George Edwards, the club's 72-year-old treasurer, has done an hour's work in the club's hamburger hut. Club stalwarts are huddled by the fire underneath the `Tree of Knowledge' to watch training. They only leave its warmth to visit George if they need a new green or red can.

The Tree of Knowledge holds a special place in the hearts of Kangaroo Flat fans, including George. This is not just because it carries a plaque featuring the name of club favourite Marty Holliday who was killed in a motorcycle accident. The towering elm is where fans gather to chew the fat.

"Everyone knows they can solve the problems of the world by getting under that tree - it's like the Yarra bank," George says.

George moved to 'The Flat' in 1943 with family and still lives on the same property with his brother. His love affair with the Kangaroo Flat Football Club began in 1946 when he was asked to help clean up around the club's ground by then president Arthur Dower.

He is a tall man with a flashing smile and known for his determination and modesty, but has never married.

"Might have been just as well I think. I got married to the football club - that took up all my time, anyway." His time at the club has coincided with five of the six premierships the Roos have won. They trace their history back to 1862 when a Kangaroo Flat side played Sandhurst. Since World War 2 the club has mostly played as a part of the Golden City Football League and Bendigo Football Association. The club joined the Bendigo Football League in 1982 as the GCFL folded. George is as much a fixture at Dower Park as the Tree of Knowledge. He arrives at 8 am on match days and raises up to $10,000 a year through raffle ticket sales.

Dower Park's steel grandstand, built by George and his brother-in-law in 1982 and thought to be unique in country Victoria, was named after George without him even knowing.

After travelling to Raywood one Saturday to watch the Roos play Northern United, George returned to Dower Park on Sunday to find his name on top of the stand.

The perception in country football is volunteers like George are becoming harder to find and those who are considering volunteering are scared away by the threat of being sued if something goes wrong. Figures presented to the state government's 'Inquiry into Country Football' by Volunteers Australia show volunteering has never been more popular, with sporting clubs second only, in terms of popularity, to welfare organisations.

The inquiry began in April last year and a final report is expected by the end of September. The link between population and the health of football clubs is another major focus of the inquiry.

The trend which has emerged is if the population of a town declines, the footy club follows suit. Craig Ingram, the deputy chair of the inquiry, points out the opposite applies.

"If you've got employment and tertiary education opportunities then young people have got an opportunity to stay. If there are jobs for young families the football is very strong." The Roos are in an ideal position to benefit from this situation. While experiencing strong population growth, Kangaroo Flat is surrounded by boom areas Mandurang, Maiden Gully, Lockwood and Big Hill.

It's a point not lost on anyone at the club. The Roos' vice-president Ron Stevens said: "Everything's in our favour to go forward, but it is just a matter of probably having the right people there at the time to do it.

"A lot of committees over many years at a lot of footy clubs have brought them down by not making the right decisions." The footy-netball club's relationship with the community has been strained in the years since it joined with the other clubs using Dower Park to form the Kangaroo Flat Sports Club. The Sports Club took over the footy club's rooms and introduced poker machines. The footy club went on an aggressive chase for more premiership success to follow up on the Roos' only BFL flag in 1996. A lack of success, loss of identity and lack of local players appearing in the senior team led to dwindling crowd numbers, volunteers leave, and financially the club was left hanging by a thread. The senior side has won just once since the middle of season 2002, finishing bottom of the ladder for the past two years.

George was one of the volunteers who left the club during this time, disenchanted with the direction of the club. He was prompted to return when things got so bad, during the opening rounds of the 2003 season, that it looked like the club would fold.

Since that time, George believes the club has turned the corner. "We've attracted some good workers on the committee and they're the ones that are prepared to work and are not looking for much in the way of reward - just a little bit of success. That's all they want and they'd be happy." Youthful president Scott Jackman says George's experience and knowledge is an asset to the footy club.

"If he hasn't said anything and it's a contentious issue, I always look to him and get his opinion because I value it probably more than most."