While it wasn’t the medallion Euroa midfielder Ben Giobbi was hoping to leave Deakin Reserve with on Sunday evening, the gun on-baller was recognised for his efforts in September — winning the 2022 Goulburn Valley League player of the finals series.
Carrying a tag all footballers crave, Giobbi showed why he is deemed a big game player, stepping up through the finals series to lead the Magpies to the grand final.
This included a 27-disposal performance against reigning premier Kyabram in the elimination final and 20 touches against Mansfield in the preliminary final, with his exploits in the midfield catching the eye of all interested onlookers.
For the Euroa star, however, the medal provided little relief for his side’s devastating grand final loss, with his number one priority bringing success to the passionate band of Magpies supporters.
“Obviously it’s nice to get something individual, but I’m here for the team success,” Giobbi said.
“Personal accolades are not something I’m after, I don’t want to win league medals, I don’t want to win best-and-fairests, I just want to win a flag here at Euroa with my family.”
As for the grand final itself, nobody could doubt the effort of Giobbi and his Euroa teammates.
Coming in a firm underdog, the boys from Memorial Oval took it up to the Echuca juggernaut all day long, and even hit the front 13 minutes into the final term.
And, while they couldn’t quite complete the job, Giobbi was full of praise for the group and described the rivalry that they had formed with the Murray Bombers during the past two seasons.
“I don’t think anyone gave us a chance today, but as a group we had belief,” he said.
“And when my brother put through that goal from 55 (metres), I was about to start crying because I thought we were going to win.
“But they (Echuca) are an unbelievable football team, they’ve got some great players and ultimately got it done, so it’s a credit to us and I’m so proud of our team for giving it such a good shake today.
“We’ve built up a great rivalry with Echuca and I’ve got no doubt that will carry on.”
As for whether Giobbi will be back to try and exact revenge on the Murray Bombers next year and help bring that drought-breaking premiership to Memorial Oval?
The midfield maestro answered without hesitation.
“I have just been going around to all the boys and saying how much fun I’ve had playing footy this season — it has always been a dream of mine to play footy here,” he said.
“I know I’ll be there next year and I just hope the rest of the boys follow suit because we are building something special here at Euroa.
“As the old saying goes ‘you’ve got to lose one to win one’, Echuca did it in 2019 and look at them now, so I’ve got full confidence we’ll be back stronger next year.”