Although he had captained most other teams he was unable to break into the Risdon side so he went to Proprietary because they only had 15 players.

Ken Bishop was a coach who had the biggest influence on his career and instilled his passion for the game.

“I loved the guy and I have taken everything he taught me into my own style of coaching.”

The dependable backman had a year with Wandearah and lost the grand final against Port Broughton in 1977.

Returning to Props, he played until 1989, then took on a playing coaches role for Warnertown in 1990-91.

During the 1991 season he played both A and B grade on the same day for two weeks in a row which cost him a knee operation, resulting in his retirement.

After 81 consecutive losses, in 1990 the Warnertown team had their first win in more than five years.

“Nobody knew the words to the club song,” Mr Zubrinich said.

“The club had some diverse characters from one end of the economic scale to the other; I could have written a book.”

In 1992 he won the position of Junior Development Officer for the Port Pirie Football League.

A highlight was in 1999 when he coached the State Country U/17 team at Football Park when they played against the Northern Territory U/18 team.

In that team were Mark Jamar and Jared Rivers who went on to play for Melbourne and Hayden Skipworth who played for the Crows and Essendon.

From 2000 until 2005 he took time off to watch his children play their sports.

Then in 2005 the accredited coach was lured back to football when Lions A grade coach Duck Davies asked him to be his assistant coach, which he did from 2006 until 2008.

Meanwhile, in 2009 this extraordinary coach took on the Lions U/15 team alongside his netball commitment, with contagious enthusiasm.

This did have a down side; when his Central A grade team were playing the semi-final the U/15s were playing in their grand final.

During the first quarter when the netball team was up by several goals he confidently left the John Pirie Stadium and crossed the road to Memorial Oval to guide his footballers. Apparently the mobile phone was running hot as he got quarter-by-quarter scores.

“No wonder I am grey,” he said.

He is extremely proud of his sporting family whom he says are reasonably talented.

Stuart no longer plays sport, James plays hockey and cricket and like her three older sisters, Alice plays netball.

Their mother Teresa was a handy netballer in her day and is also from a great sporting family, the Ganleys.

James was chosen in this season’s Hockey Team of the Year and likewise, Lisa is in the 2009 Netball Team of the Year.

As he reminisces, Mr Zubrinich claims the greatest player he has seen in the SGL is Kevin McSporran who won four Madigan medals and played for West Torrens.

“During one match I was told to tag him, it was a long day,” he said.

“The camaraderie and the special bonding and team spirit only footballers seem to have, I believe comes from having their own clubroom and singing the team song which draws the players together.”

The Lions life member and 300-plus game player said he holds dear the fun and the football stories he has shared with his best mates.

With his coaching commitments and five children still at home, he finds little time for anything else however he does relax by playing his old records.

The respected, amiable coach, has had a pivotal role in nurturing young players and said it has been a huge learning curve this season. He works by the same philosophy and had the same expectations.

He treats each player as an individual, speaks one-on-one and finds their strengths and weaknesses.

As he looks back over his sporting journey, he had nothing but praise for his wife who has supported him and he said with a laugh, “has laid out my gear for me all those years.”

“Teresa deserves a knighthood.”

“She has been my rock.”