Green day: Echuca covers itself in glory with historic three-peat

While Shepparton had challenged Echuca in their semi-final match-up only a fortnight ago, it was one-way traffic this time out.

Like a prized heavyweight, Echuca established itself early in the contest, giving the Bears a taste of its power and putting them straight on to the back foot.

Other than a two-minute period at the start of the match where the ball bobbled inside Shepparton’s forward 50, the Murray Bombers controlled the territory for the rest of the term, putting the first major on the board through Hugh Byrne.

A second came through the talismanic Sam Reid, who feasted on a Shepparton skill error to slot a running goal from just inside 50m.

On the rare occasion that Shepparton advanced the ball past the centre line, Cameron Valentine and Logan Prout just as quickly sent it back, patrolling the backline with aplomb and negating the ability of league best-and-fairest Ash Holland to take the easy exit mark.

Reid followed up his previous efforts to dob a brilliant drop punt from the boundary line, before Echuca landed another flurry of punches.

First Jack Evans converted from a holding free kick, and while Joel Brett managed to get the Bears’ first major on the board 25 minutes into the contest, Cooper Barber responded immediately when he was left all by himself as three Bears flew at the same ball, but let it get out the back.

Sam Willoughby added another to extend the lead to 35 points as the Bears seemed to wilt under ferocious Echuca pressure.

The Bears were rattled and it went from bad to worse, as Kane Morris’ size worried his defender into a holding free directly in front, which he converted to establish a 42-point Echuca lead at quarter-time.

Shepparton simply could not find a way to escape its defensive 50, which is a credit to Echuca’s pressure, but as good as the Murray Bombers are, the Bears brought a lot of it on themselves with simple skill errors.

It was only quarter-time, but the Bears were well and truly on the ropes.

By the end of the second, they were on the canvas.

Echuca picked up right where it left off after the quarter-time break, putting the first on the board, which was followed immediately by a centre clearance and Cooper Barber goal, extending Echuca’s lead to 53 points.

Where the Bears struggled in the first term moving the ball out of the backline, Echuca made it look easy in the second, linking up with sweeping handballs to clear Shepparton’s midfield and put yet another goal on a silver platter for Sam Willoughby.

Brother Cooper followed up to slot Echuca’s 11th major, while Byrne continued the onslaught with his second, leaving Echuca a stunning 72 points ahead with 22 minutes played in the second term.

Eloquently summing up the first half for the Bears was coach Xavier Stevenson who, in open space 20m out from goal and with the chance to slot his side’s first for the term, cannoned a snap into the point post to put it out on the full.

With some more smooth moving out of the backline, Echuca reached a game-high 78-point lead through Cooper Willoughby, and while Connor Fleming finally broke the run of seven consecutive Murray Bombers goals, it mattered little.

The 74-point half-time margin had the Bears facing a standing-eight count, and their corner was all but ready to throw in the towel.

Rather than soaking up all of the emotion associated with a three-peat, Echuca after half-time had its heart set on dishing out even more punishment, its extreme pressure not waning even with the advantage threatening to tick over 100 points.

Jack Evans snagged consecutive goals to start the third term, with a pumped-up Cooper Barber adding another to extend the lead to a ridiculous 95 points not even halfway through the third quarter.

Cooper Willoughby added a fourth himself, and while the Bears put through three for the term, it was too little, too late, as Echuca was left to savour the moment for the remainder of the contest, leading by 83 at the final break.

Not that it rested on its laurels, with cries of “stay on” and “job not done yet” heard out of the players’ huddle as they regrouped ahead of the fourth quarter.

The final term was a procession, with the margin at its largest 108 points, as Echuca romped to its historic treble.

This formidable Echuca side only knows one way, and it is exactly what it showed on Sunday afternoon.

The final score of 22.22 (154) is the highest recorded score in a grand final in the history of the GVL, with the final margin of 96 points also the biggest ever.

In creating this piece of history, the Murray Bombers erased an unwanted record of their own, with the previous biggest score and winning margin coming against them when Tatura kicked 151 points to beat Echuca by 76 in the 1995 decider.

Pivotal to the triumph, particularly when the game was on the line, were the Willoughby brothers, with Sam earning a third straight best-on-ground medal in a grand final, awarded the VCFL medal by the umpires, while Cooper was named Wilf Cox medallist as best-on-ground, voted by the media.

Echuca co-coach Simon Maddox, who has masterminded the Echuca football dynasty alongside counterpart Andrew Walker, paid tribute after the game to the special group he had at his disposal.

“If you had have said three years ago we would win three in a row, I would’ve said you’re dreaming. I mean, we hadn’t won one for 20 years,” he said.

“They’re a great bunch of boys, they’ve all come out of our junior system, and that’s a credit to the club, credit to the coaches. It’s one big family.

“We trained on Saturday morning two weeks ago and we had 71 on the track, and that’s boys who were missing out on a game. They still turned up, head up, and did their bit for their club and for their mates, so she’ll be a big party this week.”

With the under-18, reserves and senior flags heading back to Victoria Park, Maddox had a pretty cheeky response when asked about just how spectacular it is to enjoy so much success as an entire club.

“We’ve clocked the game, mate,” he said with a grin.

“It doesn’t get any better, we’ve clocked the game.”