``I got my car serviced last week and between then and the last time I'd had it serviced in March, the car had done 32,000km,'' he said.

How's the mobile phone bill?

``Oh, not too bad - about $150 a month,'' he said.

Hill spends at least eight hours a week in his car.

He lives in Bridport, works in Scottsdale and seeks premiership glory with the Bombers in Launceston and around Tasmania in the TSFL.

So does he class himself as a Swampie now? ``Aaah, I don't know. A Northern Bomber anyway,'' Hill said with a laugh.

Hill is behind the counter of his shop Good Sports, which is in the main street of Scottsdale. Easy-listening hits are drifting from the local radio station 7SD.

Hill looks remarkably relaxed. Less furtive than on match day. But he never really allows himself to rest on his laurels.

``You can go from being chocolate to boiled lollies in a day,'' he said of the fickleness of Football.

Hill is on the verge of seeing his team win back-to-back premierships.

He was assistant coach under Mathew Armstrong when the Bombers won the flag last year.

The Bombers meet Glenorchy on Saturday in Hobart to decide this year's title. But the coach is not about to get excited yet. There's still work to do.

Hill, 43, appears to be a pretty straight-down-the-line bloke.

He likes John Cougar Mellencamp. Falls asleep in movies. Escapes to the vegie patch. Enjoys walking his dogs on a Sunday afternoon. Is not a fussy eater.

``Fair dinkum, I eat anything -pastas, salads. I can't wait for barbecue season to come around,'' he said.

He doesn't indulge in head games like Clarence coach Dean Chiron, who throughout the year used to throw in an oriental saying or two to spook the opposition.

``I haven't got time for stuff like that,'' Hill said.

It's a wonder he has any spare time.

Hill runs Good Sports with his wife, Cleone. He sells real estate for Webster. He coaches the Northern Bombers. And he's dad to four children.

This has been a strange journey for Hill, who once classed North Launceston as the arch-enemy.

Hill played 352 games with Scottsdale, which used to go head-to-head with North Launceston in the old NTFA days.

The teams hated each other. Still do, even though they are now in different competitions. So it's a bit more difficult to spill each other's blood.

When Hill first aligned with the Bombers, he lost business in Scottsdale.

A particularly staunch Scottsdale supporter refused to allow Hill to handle the sale of her property.

Hill holds no grudges.

``It's very difficult for the more elderly people to change and I don't take any notice of that. The lady concerned is a very nice lady. She doesn't have any animosity towards me,'' he said.

And, in any case, Scottsdale may be softening. Just a little.

Hill said that in the past 10 days, the support from Scottsdale had been great. People had dropped by or given him a call to say good luck.

``Some say, `I don't know if I can barrack for North but I hope you do really well'. People have been really good to me.''

Over the course of an hour, a couple of customers do offer a cheery ``good luck on the weekend, Rod'' and ``see you on TV'' and ``best of luck, old boy''.

Someone who knew what it was like to defect from Scottsdale to join ``the bastards from the swamp'' was Jamie Dennis.

Dennis, who died of cancer in 1995, was Hill's best friend and a former team-mate at Scottsdale.

Dennis went to North Launceston in 1988, which caused a minor falling-out with Hill.

Two years later, when North made the grand final in 1990, Hill decided it was time to make up.

``Even I thought enough was enough,'' he said.

The night before the grand final, Hill slipped a business card under Dennis's front door that read, ``Go the Swampies''.

``I never mentioned it to him and he never mentioned it to me. We didn't need to do with that sort of stuff,'' he said.

``Jamie was a fantastic little fella. A good bloke to have around, a good friend. He'd do anything for you. He'd call a spade a spade; you always knew where you were with him. He never caused anyone any pain.''

Hill's eyes start to water when he talks about the day Dennis told him he had cancer.

It was in George St, Scottsdale, where Hill used to have his shop.

``I can remember it like yesterday - unbelievable. It was all very, very sad,'' Hill said.

``He wandered in and I sort of half knew anyway, I suppose. I was at the counter talking to someone and he wandered around and wandered around. He eventually came over and told me. He broke down and I did a bit and we cuddled each other and that sort of stuff.''

So does Hill think he might get a card under his door before Saturday?

``I reckon the little fella, he's having a look down. Who knows what might happen?''

Hill said his team was ready to win.

He doesn't see anything wrong with them coming out of a tough do-or-die match last Sunday against Clarence to play the grand final less than a week later.

``There's a strange concept in the football world where if you have a bye in the middle of the season and you struggle, everyone blames the time off. But if you're in the finals, everyone wants the week off,'' Hill said.

``Over the years, I think we've been conditioned into thinking like that, and in reality I don't think that a week off does that much good at all - you lose your momentum.''

Hill said when he first became coach of the Bombers, he wanted to take the focus off them winning back-to-back premierships.

``If you're talking about back-to-back premierships in January, you're talking about something that is going to happen in September,'' he said.

``It's important not to get in front of yourself because then you forget about what's happening at the time.''

But with the grand final now looming, Hill is letting his players lap up the atmosphere.

``I think the players have to enjoy it. They have to enjoy the moment. There's going to be a parade, there's cameras out at training most nights. I think if you shield them from it too much, when it comes to the day, you run the risk that they will be overawed by it all.

```I tell them, `Enjoy it and don't take too much notice of what is written'.''

Hill doesn't smoke or bite his nails. What does he do when he gets nervous?

``Swear a lot,'' he said.

The Bombers' thrilling two-point win over Clarence last Sunday would have had the expletives flying.

``It's definitely worse just being a spectator and not being involved. You're in a position to do something when you're coaching or playing,'' he said. ``But the last four or five minutes of the game, then you're part of the crowd. You've just got to sit and watch like everyone else.''

Hill said the Bombers' greatest asset was their fighting spirit.

His own speciality was being ready to deal with anything.

``I do a lot of planning but I can also make quick decisions on the spur of the moment. A good description for me is probably, `fly by the seat of your pants'.''

Hill said that he had found paradise at Bridport and could see himself living there until retirement. But he also does not discount a move if the right offer is made, either in coaching or in business.

``If opportunity knocks, I'll take it up,'' he said.

``At the end of the day, it's the players who do the work and the players who deserve the accolades. We're just coordinating it all, really.''