Déjà vu: A feeling of having already experienced the present situation.
For many players on the field and spectators in the crowd, that was exactly what they felt on Sunday as Nathalia prevailed once again over Echuca in the Northern Country Women’s League senior women’s grand final.
The Purples entered the decider at Princess Park, just as they did 12 months prior, as outsiders against the unbeaten Echuca juggernaut — a side that had only lost twice in its previous 35 matches.
Nathalia coach Simon Quarrell and his unwavering, fierce, resilient and brave playing group were given little chance of replicating their unbelievable win over the Murray Bombers from 2021.
As the saying goes: lightning doesn’t strike the same place twice.
But only a fool would dismiss the chances of a powerhouse club that has won seven senior football flags in the past decade.
“I still haven’t come to terms that we’ve actually got the job done to be honest,” Quarrell said post-match.
“Back-to-back sounds pretty nice.
“We knew it was going to be a hard-fought effort.
“The girls are a pretty special bunch. I don’t have the words to describe just how special they are.
“We always had a bit of belief that we could get the job done. We back each other and we give each other belief. You have got to believe in each other otherwise you won’t get anywhere.
“You go back four years ago and we were just worried about trying to win a game and now we’ve gone back-to-back. If you stick at it you can turn the table but you’ve got to just keep sticking at it,” he said.
With Princess Park left drenched and blanketed by wintry conditions, the stage was set for Nathalia’s grand heist.
The wet conditions made the contest a battle of attrition, as players crashed, bumped and flung into one another in the last game of the season.
Echuca owned possession and had multiple forward-50 entries in the first quarter, however for all of the Murray Bombers’ dominance, they could only manage four behinds.
One of only the few times Nathalia managed to get the ball inside their attacking 50 in that opening stanza, forward Kiara Cooper — who would go on to have her own remarkable tale in this epic rivalry — plucked a strong mark and goaled.
The roar from the travelling Purple Army was deafening.
You could sense the contest would travel a different path to the 95-point thumping Echuca handed Nathalia a month earlier.
The Purples went on to extend their two-point buffer in a sublime second quarter.
Talented forward Abby Favaro (two goals) starred in the slippery conditions with her clean hands, while tough on-baller Reni Hicks, sporting a cut to her cheek, was courageous and didn’t take a backward step all day.
Defenders Aimee Sidebottom and Caitlyn Price marshalled the disciplined back six, who held Echuca scoreless in a quarter for the first time in 2022.
With a lead of 11 at the main break, hushed murmurs began, ‘they couldn’t, could they?’
However, like all good sides do, Echuca responded in the third term.
Eimer Draper booted the first of the term which was followed by a silky checkside goal by gun talent Paige Baksh which tied up the contest.
The scores were locked at 2.5 (17) apiece as the three-quarter-time siren blew and only two questions remained.
Would Echuca, the NCWL powerhouse club, break through for its first and much-deserved flag or would Nathalia defy the odds once again?
The first five minutes of the final term were a stalemate, as the tension and atmosphere reached a level that all epic grand finals reach.
A breathtaking mark by eventual best-on-ground medallist Favaro gave the Purples one final injection of adrenaline-charged belief.
Favaro’s short stint on the bench to regain her breath was followed by her second goal which sealed the 3.8 (26) to 2.5 (17) triumph.
Quarrell praised his playing group’s ability to soak up the pressure.
“We knew they’re (Echuca) very well-drilled and have a really strong core group of girls,” he said.
“We wanted to give our mids and forwards a chance so we had to really set up and focus on our backline to be able to give us the opportunity to settle the game.
“We knew it was a pressure game, something that we have faced a lot of, whereas them being a great side have been pretty dominant in matches. We’ve had some touch ups by them so we knew we had to bring the pressure.”
Although Quarrell highlighted the names of Favaro, Hicks, Sidebottom, Ross and Price, he highlighted that each player who ran out contributed in the win.
“Everyone just played their role and that’s what we try to set up,” he said.
“We don’t want every player to try and play their best game ever, we just want them to play their role and get the job done.
“We try to keep it as simple as possible. Footy is a simple game, if you overthink it you can overdo it.”
After a wonderful unbeaten season, Echuca’s playing group were left shocked and, understandably, deflated.
This script — which has been written and copied three times now — was not meant to end this way.
Coincidentally, Cooper, who played a pivotal role in attack for Nathalia, has enjoyed what many Echuca players have missed out on over the past three seasons.
Cooper held up the cup that fateful night in 2019 when Mooroopna stunned Echuca in the decider, before being a member of the Purples’ crew in last year’s upset.
Echuca coach Damian Dalziel admitted it was “deflating” to lose the match but he was proud of his troops.
“It’s disappointing, especially three grand final losses in a row, which probably hurts the most,” Dalziel said.
“You can’t change it. We go through the year and it could be a thing where we do all our best stuff leading into the grand final.
“We always aim high and that’s what we’ve always been about. We always set our standards and we always want to be the best side going around, but also enjoy our footy.
“This year we did both until this day. We enjoyed the season, we had a laugh all the way.”