Tyson Shea has been through it all at Bacchus Marsh Football Club.
He started playing at the Cobras in under-12s before working his way through the ranks and into the senior team.
Since making his seniors debut as a 17-year-old, he was been an important member of the side.
“I’ve had years where we didn’t win a game during juniors, and then in seniors, where we’ve been flogged by 100 points every week, he recalled at the weekend.
On Saturday, all those losses became distant memories as Shea captained the Cobras to their first-ever Ballarat Football League premiership.
They defeated the Sunbury Lions, 13.21 (99)-5.14 (44).
For Shea, it’s a moment he thought may never come. A goal in the last quarter from Shea put the final nail in the coffin for the Lions.
“It’s amazing,” he said after the grand final.
“Not in my wildest dreams did I think I’d be a premiership captain, and to be the first for the club [in the Ballarat Football League] is something special.
“I’ve been here since under-12s, I played my last game of under-16s and the next year I was playing seniors as a 17 year old, I can’t describe it.
“You dream about kicking a goal on grand final day – and to kick basically the sealer, the one that really knocked them out – in front of the crowd …”
Many of Shea’s teammates will have a similar story to tell, with 16 of the 22 premiership players contesting all their football with the Cobras.Until this year, none of them had played in a senior final.
Bacchus Marsh’s last final series before this year was in 2001. The club’s last grand final appearance, a loss to the Lions, was 17 years ago. And the last premiership was won before Maddingley and Bacchus Marsh merged in 1979. Maddingley’s won a premiership in 1977 and Bacchus Marsh won in 1974, both in the Ballarat-Bacchus Marsh Football League.
Shea said just making the finals was a big achievement.
“That first final was a big achievement … and to back it up the following week against Sunbury, to beat them and to come out and play the way we did today, is something special.”
Shea said the win was for the fans, not just the club and players.
“It’s the supporters, the sponsors and the whole community.
“They were a massive support the whole finals series, coming up the highway to support us
“They’ve been through it as well. ”
