Darley Football Club started planning its path to the top of the Ballarat Football League four years ago.
The Devils were coming off a disastrous 2011 season in which they lost all 16 matches.
But all the hard work proved to be worth it last Saturday, with Darley well and truly going from zero to hero.
Devils’ vice-president, Mark Shelly, said the changes started when the club appointed Rod MacPherson as head coach.
“We hit rock bottom in 2011,” he said. “The first thing we did was appoint Rod as our new senior coach, and that was done to change the culture within the club. Rod was a hard taskmaster and he set the bar really high for the boys.
“He always said he wouldn’t be head coach for a long time, but he did an amazing job of starting us in the right direction.
“Jarrod Edwards has come in since [as head coach] and done a fantastic job. To cap off all the hard work with a premiership is an amazing feeling.”
Saturday’s flag is the club’s first since 1995. On that occasion, the Devils beat Melton when the two clubs competed in the Riddell District Football League.
Darley did come close to breaking its drought in 2008 but suffered a heartbreaking loss when Ballarat kicked a goal after the siren to win by five points. After returning to the top echelon of the BFL, the Devils are intent on making their stay a long one.
“We have been close to winning premierships before,” Shelly said.
“I think that’s why we will work so hard to continue to drive the standards that we want to set going into next year. We want to capitalise on this and do it again.”
