Andrew Farmilo won't have a presence on the pitch this season after moving up to Darwin.

The man affectionately known as "Farms" leaves a lasting legacy, having been at the forefront of a feat unlikely to be repeated any time soon, firstly as a player and then player/coach.

In a double blow, son Calvin, who was the competition's best and fairest last year, has also joined him up north, the two now teaming up for East Darwin and leaving a couple of big holes for the premiers to fill.

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But it isn't just Workies that will feel Farmilo's absence.

He has coached Olympians' first grade side for the last 10 years, and coached countless Tamworth junior and senior rep sides, both indoor and outdoor, memorably coaching the Frogs' to the under-15s boys state title one year.

"They were pretty special that group of kids," he recalled, rattling off the likes of son Isaac, Josh Worpel, Chris Ninness, Antony Doolan and James Psarakis.

"They won at 13s, 15s and 17s."

Fourteen when he first played in the local competition (it was for Manilla), Farmilo joined Workies in 1996 after Cavaliers folded.

He takes away a lot of fond memories from his time with the club, none more so than having not only the thrill of playing alongside, but sharing premiership success, with two of his three sons.

Isaac has been a part of nine of the 10 while Calvin has played in two.

Farmilo said one of the secrets to their success was having "really good strikers".

"It's just something you can't undervalue - having strikers, people who consistently put the ball in the net and that's what we had," he said.

"We could concede goals because we knew that we were going to score a lot of goals."

"It was a blessing to have that sort of ability in a team."

An even rarer one for such a protracted time.

First they had Brandan Horner and Jake Hathway, then Isaac came into the fold, then Ehren Hazell.

"It was just a fortunate period to be a part of," Farmilo reflected

He rates their 2014 triumph as probably the most special.

"We lost Sam Liles, Simon Massey, Beetle (Alex) McKenzie, Ryan Martin, Ryan Saban, Will Haywood; all these excellent Workies players," he said.

"We were told we'd be lucky to win three games that year."

"I remember talking to Darren Ninness before the season and we were working it out, we just knew that we had to be a good defensive unit that year, we knew we had some good goal-scorers.

"We had Isaac and Chris Ninness and we just thought if we can get our defence half-decent, we had a chance."

He couldn't have asked for a better way to bow out, with Workies putting on a masterclass to outgun South United 6-1.

Farmilo had an idea going in, it was going to be his last game in Workies colours.

"I was pretty confident that I knew that was going to be it for me," he said.

"[Wife] Elizabeth and I had formulated that we were going to move."

It wasn't set in concrete but they were keen to move closer to Morgan, who was due with her second child.

"Our parents both helped us raise our kids so we thought we'd go up there and help her and just be a part of them," he said.

"And it was better to probably have more family around than stay in Tamworth and actually have less of our family there."

"We're only missing Isaac at the moment."

He is still pretty abreast with what is happening at Workies, and said not being a part of that environment, and Olympians, has been one the harder things about the move.

"Those things that you worked at to try and build up, it's sometimes hard to walk away from it," he said.

But he has been making the most of some of the past-times that the north has to offer.

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"The fishing's really good. I've been enjoying that and doing a lot of that (with youngest son Lewis)," he said.

As for the hockey, after coaching in some capacity for probably the better part of 15 years, being just a player has been a refreshing change.