AFTER a quarter of a century, Greta are senior football premiers once again.
The Blues ran out onto the pristine deck at WJ Findlay Oval on Saturday eager to break the drought which had plagued them for so long, and after one quarter of footy against the fearsome Bright Mountain Men, spectators could tell something special was brewing.
Greta kicked seven goals to one in the opening stanza on their way to a 68-point triumph, finishing 16.12 (108) to Bright’s 6.4 (40).
Kicking with a healthy breeze blowing to the netball court end of the ground, the Blues made their presence known with the first two goals of the match.
The physicality of the match was on full display early.
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Tyler Arrowsmith produced an early contender for goal of the day late in the first quarter, slotting it from almost 50 metres out on the boundary, allowing the breeze to bend it back through the big sticks.
Bright fought back into the contest in the second quarter, bringing the pressure which impacted how well the Blues moved the ball.
Despite conditions favouring their adversary, the Blues still managed to score kicking into the wind, taking a 27-point lead into the major break.
Bright only managed 1.2 in the second half, as Greta booted goal after goal to secure the flag.
Greta’s backline was dominant in the third, only leaking a minor score, while Frazer Judd (five goals) and James McClounan (four) piled on the pain at the other end.
Speaking after the match, Greta coach Chris Dube said it was an incredible feeling to bring the cup back after 25 years.
“It’s just an incredible thing, you’ve only got to look around to see how much it means to so many after 25 years,” he said.
“It’s one of those games where we have to do the basics well, but what we’ve done as basics this year is just go, go play footy.
“It does help when you have the breeze and you put something on early, but I felt like we just went and hunted the ball early.
“We said to ourselves in the second quarter against the wind, if we could kick two and they kicked four, which is what happened, we’d take that every day of the week.
“We came out in the third with the wind and we put our foot down, but defensively it’s one of the better performances we’ve played this year.”
McClounan was named best on ground in the grand final, his four goals from the midfield and constant hunger for the footy helping lead the Blues to glory.
“He’s just so competitive, he’s got this ability to make other people better because he shows them what needs to be done,” Dube said.
“He’s the first to training and the last to leave, I’m sending him crazy with calls and text messages during the week with what we’re going to do to win, but he’s just class.
“The fact that he’s a bit angry and snarly adds to it because you’re generally skilful or you’re hard at it – he’s both, he’s the complete player.
“We just had a lot of good contributors, and I’m not surprised to see James get the award, but I reckon he’d be the first to say there would be four or five others who could’ve got it.”
Bright ruck Joe Gray performed well for the Mountain Men, alongside Patrick Bren, Alexander Dalbosco, and Riley Bacon (two goals).
