JOHN Bergin considers himself lucky to have been to have been involved with Mildura Settlers Cricket Club for almost four decades.
Conversely, club members see the 53-year-old as an inspiration and a tireless worker behind the scenes.
Bergin played his 400th senior club game for Setts last week against Mildura East in a Sunraysia Cricket Association Third Division clash.
The wicket-keeper batsman has done it all, both on and off the field for the club, and president Greg Schultz said Bergin had made “an immense impact”.
“He has been an inspiration to everyone,” he said.
“He’s played senior cricket all the way from firsts to fourths and he’s done everything possible both on and off the field.
“He is a tireless worker and always supporting others, especially when to comes to the juniors, and he was club treasurer for at least 15 years.”
Bergin said he’s enjoyed playing the game he loves with his mates, and said life would be much different had he not been at Setts.
“I met my wife because of the club,” he said.
“We went on our annual cricket trip to the Adelaide Test match and I met my wife there. That mightn’t have happened if I didn’t play at Setts.
“I’ve been able to play with some great players like Jamie Siddons, Mark Cleary, Chris Cleary, Ron Casey, Richie Wyld, and with some of my best mates like Peter O’Donnell and Mark Kerr. Just had these connections all these years.
“Every club is great in their own right but I’ve been lucky to have been here all this time, aside from a couple of years where I went to uni.”
After debuting for Settlers’ third division side in 1984/85, Bergin went on to be part of five premierships, including the First Division flag of 2012/13 at age 44.
“That’s something I never expected to happen,” he said.
“You don’t really play sport for these sorts of things (milestones), they just happen over time at the end of the day. You hang around long enough these sorts of things happen.
“I’ve loved it since I was a kid and thankfully I’ve been a bit lucky with injuries and that and even though I’m not the fittest bloke in the world, I still manage to get through a cricket game alright.”
