Echuca is clearly the team to beat in the competition, but we’re super excited for the chance to throw everything at them,” he said.

“(It’s) always a massive challenge over there, but we’re looking forward to it and see how we go.”

Regardless of what transpires on Saturday, Varley can hold his head high knowing he’s given everything for the club over the past 15 years.

The same goes for Bell.

Their unbending loyalty is sometimes seldom seen in the sell sword world of country footy, and Watson issued a massive congratulations to them both for making it to 200 senior games for Euroa.

“The club is very proud of these two boys, and for them to get qualified life membership of the Goulburn Valley League, they’re both very, very proud of that,” he said.

“The 200 senior games of footy is also a marker where they’ll receive life membership for Euroa Football Netball Club as well.”