Acting Western Bulldogs captain Easton Wood was on tenterhooks on Saturday afternoon until the final siren mercifully sounded and morphed to the strains of Sons of the West.
Wood, the defender with the privilege of leading the Bulldogs out for just the third grand final in the club’s history, had the opportunity to stand alongside master coach Luke Beveridge and injured captain Bob Murphy to hoist the premiership cup into the air.
It was a moment that will go down in history, one that Wood will forever savour. But the hours leading up to the 22-point victory over the Sydney Swans were not so comfortable.
“I didn’t trust it until that siren went,” Wood said of the time updates provided in the last quarter. “This club has had a lot of heartbreak in dying moments and we fought it out right till the end. That last five minutes, it’s just every single second, every second moment; it all counts.”
Wood described the joy of winning a premiership as “absolutely surreal”.
The 27-year-old played a key role in the Bulldogs’ zone team defence with his ability to read the play being second to none.
Often during the finals it was Wood who would float across the pack for an intercept mark. He stamped himself a genuine leader of the club after taking over the captaincy from Murphy.
But Murphy was anything but absent once he suffered his knee injury. He was there to support Wood and all the other Bulldogs on the long road to the premiership.
Wood is grateful that Murphy was allowed up on the dais to share in the moment when Bulldogs legend John Schultz presented the premiership cup.
“A lot of it has been behind his guidance,” Wood said of Murphy. “He took over the job in pretty stormy waters and steered us out of the storm. We’re not here without him.”
Jason Johannisen was awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best-on-ground after having a profound impact off half-back. The 23-year-old took the road less travelled to the podium; he was born in Johannesburg and arrived at the Bulldogs through the rookie draft.
Johannisen had 33 disposals, seven marks and came within a fingernail of scoring a goal, only for it to be ruled touched on the line in a score review. It mattered little when he finished with two medallions dangling around his neck.
“I just went numb, really. I just couldn’t believe it,” Johannisen said of winning the Norm Smith Medal.
“As a kid, you just dream of playing in a grand final and winning it, so it’s definitely a special moment I’ll look back on.”
