The tears streaming down Ruby Diffey’s face as she accepted her best on ground medal in the Goulburn Valley League 17-and-under decider said it all as she summed up the elation and emotion with four simple words.
“I love you all,” she said.
She couldn’t have phrased it more perfectly.
After dropping two games to Mooroopna in the regular season and one in the first round of finals, the Swans held nerve and court to be crowned champions of the division by five goals and breaking the Cats’ streak in doing so.
It was heart rate rising stuff on the Deakin Reserve asphalt as Swans produced a turnover in the first five seconds of the game, one which was converted not long after to a mountainous roar from the red and white end.
A tight and tense first few minutes started off as any good grand final should, with the tussle between Swans’ goalkeeper Gabby Moore and Cats’ goaler Claudia Plattfuss shaping up as a blockbuster battle.
Plattfuss was a beacon under the ring, too tall and strong for the Swans defenders to compete early on.
However, the Swans were winning a ton of turnover ball, largely through the industry of Emily Younger in wing defence.
It was tough to split the two sides early, but the Swans appeared to have the slight edge with Jaylah Meda remaining pinpoint from close and Brianna Turner dropping them in from range.
At quarter time, the Swans led by a goal.
Mooroopna centre Rhani Hendy played the conductor role through the midcourt, making things tick for Plattfuss to finish each and every chance thrown her way.
At the other end, Swans goalers Meda and Turner were slightly undersized in the contest but it hardly mattered as they looked like Irene Van Dyk with ball in hand, rippling the net with laserlike efficiency.
Remi Bruton popped up with a pair of hulking intercepts early in the third quarter, helping maintain the Swans’ slender two goal advantage.
Mooroopna stood just a tad shaky emerging from the half time huddle, allowing the Swans to nudge the boat out further.
But you’re never out of the race with Di Hanslow in your corner.
The legendary Cats’ A-grade mentor was barking orders aplenty from the sides, and thanks to some more Plattfuss magic, Mooroopna cut a four-goal deficit to parity midway through the quarter.
Yet Meda was metronomic, pulling the Swans away once more.
Not even a clairvoyant could pick a winner at any given point throughout the first three terms, yet as Turner’s first goal sunk through nearly in the last, it caused a scream that blew the roof off the joint.
The Swans’ eighth player - the crowd - was lifting.
A rare Plattfuss miss kept the Swans’ lead at 37-34, and you felt that just might be enough to secure the chocolates, even more so when Meda converted the gain.
Though it was neck and neck for 50 minutes, the last 10 was where Courtney Simpson’s side made hay and the Cats pay as they stuck out the fight for 46-41 victory.
A jubilant Simpson doted on her charges for their season-long commitment and grit during a game that threatened to go either way for almost the entirety.
“To be honest, it was just a game of many moments - could you control the game when the momentum was going against you,” she said.
“Grand finals are always changes of momentum and Mooroopna certainly had moments when they were in control of the game, but we managed to not get a run on against us so that was a real improvement.
“I feel like they’ve beaten us in the past where they’ve got seven to 10 goals on us, and we didn’t allow that today.
“These girls just played with absolute heart for each other.
“This team is not reliant on just one person, and today the champion team won, not the team of champions. I’m so unbelievably proud of them.”
