There have been few constants at Essendon over the last 50 years.
Players and coaches have come and gone. Even the home base has changed.
The sash still proudly crosses the players’ chests and there is room in their hearts too for a man named ‘Killer’.
John Kilby is in the middle of his 50th year with the Bombers.
He began as a trainer and at the ripe old age of ‘around 80’, still straps the players ankles today.
“I started in 1965 with the under 19’s,” Kilby said.
“In those days when I started, you were a physio, you were a doctor, you were many different things.”
Kilby was born in Tasmania but has always been an Essendon man.
Two of his uncles, Duffy and Henry Plummer, played in 1930’s.
“Duffy was a very tough man, he had knees like mallee roots. He’d come off the ground with his ear hanging off,” Kilby said.
‘Killer’ came to Melbourne not to be a Bomber, but for planes of a different kind.
He worked for Trans Australia Airlines (now Qantas).
Kilby was an aircraft examiner, spending most his time around the planes engines.
“I think that’s why my hearing today is not as good as it used to be,” he said.
“You never wore anything on your ears even though it was like a tank going off.
“Today, you won’t mow a lawn without ear muffs and quite rightly so.”
After the encouragement of one of his airline colleagues Kilby began working as a trainer at Essendon.
In 1984, he was appointed head trainer.
“Wasn’t a bad sort of a year was it?
“There would be a lot of people in the same position at other clubs that have never had their foot on the MCG on a winning Grand Final day, so that was very special.”
Kilby has been there for Essendon’s last four flags and also served as Victoria’s head trainer when state football was at its peak.
“I was fortunate enough to be head trainer of the state side three times, so that was something very special.
“You got to know players from other clubs and it was a great social affair afterwards.”
Kilby admires the Essendon players of the 70’s and 80’s not only for the their footballing talent, but also their friendship.
He still receives Christmas cards from some Bomber premiership heroes annually.
Today, Kilby maintains an active role at training and on match day.
In the minutes before the first bounce, Kilby shuffles from the race to the bench with the stretcher tucked under his arm.
The players he tends have changed, the grounds are different too but 'Killer's' presence remains.
And it is thanks to people like him that the game's and the club's history lives on too.
“I can understand looking to the future, but you should never forget the past,” he said.
“The past players put this club right at the top.
“It was a great club, it still is a great club and there is no reason we can’t achieve those type of things again.”