Deer Park ruckman Chris Stewart shed tears of joy after the final siren signalled an end to his club’s 19-year flag drought.
The captain was still pinching himself 30 minutes after the game
as he began to realise that his side had returned from a 41-point
deficit to snatch the premiership out of Spotswood’s grasp.
“I balled my eyes out,” Stewart told the Weekly.
“I couldn’t believe it, I still can’t believe it. It will probably hit
me Tuesday … I’m just proud to be a premiership captain.”
PICTURE GALLERY: Deer Park v Spotswood, grand final
While nobody could have envisaged the dramatic finish to the grand
final, Stewart knew the Lions would at least run the game out strongly.
He highlighted a mid-season training load designed by player-coach
Marc Bullen to give the team the edge in fitness they needed to beat
the Woodsmen.
“We set out in July to do a fitness campaign called Fit for July
for this exact reason – to run over the top of them in the last
quarter,” he said.
“We thought Spotswood didn’t have much in the tank [in the last
quarter] and we were able to come over the top due to that [extra
training].”
The most enthralling battle within the game was the big man duel.
On Deer Park’s side, it was Stewart with war horse Chris Kelly, while
for Spotswood, it was Lachie McGhie and Murray Boyd.
They all had their moments and the momentum of the game seemed to favour the duo who were enjoying the purple patch.
Early on, it was McGhie totally dominating the ruck contests, with
Boyd a menace around the ground and dangerous in front of goal.
But Stewart and Kelly worked into the game in the second half.
Kelly competed at every contest, not allowing the Woodsmen cheap
possession in the first half, while Stewart demanded a double team when
the aerial ball was in his vicinity, freeing up a teammate to do some
damage away from the pack.
“The good thing about McGhie and Boyd, they bring the best out of you,” Stewart said.
“Every time you come up against Spotswood it’s always physical and
taxing for me and ‘Kell’ because McGhie is an absolute superstar, Boydy
is probably nicknamed utility because he can play anywhere he wants and
he’s just a star. They got the best out of us today and we came away
with the chocolates.”
Stewart could not have asked for a more complimentary second ruckman in Kelly.
Kelly’s fierce competitiveness in the middle eased the burden on
Stewart and allowed him to rest forward for big chunks of the game.
“He’s nicknamed Old School for a reason, he just competes and
competes, and if he doesn’t win it he halves the contest, they’re not
getting 100 per cent efficiency.”
WRFL DIVISION 1 GRAND FINAL STORIES
The breakdown: Quarter x quarter
