After all the heartache and agony which comes with coming up short in recent years, Bright have finally done it – the senior premiership cup is heading back up the mountain.
In their third consecutive trip to the big dance, Bright emerged triumphant, knocking off old foes Greta by 16 points, 11.7 (73) to 8.9 (57) to claim their first senior flag since 2004.
The two teams had traded blows throughout the home and away season, with Bright saluting in the pair’s most recent qualifying final clash, but tensions were high going into the match.
It was a nervy start from the Mountain Men when Josh Hudghton won the centre clearance, but kicked it towards the wrong end, resulting in a goal to Greta’s Frazer Judd in the opening seconds.
Greta would hold all of the momentum through the first term, peppering the goals for minor scores before slotting two goals in the dying minutes of the opening stanza.
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Bright started to work into the game, booting the next four to catch the lead with eight minutes left in the second.
Pat Bren and Cooper Thomason were the damage dealers for Bright, with Bren booting two in a minute to kickstart the resurgence.
The Blues hit back and the match was evenly poised at half-time, with Bright heading into the rooms with a three-point margin.
After half-time, the match turned into a true stalemate, with every goal kicked at one end answered in kind at the other.
The Mountain Men were electric with their ball movement, but Greta had some tricks up their sleeve, utilising their run and slick skills to keep Bright on their toes.
With Bright up by three at the final change of ends, the players had to dig deep, and momentum started to turn against the Blues.
The Mountain Men gained the ascendancy and took the game on, rebounding well off half-back and putting Greta’s defence under near-constant pressure.
As the clock ticked down, the siren sounded, and for Bright’s players, volunteers and supporters, there was no sweeter sound.
Coach Michael Quirk said it cane with an immense pride to deliver the club their first senior success in 21 years.
“It’s a huge relief, really,” he said.
“It’s pretty special, after the last couple of years.
“All the work the committee, supporters and sponsors have done over that period, and the heartache, it just mends it for a while.”
After the rocky start to the match, Quirk praised his players’ ability to work back into the game mentally and on the scoreboard.
“It’s been a long season, we knew that we were going to be challenged throughout the day, we didn’t get off to the best first quarter, but to our credit we worked ourselves back into it,” he said.
“We knew we could, we proved that, but they had to dig deep.
“We were pretty keen, we knew our fitness was pretty important, and I thought that definitely helped towards the end of the game.
“At half-time, we spoke about going more man on man, being more disciplined and not allowing Greta to run on, and I think that worked in a way.
“As the game progressed, we were fit enough to get over the top and start using the ball a bit better.”
Cooper Thomason was named best on ground, his five goals bringing his season tally to 116.
“He’s a very good player, he’s not just a full forward, he can play in the midfield, he can play anywhere,” Quirk said.
“We know if we can get the ball forward enough and get as many look at it, he can kick a lot of goals.”
For Greta, Frazer Judd kicked three goals, James McClounan finished with two, while Mark Wettern and Jack Kelly were impactful in parts.
The senior success capped off a day of glory for Bright on the footy field, with the reserves team taking out the premiership 7.10 (52) over Bonnie Doon 4.3 (27), with Bright’s Marcus Kinthari named best on ground.
