Home lost, game goes on

By Kath Gannaway
STEELS Creek Tennis Club member Rob Fellon was dealt a pretty nasty backhander last week, but on Saturday he was back at the nets.
Mr Fellon lost his home, but says he’s one of the lucky ones; he and his family are safe.
“I took it as a sign from above to carry on … the fact that the courts are virtually untouched,” he said.
Club president Albie Leckie told a community meeting earlier that morning that the club had contacted the “Two minutes later, after speaking to Rob, I rang back and said we’re going to keep going,” he said.
“We’re having a hit about 1pm, we’ve had racquets donated and they’re at Heather and Athol’s place, so if anyone wants a hit just call in.”
Standing on perhaps the only patch of green in the valley, and surrounded by blackened paddocks, Mr Fellon said he felt it was important to return quickly to some normality.
That new normality, however, was a bit of a shock for the opposition players who travelled up from Nunawading for the competition.
“We’ve been here before and it’s such a beautiful place. We were just horrified as we drove through from Yarra Glen. It’s very, very sad,” said one of the visitors.
Decked out in new tennis gear Mr Fallon said the Steels Creek community had great spirit.
“We thank our lucky stars that our community still has places like this, and the community centre, where we can gather.”