The 58-year-old has been involved with the club since his junior playing days at Murtoa, well before they merged with Minyip.

He never expected to receive such a high honour.

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"It's like having a birthday party. No real different today but yeah it's good," Schier said on Monday.

"As soon as I saw them there I knew what it was all about. I put two and two together pretty quick."

In his time, Schier has held countless roles with the club, including player, president, junior coordinator and board member.

While he didn't have an official role in 2021, he still donated time to fulfil various duties as required.

Schier was president of Murtoa, leading into the club's famous 1994 merger with Minyip and became the Burras' first president. He remained president until the end of 1996, after the side won their first Senior flag.

Schier has fond memories of his time with Murtoa.

"Particularly when we were just Murtoa - because we were such a small town it was always a big thing taking on your bigger towns like Horsham, Stawell and Ararat," he said.

"We'd rarely win, but because of the togetherness of the club, we always had a good time, and we always stuck together through thick and thin.

"We didn't win that many games but it was just great to be involved with a club that stuck together. You always had a good time, win, lose, or draw."

Despite the fact that the Burras have been extremely successful and won four premierships since the merger, Schier believes premierships aren't the only way of measuring a club's success.

"To me, it's not about winning as such, that's not the main focus," he said.

"It's about being competitive and having a good club and good people around so that you're all together and you're having a good time.

"If you win great, but at the end of the day, as long as we're competitive and give it our best shot, that's what it takes.

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"Success isn't wholly and solely based on premierships in the country I feel. It's more about being competitive and being able to put all the sides on the ground."

"And that's what we can do week-in-week-out. We've got a huge junior program. And that's the same with the netball.

"We've got players wanting to play with us because of the dynamics of the club."

It's because of those club dynamics that Schier has stayed involved with Murtoa/Minyip-Murtoa for the best part of fifty years.

"It's my community," he said.

"I'm born and bred here, I live here and I'm as much a part of it as it is a part of me."

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