It’s a cold Tuesday night at Tathra on the New South Wales Far South Coast, but the howling wind and damp ground won’t stop 76-year-old Neil Rainbow from fronting up for footy training. 

Known to teammates simply as Rainbow, he was born in 1948 with the AFL confirming he is the oldest person still playing senior football in Australia.

Now lining up with Bega-Tathra in the AFL Sapphire Coast competition, Rainbow has played nearly a thousand games since falling in love with the sport as a kid in Melbourne, kicking balls made of newspaper and rubber bands.

“We played street football on the asphalt,” he says.

After years representing school teams and suburban junior sides, Rainbow said he received interest from VFL and VFA clubs before ultimately joining Coburg amateurs.

Once he reached his mid-40s, Rainbow had the “great honour” of donning the Big V, joining the Victorian Metro side at masters carnivals and claiming 10 national titles so far.

‘Good legs’ and ‘getting around the boys’

Arriving on the NSW Far South Coast in his 50s, Rainbow was determined to keep his senior football career going and has gone on to play for almost every club in the local league, beginning with Merimbula Marlins.

“I thought if I could play one game in the Sapphire Coast AFL, that’s going to be terrific,” he says.

“There was a bit of criticism — what’s the old guy doing out there?”

But Rainbow has overcome the critics, and a broken leg in 2004, to play more than 200 games in the competition.

Rainbow’s teammates are in awe of his efforts, but will not be surprised to see “the greatest of all time” playing for many seasons to come.

“If anyone can, it’s Rainbow,” teammate Lachlan Ellard says.

“For a man that age, I tell you, he’s got some good legs on him.”

Bega-Tathra captain Jack McMahon says it’s a “huge achievement” for Rainbow to still be part of the club.

“Especially for how fit he is, and his skills are still 100 per cent,” he says.

“He’s awesome at training, he gets around the boys a lot, he tells us all his stories and we really acknowledge him.”

‘Doing what he’s always done’

Accredited exercise physiologist Kathy Devonshire-Gill says Rainbow’s story is “heartwarming”.

“The fact that he’s always been doing this means that he has the capacity to keep doing it,” Dr Devonshire-Gill says.

“If anyone’s just starting out, it would be very important that they start very gradually, that they get their doctor’s blessing on that … and work up slowly. 

“But with Neil, he’s doing what he’s always done.”

Although older athletes need to be extra wary of dehydration and the risk of injury, Dr Devonshire-Gill says there are many positives associated with playing sport.

“Sport is bringing people together.”

And that has long been true for Rainbow.

“The friendships that I’ve made … you can’t beat that,” he says.

‘Too young’ to retire

While Rainbow is used to playing with teammates up to six decades younger than he is, he’ll have the chance to compete with players his own age in the first-ever over 70s exhibition game at the AFL Masters National Carnival in Fremantle later this year.

And although he’ll turn 77 on the eve of next season, he doesn’t have any plans to hang up the boots just yet.

“Too young for that at the moment,” Rainbow says.

“I don’t feel old.

“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do things.