Ben Reid’s Wangaratta Magpies might’ve just won a thrilling Grand Final in September 2022, but the former Collingwood defender had an important call to make amongst all the celebrations.

The Wangaratta coach - who had retired from the Pies only two years earlier - swiftly jumped on the phone in the hours after the win to Collingwood’s Head of Recruiting Derek Hine – telling him about a blonde-haired dynamo called Joe Richards who had just led the local side to the flag.

“I can’t remember how much I said - we ‘d had a few beers by then - but I was just that excited for him and wanted to make sure Dekka knew,” Reid laughed.

“He (Richards) had a pretty big say in the premiership, kicking a couple of freak goals from the boundary.

“I spoke to Dekka midway through that year and I just said ‘keep an eye on this kid, he’s got a fair bit of talent’ and then he announced himself in the interleague game he played for the O&M (Ovens & Murray).

“I think he had 40 and kicked a couple so that probably put his name out there and then he had a really strong finals series for us and Dekka came down and watched all three finals.”

Reid didn’t have to worry – with Hine not only there on the day, but helping guide his recruiting team to selecting the forward two months later in the national draft.

Fast forward 528 days from when Richards first heard his name read out as a Collingwood player, and it was Hine who sent the message to Reid, informing him of Richards’ debut at the top level.

“Dekka text me just before so it’s just awesome,” Reid said on Friday afternoon.

“I’m just so wrapped for Joey and his family, he’s worked so hard for an opportunity and it’s so good that he’s got one.”

For the 24-year-old Richards, Friday’s debut announcement was the culmination of years of hard work and something that at stages he thought might not happen.

While he played TAC Cup for the Murray Bushrangers as a teenager, he never expected to get drafted during his initial year and was only focussed on playing strong local footy until the interest during 2022.

“There was sort of a period of time where I didn’t think it would happen and where it went out of my mind,” Richards said.

“Wangaratta’s very much a footy and sporting town so I was very lucky that there were some good competitions there from juniors to seniors.

“It’s very much is a boyhood dream. It’s something you think about a lot when you’re young and you see guys running around and you wish you were one of them and I’m lucky enough to now be one of those guys.”

He did attempt to play VFL during 2020 however, uprooting his life and moving to Melbourne to play under a Josh Fraser-coached Northern Blues.

The Covid pandemic interrupted those plans however, causing the small forward to move back to his home town, and continue playing in his local league.

It was a case of what could’ve been for the Club’s now VFL coach Fraser who was at the Blues and then the Northern Bullants before landing back at the Pies only a year before Richards arrived, with the former ruckman laughing at the intertwined nature the two have now shared on their journey.

“I was pretty excited about the potential about having him in our VFL program but then covid hit,” Fraser remembered of Richards training at the Blues in early 2020.

“He moved to Melbourne and he had an itch to play VFL and we saw him as someone who was going to be really important.

“As we started to come through covid I went to the Northern Bullants and asked the question of if he was keen to come down again, but with the uncertainty of covid at that time he wasn’t prepared to take that risk.

“It’s funny how the footy world works with me ending back at Collingwood and then him getting drafted so it’s been awesome to watch his journey.”

The early 2020s was also the time where Reid first came across Richards, with the 152-game Pie playing a year as just a player before becoming the Wangaratta coach in 2022.

“When I retired in 2020 I played 2021 as just a player and there was only eight or nine games played but I was just like ‘who’s this little blonde kid?,’” he said.

“His body still probably needed to fill out a little bit but just some of the stuff he did in his movement I was just like ‘he can really play’.

“He had a really big pre-season where he trained at a level above what country footy is and it’s a great learning curve for a lot of young kids.

“He played some really strong footy here for a couple of years and he was the best player in the comp hands down and then he got read out two years ago and he gets his opportunity so it’s really exciting.”

And when media started speaking about the “blonde kid” from Wangaratta as the 2022 season went on, it was Reid who could be the perfect sounding board for Richards.

In his corner by making those calls to Hine, Reid was also there to guide Richards through the unique nature of his season.

“It was quite different for him because a lot of country kids don’t have to deal with their name getting thrown around on the internet,” Reid said.

“Around rounds 13 or 14 when some articles were coming out and he actually had three pretty quiet weeks.

“I remember sitting down for a coffee with him and saying ‘how are you going and dealing with all this stuff?’ and he said ‘I bloody hate it’.

“I just said ‘don’t worry about it, the only thing that’s going to help you get drafted is the way you play and just enjoy playing footy because if you get drafted it’s a bonus’.

“His finals series was second to none and was capped off by his Grand Final performance where he probably won the flag for us in the end.”

And now that Richards is confirmed to become the 1189^th player in Collingwood’s history, the whole of Wangaratta can travel up for the clash.

Still trying to check in on him every few weeks, Reid is ecstatic to see his mentee run out in his old colours for the first time at Marvel Stadium on Sunday.

“I don’t try to annoy him too much because when you play you kind of just want to be left along to do your own thing, but whenever I’m down we’ll catch up,” Reid said.

“I caught up with him for breakfast yesterday morning while as down and he was probably pretty nervous and every couple of weeks I try to talk to him and he’s just such a great fella so it’s so good to see someone like that rewarded.

“We’re trying to organise a bus…a few of our partners might not be wrapped with it being Mother’s Day but I think they’ll understand.”

“We’ll get a bus load down to Marvel and make a day of it.”