You can see the vision on the television, you can see the photos in the newspaper and you can see all the social media posts but until you've gone down to the South Coast of NSW and seen it first hand, it's hard to describe the utter devastation communities have had from the recent bushfires. 

Last week the Sydney Swans spent time on the South Coast of NSW in the bushfire affected communities of Batemans Bay, Ulladulla and Lake Conjola as part of the 2020 AFL Community Camp.

Swans players were spread across the state with a big focus on the bushfire affected regions of Ulladulla and Batemens Bay.

I was based in Batemans Bay with Luke Parker, Jordan Dawson, Kaiden Brand, Justin McInerney, Chad Warner, Ryley Stoddart, Joel Amartey, Robbie Fox, Brady Rowles, Matt Ling and Ben Ronke.

As the four hour journey from Sydney to Batemans Bay progressed, the charred trees started to get more frequent and the true scale of the bushfire emergency that struck these communities was increasingly evident. 

It was an eerie feeling driving through bushland that now looked like a graveyard. However parts of the terrain showed a stark contrast of charcoaled remains and new life trying to come through from the recent rain, trying to rejuvenate the blackened bush.

As we approached Ulladulla, you could see properties that came within inches of the fires. I remember seeing one property that was just black all around it but the house was still standing.  Images of hard working RFS volunteers and brave locals with handheld hoses doing all they could to save that place flashed through my head.

It was the same entering Batemans Bay, the extent of how much land these fires had gone through was devastating. Alongside the properties and the human element,  I just kept thinking of all the wildlife that would have been in these areas. You could only reflect through watery eyes on what these communities had (and are still) going through.

As we reached Batemans Bay in the late afternoon, the first community activity for the boys was at the local footy ground, home of the Batemans Bay Seahawks. You could feel the sense of community as soon as you walked onto the ground with red and white streamers taped to the fence to welcome us as well as open arms from Club President Heath Petterwood and wife Jaimie who encapsulate all that is good about community football clubs.

The local radio station broadcast from the clinic as kids from across the area had some fun with our boys, giving them some much needed time to just be kids and not think about what their families and friends had gone through.

There were plenty of laughs and smiles apart from when Robbie Fox and Joel Amartey had the kids doing push ups, but even that was all in good fun!

As the boys went about putting some much needed smiles on the kids’ faces, I spoke to some locals on the other side of the fence who were enjoying the spectacle.

“You don’t know how much this means to these kids,” local resident Ian said with a shaky voice.

“They’ve been through things that no one should have to. You just don’t know how good the Swans being down here is for them. It means the world.”

Ian’s sentiment was heard numerous times across our time in Bateman’s Bay and it was incredibly enlightening to see how much it meant to the kids (and the big kids) who were watching on.

I also met a lady named Elaine from just down the road in Catalina, her grandkids live in Geelong but are big Swans fans so she and her husband came down to say hello.

Even though those kids couldn’t be at the clinic, Jordan Dawson sent the kids a video message, much to their delight.

“They are over the moon, they can’t believe they just got that message!” Elaine exclaimed.

As the junior clinic concluded, the Batemans Bay women’s team commenced training and the boys got involved with their coach in putting the team through their paces.

The festivities continued into the evening in the clubrooms. Players had dinner cooked for them by the local CWA and took part in a Q&A and meet and greet.

There was an incredibly emotional moment when Luke Parker presented young Seahawks player Jeremy with a signed guernsey. His family lost everything in the fires and the joy that the jumper gave him was incredible to see. The boys spoke to Jeremy and his family and heard about what they had been through, it was amazing to see their smiles and attitude despite the hardship they had been through.

The next morning just after sunrise the boys were back at the clubrooms cooking for SES, RFS and local volunteers.

Robbie Fox and Ben Ronke took charge of the BBQ and by all reports our hard working volunteers were impressed with the standard of egg and bacon rolls they were cooking.

There were so many unsung heroes in one clubhouse and it was once again evident the efforts these people had put in over months of burning fires and the toll it had taken both physically and mentally.

Like the players, I spoke to many of the volunteers and spent quite a bit of time talking to Shelley and her 15-year old daughter Belle, who are big Swans fans. They make sure they get up to the SCG once every season. I told them the tickets were on us this year, it was the least we could do.

She told me how she was one of the lucky ones, their property was saved by a water bombing helicopter, her neighbours on both sides weren’t so lucky though, their properties destroyed.

Shelley works for the Salvation Army and is everyday continuing to help those who lost everything and she described to me the different stages of emotion many of the people she speaks to are going through.

Like many others, she relayed how grateful she was for the Club visiting the area and just how much it will lift spirits, which once again was incredibly heart-warming to hear.

Local Bega MP Andrew Constance was also in attendance at the breakfast. Luke Parker and Kaiden Brand had an extended period of time with him and heard his stories.

He saved his house in Malua Bay on New Year's Eve but many of his neighbours and friends lost their homes.

He spoke to us at the breakfast and highlighted the school visits (which were next on the agenda) would be a real highlight for the young members of the community.

“The kids will talk about your visit today for weeks to come. Just know you are doing something really special for our community.”

After the school visits, the final part of our time was spent helping the clean-up at a local property.

That property belonged to former Batemans Bay president Arlo Ireland and his family (wife Rebecca and two kids). As we drove up the driveway all you could see was the burnt remains of once was his house, garage and boat.

The boys spent a couple of hours helping Arlo and his mates continue to clean up the property, shovelling and sweeping ash and burnt remains and cleaning up sticks and bits of wood, remnants of his backyard.

All those involved were the definition of getting your hands dirty. Sydney Swans red polos were now covered in dirt and ash. Chad Warner was definitely a contender for best on ground, the new Swan showing he wasn’t afraid to get his hands (arms, legs and face) dirty. It was a big team effort and the least that could be done to help a family literally rebuilding their life.

Once again, it was the attitude of locals  which really shone through. You could tell Arlo was determined to work hard, rebuild and make his family home the place it once was and was incredibly grateful for the boys getting their hands dirty.

It’s hard to sum up from both perspectives what those two hours of work did but these two excerpts from Facebook posts from both the Batemans Bay Football Club and one of Arlo’s friends did perfectly: 

“What would have taken 1 bloke 40 hours, took 20 legends, 2 hours.”

“The boys got dirt and cleaned the property…. You came in clean and left dirty! What a Club, what a great group of amazing players you have there.”

As we hit the road to drive back to Sydney, we drove away with extra strength gained from the communities we had been with for the last 48 hours.

I came away thinking that the Batemans Bay community are some of the strongest people I have ever met, they are unified and resilient and they can take on anything and the fact that our football Club was able to help in the smallest way had made a big difference.