FOR the Queanbeyan Tigers their season has played out not dissimilar to any inspirational sporting movie, starting with a horror start, questioning whether they could field a team at all and overcoming all the odds to win the premierships, concluded by a fairy tale upset 15.5 (95) to 10.11 (71) win over Belconnen in the grand final on Saturday, September 19 at Maunka Oval.
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The premiership is Queanbeyan's second consecutive AFL Canberra premiership, but the first for the club's first grade squad after withdrawing from the NEAFL competition at the end of last year.
The Alex Jesaulenko Medal for best on ground honours was awarded to player-coach Kade Klemke, despite breaking his hand a month ago and coach Paul Campbell said there were others who also staked their claim for the title.
"[Kade] is an absolute superstar, he leads by example- at one point it was a literal kamikaze effort because it was one-on-three and he just charged through and came out with the ball. One-on-three, that's not meant to happen," he said.
"Dom Bunyan and Chris York kicked 130 goals between them for the year and they only kicked three in the grand final.
"Ryan Price was fantastic on Dom Bunyan, he would've been close to [best on ground]- it was his first time in defence and he did an amazing job.
"[Captain Andrew] Swan cut everything off and Alec McCormick played his role on Chris York."
The modest coach of course thought he "had an impact" but said it "wasn't his best game".
"It's a lot easier to get the ball when the ball carrier is pressured by the midfielders, [Dean] Ross, [Jack] O'Halloran and [Scott] Lancaster may not have won the footy, but they always pressured," Klemke said.
"Speed and fitness from Billy Reid and Jack Carroll-Tape, two who normally go unnoticed, really helped us, and there was always someone free up the ground.
"The team helped out a lot and I'm just happy I could contribute. I couldn't be happier, I'm so proud of the boys."
It was the final match for club legend Mark 'Merv' Armstrong, 're-retiring' after coming out of a five-year retirement to help the squad with numbers.
The Erindale College sports department head is the all-time leading goal-kicker in the competition with more than 800 goals and turned back the clock on Saturday to move and slot four goals like a player 20-years his junior, but Armstrong, being the modest man he is said there were some more impressive than him including a shot from deep in the pocket from Williams (five goals) and a soccer-style overhead bicycle kick out of mid air from Page (three goals).
"There was an element of luck to beating a good side like Belconnen... some of the things we did were very good, I haven't seen some of it all year," Armstrong said.
"Shots from Pagey and Willo were fantastic- Pagey's bicycle kick I haven't seen that in all my years of playing and watching, even on TV."
Coaches Klemke and Campbell agreed after seeing shots like those they knew things were going the Tigers way.
"We were great in front of goal, everything went our way, after the two freakish goals I thought 'it's our day today'," Klemke said.
"Grand finals are made on those moments, it's the little things that change the momentum," Campbell added.
For Swan, it was like a dream come true, well and truly ridding himself of any regret from the 2012 NEAFL grand final victory he missed due to injury.
"It's unreal from where we've come from this year. It's my first premiership and I really couldn't ask much more from the boys," he said.
"I left nothing on the table really, I had a responsibility as captain and as a role model- some players have never won a grand final let alone get to captain a premiership winning side and I did both."
Some have called the victory the best the club has experienced, but many, including Klemke and Campbell, have likened the victory to their underdog NEAFL win against the Sydney Swans reserves in 2012.
"In 2012 and this [premiership] both are situations of being the underdog and coming from where we were to win," Klemke said.
"No one gave us a chance in either win, so they're very similar. We brought Willo in last time too and he kicked five goals that time too.
"[This premiership] we had 16 guys 22 or under, for such a young group to play their hearts out is absolutely terrific. It's what dreams are made of."