Winning coach praises dedication

NEWEST inductee to the Bendigo FNL’s senior footy premiership coaches club, Rob Waters praised the dedication of all in Gisborne’s squad after Saturday’s grand final victory.

“We had a playing group of 68 and all have played their part,” Waters said after the win.

“The 22 we had on-field today were outstanding, but there are so many who have helped the club be where it’s at.

“It was 120 minutes of commitment in the grand final, but more than 4000 hours to get here,” he said of the many weeks put into a season.

“We have such a young group and the way they worked for each other in this grand final was superb.”

It was an 11th premiership win for Waters who has tackled a variety of roles at various clubs.

“We did this the hard way,” he said of having to bounce back from a two-goal loss to Strathfieldsaye in the second semi-final.

Saturday’s conditions could have been ordered by the Gisborne coaches, players and supporters as the Bulldogs revel in the wet, especially in the depths of winter at Gardiner Reserve.

“It was all about winning the contest more often than Storm, and also putting on plenty of pressure when they had the ball,” said Waters.

“Our effort across every quarter was incredible.”

A memorable day for Gisborne began with an under-18s footy win.

By day’s end some Gisborne fans would declare two out of three footy grand final wins was not too bad.