Two of the Ovens and Murray's finest contemporary players will be inducted into the league's Hall of Fame next month. North Albury games record holder Dan Leslie and six-time Albury premiership forward Matt Fowler were unveiled as the two latest inductees on Thursday. A typically modest Leslie said he was initially surprised when he received a phone call informing him of his induction. "It's something that you don't expect to happen," Leslie said. "It's something that you don't play for but to get that call was pretty exciting and obviously a proud moment for me. "It's probably one of the last things of my career to tick off on." Fowler would have undoubtedly been inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier than this year if he hadn't decided to head bush and join Thurgoona. Inductees have to be retired for three years before being considered for nomination. Fowler said it was a 'humbling' moment to finally be recognised among the league's biggest names. "I'm very honoured to be recognised and to be honest it's a bit humbling," Fowler said. "I've been to quite a few of these events where you see absolute legends of the league go into the Hall of Fame. "Legends who have won multiple premierships and best and fairests. "To be mentioned amongst them is a huge honour and a bit embarrassing in some ways. "When you start playing football, you don't even think about these things, you just want a bit of team success which I was fortunate enough to be part of under some great coaches, with some great mates and at a great club like Albury Tigers. "I never won a best and fairest so I rate this as a huge accolade. "I'm looking forward to the night and as I said it's very humbling." Fowler is the club's all-time games record holder after he played 354-matches at the sportsground, where he booted 812 goals and won six flags with his beloved Tigers. He was a Doug Strang medallist in 2011 and represented the league on 16 occasions. The prolific goalkicker was also a VCFL representative, NSW representative, All Australian schoolboy representative. Fowler also played in three flags with Thurgoona in the twilight of his glittering career. Leslie played 300-matches at Bunton Park and booted 312 goals after switching from a key defender to a key forward late in his career. He was a premiership player in 2002 and a triple best and fairest winner in 2013-15-17. Leslie is also the longest serving captain in the club's history after captaining the Hoppers from 2006 until 2014 and was coach for one season in 2017. A versatile key position player, Leslie represented the league on nine occasions, was the VCFL vice captain, NSW and All Australian representative. It has been a big few months for Leslie in terms of accolades. He was recently elevated as the fourth legend of the Hoppers' Hall of Fame, joining Ralph Marks, Stan Sargeant and Peter Westland. Leslie and Fowler enjoyed many enthralling battles during their playing days. "I played on Matt in my younger days and it was just his strength one on one and his ability to get his hands on the ball," Leslie said. "He was quick off the mark which might surprise a few but he was. "Matt was also an accurate set shot for goal and if he got the ball inside 50m, there was a fair chance he would kick it." ALSO IN SPORT Fowler recalled his encounters with a young Leslie during the 2000s. "Dan is a fair bit younger than me but when he started out he was a wiry defender and not the man mountain he is today," Fowler said. "So I always thought I would have him for strength in one on one contests but he always found a way to get a spoil in somehow. "I'm very honoured to going into the Hall of Fame with Dan because we played a lot against each other. "But we also played a lot of representative footy together and I consider Dan to be a great mate off the field. "He was an outstanding player and just a great competitor." To read more stories, download The Border Mail news app in the Apple Store or Google Play. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: