The year was 2006 and for Waubra in particular, a grand final appearance was a rare commodity.

Hepburn, however, was no stranger to the big dance as it vied for its third consecutive premiership.

Let's take a look back at the day that was the 2006 Central Highlands Football League grand final day, as reported by The Courier at the time.

This year, The Courier will live stream the 2019 senior football grand final in HD - how times have changed!

WAUBRA broke a premiership drought of 24 years on Saturday, blowing Hepburn away in a sizzling first half of the 2006 Bendigo Bank Central Highlands Football League grand final.

The Kangaroos bounded away again in the second half to dethrone the reigning premiers 23.13 (151) to 8.16 (64) before a near record-breaking gate of $38,508.

For victorious coach Shane Skontra it was a relief - for Hepburn mentor Shane Robertson it was a shattering blow as the Kookaburras were aiming for three-consecutive premierships.

But the Waubra Kangaroos were simply too good right from the start.

They controlled the centre corridor, had a luxury of numerous key forwards which they could rotate off the bench and a cool, calm and collected backline.

Best-on-ground Victorian Country Football League medal winner was John Coleman with four goals, yet a lot of football pundits could see nothing wrong with the superlative games of captain Shaun Mullane, big occasion player Gavin Miller, both on the ball, and forward Ben Naylon.

Mullane and Naylon kicked five goals a piece.

For the vanquished, Matthew Peake showed his liking for Austar Arena while key defender Sam Newton and followers, ruckman Matthew Brown and Daniel James were about all the Kookaburra faithful had to cheer about in ideal football conditions. Skontra said after the siren:

''They just all contributed'' before being embraced by his team and held aloft of the throng of Kangaroos supporters whose farming community roots must have thought it was as good as rain.

Captain Mullane said: ''Hepburn has gone a long way to raising the standard of the Central Highlands league but our guys worked hard all year and I think we really deserved this.''

The tagging of Hepburn preliminary final small forward winner Andy McKay by Ryan Allan was a telling point in the grand final.

''Budgie'' was in McKay's face, having a chat and did not give him a centimetre.

McKay only got two clean possessions in the first half and one was a goal showing how dangerous and highly regarded a player he is in the CHFL.

There were good signs for Waubra early when Stuart Oliver, Rod Stepnell and Steve Biggin were controlling the backline.

Biggin had the better of James Newton who then alternated in the ruck with ''Chief'' Brown who showed amazing agility to go for a couple of bounces from half back, drilling the ball to Peake who got Hepburn on the scoreboard after Waubra kicked the first goal via a clever snap from Gavin Miller.

In pre-match tactics, Dom Clark took the centre bounce leaving ace ruckman George Russell to start the match on the bench while in the Hepburn camp, which had to leave two players out of a named 24 squad, Mick Carey and Trent Saunders were relegated to the seconds grand final side which, ironically, won the premiership.

Hepburn also won the under-15s premiership against Daylesford while the Bungaree Demons made it back-to-back premierships against Creswick.

While Peake was looking the danger man for Hepburn, Waubra century goalkicker Lee Brown was creating goal opportunities up forward and Naylon was leading out strong and direct.

Michael Sordello was running down the half-back line and Matt Clark was making his marks and helping the breakaway scoreline of 5.3 to 2.2 in the first 20 minutes of the match.

But Waubra won it with the hard running forward of the ball work of Miller, captain Mullane and everdangerous onballers Danny Liston and Clinton McIntyre.

When Shaun Mullane streamed in to an open goal for Waubra's eighth for the first quarter, Hepburn were still floundering on 2.2.

The second quarter got worse for the Kookaburras - seven goals to two for Waubra to set up an almost unassailable lead of 15.4 to 4.7 at the main break.

While Coleman was bobbing up everywhere, Paul Dodds was another winner off the wing for Waubra.

Robertson urged his team to apply man-on-man pressure and he wanted his backs to be harder but the floodgates had already begun to open.

Skontra urged his team at quarter time to play hard, concentrated football for the first 10 minutes and that effectively opened the game up for Waubra.

With Hepburn having several players retiring including the likely last game of full forward Clive Raak, the Burras will have to reassess their future as a force in the league over the off-season while celebrations in the Waubra community will last at least a week.

THERE were no happier faces at Austar Arena on Saturday than 10 members of Waubra's historic first Central Highlands Football League premiership 24 years ago in 1982.

Then premiership playing-coach Barry Allan was among the huge crowd of more than 7000 people to see the Kangaroos break their premiership drought with a 75-point thumping of Hepburn.

''They are a good, well-balanced team, well-coached and they play a good style of running football,'' Allan said.

''They have confidence in each other and their little blokes put pressure on the opposition, applying the pressure all over the ground.

''This limited Hepburn's ability to deliver the ball to its forwards,'' Allan noted.

''There are a few here today from the 1982 premiership,'' said the quietly spoken Allan, whose son, Ryan, was a key player in Waubra's drought-breaking premiership win.

The other nine 1982 premiership players who revelled in the occasion with 1982 coach Allan were Trevor Hall, Joe Harrison, ''Butch'' Molloy, Jeff Horgan, Colin Sparks, Steve March, Tony Briody, Greg Conroy and Peter Bridges.

Waubra coach Shane Skontra said:

''It's a special moment. We broke the match open early and were able to keep running.

''I'm so pleased for the committee and the supporters. It's a long road - 24 years without a premiership until now.

''The players have been terrific.

''We got our hands on the ball early and our game evolved with a bit of confidence. It gave us a chance to do some hard running.

''We were all ready for the contest with the week's break, which I didn't know would help us, but it seems to have helped us because we had plenty of run.''

Hepburn coach Shane Robertson, addressing his players after the grand final:

''When you work hard and the scoreboard is not there that's when you can get negative vibes. Where do we go from here?

"Several players are retiring but we still have 22- and 23-year-olds who have played in two and three grand finals.

"For those who played in their first grand final today, sometimes they say you have got to lose one to win one . . . as long as it hurts.

''I am proud of the achievement that we got so far . . . it was a frustrating year but we have got to be proud we made the grand final.''

SENIORS: Waubra 23.13 (151) d Hepburn 8.16 (64)

RESERVES: Hepburn 9.10 (64) d Ballan 3.11 (29)

UNDER-18: Bungaree 15.9 (99) d Creswick 6.12 (48)

UNDER-14: Hepburn 8.6 (54) d Daylesford 4.1 (25)

SPRINGBANK confirmed its league supremacy with a fightback from a four-goal deficit at half-time to become this year's senior premiers on Saturday.

The Tigers wore down a determined Bungaree to finish 42-33 and cap off a nearly perfect Central Highlands Netball League season at Austar Arena.

Their only loss for the season came at the hands of Bungaree in the semi-finals, and coach Emma Blood said the result had been a learning curve for the team.

''We just kept going today,'' Blood said.

''Two weeks ago against Bungaree we learnt a lot. If things don't go our way we have to not drop our heads like we did.

''We didn't give up today.''

Scores were level on 8-all at quarter-time after a high pressure and physical start from both teams.

Tigers' goalkeeper Leanne Birkett required injury time-out after a body-clash with a Bungaree player.

Birkett returned to the court and starred in the Tigers defence alongside teammate Linda Walters.

Bungaree grabbed an early lead in the second quarter, including a run of five unanswered goals, to enter halftime ahead 17-13.

Fitness became the match-winning factor of the second half as the warmer weather started to take its toll on players.

''Both teams were looking very tired, especially in the centre,'' Blood said.

''We changed it up and brought some fresh legs into our centre and it seemed to work in our favour.''

The move of Josie Donegan into wing attack seemed to be the answer the Tigers needed as she added a boost to their offensive line.

Tiger Melissa Beaston appeared tireless running as centre for the whole match.

Teammate Georgia Cann was awarded best-on-court after a powerful performance as goal shooter.

Cann finished the match with 23 goals to her name.

She was supported by strong efforts from Blood in goal attack, who claimed 19 goals of her own.

At the other end of the court, Demons' goal shooter Brooke Nicholson was extremely accurate when delivered the ball and also finished with 23 goals.

Demons' coach Amanda Clarke said the hot weather was the key factor of her team's defeat.

''It was probably fitness and tiredness that got to us in the end and our decision making went with it. Springbank are an ultra-fit side,'' Clarke said.

''We're still happy to have made the grand final and the girls should be proud.

''We're still rapt to have played it up to them. We kept trying and pushed them all the way.

''They had to work hard to win the game.''

It was a sweet victory for the Tigers, who last year ran undefeated into the grand final, only to suffer a surprise loss to Waubra.

A-grade: Springbank 42 d Bungaree 33

B-grade: Waubra 33 d Springbank 23

Under-17: Dunnstown 27 d Beaufort 21

Under-15: Newlyn 23 d Waubra 20

Under-13: Springbank 23 d Waubra 18