Local football in Geelong has lost arguably the greatest ever to play the game of Australian Rules Football in our region with the death of Frank Fopiani.

The 51-year-old – ranked the number one player in GFNL history by the Geelong Advertiser in 2015 – lost his battle with a short illness on Monday morning, leaving former teammates and opponents alike numb at the news.

Former North Shore coach and teammate Glenn Keast said he was “shattered” by Fopiani’s passing on Monday morning.

“It’s hard to know what to think or what to say,” Keast said. “It’s such a shock and so devastating for anybody that knows Frank.

“You never heard anyone say a bad word about him.

“I couldn’t speak highly enough of him… an unbelievable champion of the game and an even better bloke.”

St Mary’s great Bryce Vincent was among several young Saints whose football was shaped by Fopiani during his four-year stint as coach of the Saints.

“It’s hard to comprehend that somebody that lived their life the way he did is no longer with us,” Vincent said.

“It’s really not fair.”

A Corio junior, he kicked five goals on his senior debut for the Devils as a 15-year-old, having dominated at under-16 and under-18 level in the same year.

“He was tiny; he was really light, and I remember when I selected him, I said, “I’m going to give him a go; he’s just killing it in the 18s,” coach Mark McDowell said.

“And I thought he could fill a spot in the forward pocket.

“I think we played Thomson, and he kicked five. His skill level was incredible.

McDowell also recalled one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game being impressed by Fopiani’s ability.

“We had Tom Hafey come down and take us for training on a Sunday morning, and Tom looked at him and said, “He’s a special player”.

“He could tell by the way he moved and the skills that he had, which is a pretty good endorsement.”

Fopiani also played under-19s Geelong before heading down Melbourne Road to North Shore as it was about to embark on the GFNL’s most dominant era.

A rover who was a fan of the long sleeves for most of his career, Fopiani was the man as the Seagulls won seven premierships in eight seasons between 1993 and 2000, including the last six in a row.

After returning from a year on Geelong’s supplementary list in 1994, he won five best-and-fairest awards (1995-98, 2000), with Tom Hall, who also won the Mathieson Medal in 1999, denying him a sixth.

Fopiani, named best-on-ground in two North Shore premiership wins, was an inaugural inductee into the club’s Hall of Fame in 2012.

“I had a front-row seat to the Frank Fopiani show for the best part of nine or ten years,” Keast said.

“We were able to play in six flags together – a lot of finals, a lot of grand finals, but also interleague.

“They’re some of my great memories of Frank sitting on the bus to Casteron, or Shepparton, or somewhere like that where you really got to know someone on a whole different level.

“My job on a Saturday was to make sure he got the ball because the best person to have the ball was him.”

Fopiani joined St Mary’s as a playing coach in 2003 and guided the Saints to their first grand final in nine years.

After drawing with Bell Park in the first decider, St Mary’s lost the replay to the Dragons by 19 points.

However, redemption came 12 months later, with the Saints claiming a 27-point win over North Shore, ironically, and Fopiani winning his third grand final best-on-ground medal.

“We had our (20-year) premiership reunion two weeks ago, and, unfortunately, Frank couldn’t make it,” Vincent said.

“But, it was a great chance to reflect on that time and the impact Frank had on everyone.

“We made the comment numerous times that we wouldn’t be having a reunion if it wasn’t for Frankie.

“He had close to 30 touches and kicked four goals from the midfield.

“He was an outstanding. As good as there’s been in local footy.”

While at Kardinia West, he built a great rapport with football director Basil Macula, and they remained close until Fopiani’s passing.

As well as representing the Seagulls and Saints with distinction, Fopiani was an automatic selection for the GFNL and represented Vic Country.

“He was just such a tremendous footballer,” GFNL president Peter Kelly, chairman of the league in the late 1990s, said.

“He loved the interleague scene, he loved being part of the interleague, and in those days, we had a lot of success.

“In the role that he played, he was the first picked.

“He was so popular with everyone who coached him in that window of time.”

After stepping down as St Mary’s coach at the end of the 2006 season, he joined fellow former Seagull Wade Chapman at Bellarine club Drysdale in 2007.

Two years as an assistant coach at the Hawks was followed by a three-year stint as coach of North Geelong in the GDFNL between 2009 and 11.

After spending some time in the Geelong Falcons system, Fopiani was most recently assistant coach of Newtown & Chilwell, where son Connor has established himself as a regular senior player.

“Connor’s an important player, an important leader, and a former junior,” Eagles president Shaun McWilliam said.

“Frank became part of our club and part of our senior coaching panel. He never played football for us, but we admired him for how he played.

“He was a genuinely great bloke. He was a great dad; I know how close he and Connor were.

“We’ve loved watching Connor develop and being part of our club, and we’ve loved Frank being there.”

Frank Fopiani is survived by wife Sylvia, children Paige and Connor, and mother Carmen.

X: @krockfootball