Loyal Bushies star reflects on his career

Brenton Surrey may be small in stature.
But he has got a big heart that fortunately for the Bushrangers loudly beats red and royal blue.
Arguably the only thing bigger than his glittering CV.

Surrey won the Barton medal in 2011.

He has also finished runner-up in the TDFL’s highest individual honour on a further four occasions in 2006-07-08-10.

Bushranger supporters often joke that Surrey doesn’t know how to play a bad game.
Not surprisingly, Surrey also features on the Bushranger’s best and fairest honour board on five occasions in 2005, ‘09, ‘11, ‘12 and ‘13.

Surrey’s crowning glory is the Bushrangers 2010 flag which he cherishes the most.

Also a talented cricketer, Surrey has won five WDCA premiership medals and once scored 174 for Wang-Magpies in 2006 which remains a club record.
His career has also been as long as his list of accolades.

Surrey made his debut for the Bushrangers in 2004 as a 16-year-old which coincided with the club’s maiden season in the TDFL.
Fast forward two decades and Surrey is set to play his 300th match for his beloved Bushrangers against Kiewa-Sandy Creek on Saturday.

Ironically, Surrey also made his debut, reached his 200-match milestone and now his 300th against the Hawks.

Surrey, 36, joins an exclusive club with Robert ‘Tree’ Forrest and Anthony Mihaljevic the only previous players to reach the magical milestone in the club’s 163-year history.

“To be honest, I’m not an overly reflective person,” Surrey said of his milestone match.

“Yes, I’m proud of the achievement considering the rich history of this club and not many players have been able to achieve the milestone.
”But I feel the club has given me a lot more than I have given the club.
”Probably the thing I’m most proud of is our family’s long association with this fantastic club.
”My old man, Philip, played 220 odd senior matches and getting to run out alongside my younger brother, Kayde, for most of my career has been a personal highlight as well.
”Playing alongside my brother and my mates… that’s what football is all about in a small country town.

“My wife, Coby, has played more than 250-matches of netball as well, so it’s been a huge part of our lives.
”Now our kids, Cooper and Eleanor are starting to play juniors and hopefully they can continue the family tradition of playing for the Bushrangers.”

Surrey’s contribution to the club other than as a player can’t be underestimated either.
He has had several coaching stints of the seniors including as recently as 2021 after the club parted company with Shaun Baxter after only two matches.

One of Surrey’s proudest achievements is when he was appointed coach of the Bushrangers thirds in 2009 as a 21-year-old.
”It was great of the club to have enough trust in me to give me a go as coach at such a young age.” he said.

“The thirds were lucky enough to win the flag in 2009, then played off in 2010.
”I got immense satisfaction that a few of those kids became regular senior players and I think from memory there were half-a-dozen in the 2010 senior grand final side as 18-year-olds.”

Surrey is also well-known throughout the competition for his nickname ‘Grub’.
”I was christened that as a toddler because I was a grubby little prick growing up and I was always stepping in puddles and throwing much,” he said.
”It has stuck ever since.”

It’s fair to say that team success hasn’t been the motivation for Surrey to remain loyal to his junior club.
In tow decades, Surrey, has rarely ventured to Sandy Creek with the Bushrangers only playing finals in 2004, 2009, 2010 as well as the past two seasons.

“I guess you remember the good times but there have been some lean times,” he said.
”Not playing finals from 2011 until two years ago, I needed to whack Sandy Creek into my google maps. It had been that long since I played there.
”Geographically I think we traditionally struggle to get those recruits out of Wodonga to come up here to complement the local talent and become a finals force.
”I still think as a team we have a crack most weekends but after so long after not playing finals, you forget how to win, especially when it gets close.”

Despite being on the recruiting radar for a host of O&M clubs early in his career, Surrey never seriously contemplated leaving Baarmutha Park.
”Up until I was 25 or 26, your Myrtlefords, Wangarattas, the two Wodonga clubs and Alburys would make contact over the off-season. But we made finals in 2004 and my motiviation was to have some success alongside my mates which we were lucky enough to do in 2010. It hurt losing in the 2009 grand final to Tallangatta but fortunately we made amends the following season.”

Reference: The Border Mail (May 2, 2024)