But to finish a season undefeated is maybe the biggest challenge of them all.
For Echuca’s under 18 side, they have now completed it all.
The Murray Bombers became just the second side in the history of the under 18 competition to become premiers and champions today, when the Murray Bombers 7.10 (52) defeated Seymour 6.8 (44) to win back-to-back GVL premierships.
For coach Leo Tenace – coaching his third premiership across two sports in 18 months – his side’s ability to stick to their plan was key.
“It’s such an incredible feeling,” he said.
“We had a focus, we had a system in place and we stuck to it. We had our intuition, we trusted our reflex and it got us the job done.
“We got a little bit tired in stages of the final quarter, it wasn’t easy for us to hold the intensity, but the boys did everything that was asked of them and they got the job done.”
Echuca had looked the most dominant side throughout the day, but the late charging Lions pulled the scores close in the final term, to give Echuca another fright, after nearly ending the undefeated streak in the opening week of the finals.
Tenace admitted – especially with his side having overcome a three-quarter-time deficit in the qualifying final – that nerves were starting to take over as Seymour came back.
“We all got a bit nervy on the bench,” he said.
“But that was also happening all day. Seymour have a really good team, they have a lot of guys who have played at higher levels and played rep footy, we knew it was going to be tough but we trusted ourselves and it got us over the line.”
But it was keeping things simple that got the Murray Bombers to their desired result.
“We didn’t want to overplay it,” Tenace said.
“We probably overused the footy at stages in the third, but we shifted our focus back to our territory and getting the ball moving down the ground, and it got the job done for us.”
With Matt Lias winning the medal, the Murray Bombers claimed back-to-back flags, adding another triumph to the rafters of the Haw Pavillion.
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