It's Thursday morning and new Castlemaine coach Don Moran makes his daily drive from his home to Braemar College where he is head of physical education.
In that time he makes 15 phone calls to footballers.
Moran's tale is not unique. It's football's silly season and coaches across the region are constantly on the phone talking to potential recruits.
However, Moran wasn't talking to potential recruits. He was talking to 15 players that played with Castlemaine this year to reassure them that everything was in place for the Pies to take a step forward in 2020.
When your senior team has only won three games in three years and your reserves have struggled for numbers, the last thing you need is 15 players looking elsewhere to play footy in 2020.
"The good news is those 15 players want to play for Castlemaine again,'' a cheerful Moran said.
When you have the toughest job in Bendigo footy you need to have a positive outlook and that's exactly what Moran and new Castlemaine FNC president Caleb Kuhle bring to the table.
While the duo respect the Magpies past, their focus is the future.
Castlemaine and the word "survival" have been bandied around in plenty of Bendigo footy conversations in recent months, but that's not the case at Camp Reserve.
According to Kuhle and Moran, the club's survival is not in question.
"We're confident we'll field all three football sides,'' Kuhle said.
"There's a fresh buzz around the club with the locals. There's a lot of players that are in their early 20s that were on the fringe of not wanting to play footy anymore.
"Now they want to have a fair dinkum crack, get their mates back in and play and set up a base for 2021.
"In our situation this is not something you can turnaround (quickly)... but there is an air of excitement around the club."
The development of locals is Moran's focus.
In recent years the club has recruited a host of players from Melbourne in a bid to boost its on-field status.
While Moran, who played in the Magpies ' 1992 premiership team, hasn't ruled out metropolitan recruits completely, he said his first goal is to ensure young players coming through the ranks in the Castlemaine district want to play major league footy with the Magpies.
"There is an impetus to recruit players...but our main focus is looking after the locals and enticing locals back to the club that have been playing elsewhere,'' Moran said.
"This is not about a one-year fix. It's a plan to make Castlemaine a club that locals want to play for again.
"We have a strong junior club and we want those kids to have an opportunity to move forward and play Bendigo football."
The winless Magpies had an average losing margin of 105 points this year.
"If we can make a dent in that and reduce that it will be a pretty good start,'' Moran said.
"I'll have a huge focus on getting some wins at home.
"When I played at Castlemaine the Camp Reserve was always a place where opposition clubs didn't like to come.
"No matter where Castlemaine was on the ladder it really was a fortress.
"That's gone and the plan is to try and make the club more competitive at home."
At age 23 Kuhle is the youngest club president in the BFNL.
He's well aware there's going to be ups and downs along the way, but he had a message for those in the BFNL that were ready to write the Magpies off.
"We are coming, but it takes time,'' Kuhle said.
"I have a feeling it's going to be really special. Don is top notch, it's a blessing that we have him.
"It's going to be a tough slog, but I'm confident there is light at the end of the tunnel.
"We wouldn't be here today if we didn't have confidence in what we're doing."
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