Throughout his two-year tenure as senior coach, Rohan Brown has often made mention of those that set up the side for him to take charge.
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People such as former coaches Phil Crouch and Dale Power are often thanked for their work in building the core of what has proved to be a premiership-winning team.
And it didn’t take Brown long to thank those same people on Saturday in the rooms after the match.
“It’s a great reward for the whole club and everyone that’s helped, not just the players,” he said.
“There’s been a plan for five years now and Phil Crouch, Dale Power, the list is endless of guys that have made this possible and we can’t thank them enough.”
Brown revealed there had been a commitment made by the senior group in the immediate aftermath of last season’s grand final loss to Hepburn to stick together and come back for another crack at glory.
And 12 months later it happened.
“We had a bit of a chat last year as a group. It was just the 22 and Phil Crouch. We said that there is two ways we can go and there was a decision to be made,” he said.
“Every single person hung on, (except) we lost one who moved away.”
Brown said it was a huge thrill to see the joy on the Beaufort supporters’ faces after Saturday’s win.
“The guys like Nick Franc, our support staff like Col Gerrard, our president Brien Leckie and everyone who helps. It gives me more joy seeing everyone’s happy faces than me winning a medallion and I’m pretty sure the boys feel the same,” he told The Courier.
Brown was thrilled with the side’s performance on the big stage on Saturday and pointed to a tackle count of more than 100 as an indicator to how hard the players tried.
“We wanted to get 90. We knew if we brought the pressure inside that the game would hopefully open up and I think it opened up for us a bit earlier than what we actually expected,” Brown, who played in the Crows’ reserves premiership back in 2015, said.
“They’re a quality outfit with superstars. You’ve just got to see the depth in their club with the reserves winning as well.
“We just wanted to bring the pressure – which we did – and use the footy well going forward to try and get outside so our players like Jack Duke and Rupert Sangster and the quick ones can use the spaces of Mars Stadium, which we learnt about last year.”
Brown, who served as an assistant to Power before taking over the job after the 2016 season, has already agreed to coach the club again in 2019.
