An eight-time premiership winner across all three grades at Bundoora, Hamer reaches the feat when he steps out for battle in this weekend’s reserves clash against Montmorency.
Ahead of the grand occasion, former Bundoora secretary and sponsorship manager Phil Walker reflects on Hamer’s 29 years at Yulong Reserve.
AS a young club secretary back in 1984 it was my task to hand out the guernsey numbers to senior players as part of our pre-season launch.
The number 14 was handed to a fresh faced 17-year-old kid named Andrew ‘Pickles’ Hamer.
A product of the Bundoora juniors he had shown some signs in the under-18s that he was likely to be a senior player.
But nobody at the club could envisage how great a player he would turn out to be.
At 17, he was tall enough for senior football at 179cm but at only 72kgs some at Bundoora were concerned how his slight frame would cope with the demands of Division 1 Diamond Valley football.
In those days, strong and physical contact was not only acceptable, but encouraged by many clubs as a quality required to survive in the game at that level. You not only had to be able to give it out, but you had to be able to take it.
Our fears were soon quashed as he not only coped in the top flight, but became a dominant player in our first 18 almost immediately.
Possessed with blistering speed and a raking left foot kick, he bamboozled his more experienced opponents almost from the outset with his anticipation, limitless courage and hunger for the football.
Those in the opposition who chose to exert undue physical tactics upon Andrew more often than not found him steaming away from them or moving laterally at the last moment to make them look foolish.
Bundoora fans of the time marvelled at his long dashes down the wing, his limitless courage, and his ability to finish with a brilliant goal or to set up a team mate in a better position.
Courted by VFA and VFL clubs early in his career, Pickles resisted their advances and remained a Bundoora player throughout.
His accolades make for impressive reading as champion player and clubman from the outset as outline in his profile below.
Pickles got even better with age, culminating in deserved team success where he was an important member of the 1995 and 1996 senior premierships.
This was a fitting reward for a club champion and the culmination of a great career.
Most supporters and committee members expected he would retire soon after the premiership wins. After all he was 31 years old and had already played more than 200 senior games.
But quietly spoken and humble Pickles had other ideas and decided to play on and coach the reserves.
He didn’t just play in the reserves, he starred for them.
He captain-coached the reserves to two premierships and topped the reserves league and club goal kicking tables on several occasions.
At 48 years of age he plays on (and on and on and on) and his contribution to the Bundoora Football Club and his positive influence on the careers of so many players has seen him contribute immeasurably to the enduring success of the Bundoora Football Club over the past 30 years.
His achievement can not only be measured in how many games he has played, rather by the respect he has gained from all whom he has played with and against.
The number 14 jumper sits proudly in the Yulong Reserve club rooms and Pickles will remain a hero not just to the Bundoora Football Club but to the game itself.
THE HAMER PROFILE
GAMES PLAYED: 500 (248 senior – 252 reserves)
SENIOR DEBUT: 1983 (17 years of age)
GRAND FINALS: 15
PREMIERSHIPS: 8
ACHIEVEMENTS
Bundoora under-18 best and fairest (1982, 1983)
Bundoora reserves best and fairest (2000)
DVFL best and fairest (2000)
Bundoora reserves leading goal kicker (2000, 2003, 2004, 2007)
DVFL/NFL leading goal kicker (2003, 2007)
Member of Bundoora Team of the Century
Bundoora life member
PERSONAL HIGHLIGHTS
Bundoora senior premierships (1995, 1996)
Captain-Coach of Bundoora reserves premierships (2003, 2006)
DVFL interleague representative eight times
