By David Nagel
Utter relief!
It was etched on the face of every Tooradin player on Saturday night after the Seagulls had broken their nine-year premiership drought in the WGCA Premier Division.
For some clubs a nine-year gap would be more than acceptable between premierships, but for this extremely talented list it felt like a lifetime in the making.
And no-one reflected that relief more than skipper Cal O’Hare, who joins his great mate Aaron Avery as a premiership captain of the club after the great win over Cardinia.
“It’s starting to sink in, it means so much, obviously it’s been nine years ago since we won it and honestly, I thought we would have back here a bit quicker than now,” O’Hare said open and honestly, an hour after the game.
“But, as we all know, they’re not easy to win and it’s taken a lot of hard work to get here.
“There’s been some good sides over those years, Kooweerup and Pakenham were outstanding over a five-or six-year stretch, and we were probably just behind them.
“It’s just a massive relief now to be the best team this season and to finally get the job done…it’s an incredible feeling.”
Tooradin finished on top of the ladder, and won its semi-final against Kooweerup to earn a week’s rest and a direct passage into the grand final.
While the win over the Demons was impressive, and released some pressure after eight years without a finals win, it did leave O’Hare and his teammates with two weeks to think about the big game and what might eventuate.
For O’Hare, who faced first ball on Saturday, it was a challenging experience.
“I played a test match over and over in my head, particularly this week, it’s been a long week I can tell you that,” O’Hare said with a chuckle.
“How many times I thought ‘What am I doing with Doigy (Dwayne Doig) first over, am I trying to hit him over the Sports Club roof, or block him out’…it’s just been a long week that’s for sure.
“I love the preliminary final set up, it’s a fair system, but it’s a long two weeks if you win that first final.”
O’Hare decided to stay in his crease to Doig, who began the match with a maiden, with the Bulls at their effervescent and in-your-face best in the field.
“We knew they were going to be up-and-about and intense, that’s the sort of side they are, they play good hard cricket and that’s what it’s built on,” he said.
“Doigy is a bloody champion, probably the best spinner over the last 15 to 20 years, so we knew it wouldn’t be easy going early.
“We knew spin would be the key for them, and they’re hard to get away, but we knew if could get 160 we’d be a chance.”
O’Hare praised Russ Lehman and Brad Butler for their critical influence in setting a decent score.
“Goose (Lehman) probably didn’t have the year that he would have liked but he came good when we really needed it,” he said.
“Over the last four or five games, if we were giving three votes, he’s been man of the match every time, he’s an absolute star.
“And Brad, for him to come out and hit the ball hard, to some very strange places on the ground, was incredible.
“For him to come out and get 46 not out, that changed the game big time.
“On this ground, he’s always a chance to do that.”
O’Hare said his side’s brilliant bowling display in the semi-final gave it plenty of confidence when it came to defending the 161 score.
“Two weeks ago, against Koowee we bowled perfectly to our plans and we knew we could defend anything if we repeated that sort of form,” he said.
“We did slip a little at times in the field, but when they had a good over, we bounced back, bowled good lines, and kept the pressure on really well I thought.”
The connection between O’Hare, his brother-in-law Tom Hussey, and Aaron Avery, is strong, but the Seagulls’ skipper said there were so many other elements that made the win so special.
“As good as it is to play in a flag with blokes like Azz and Huss, it’s also the guys that have come across from other clubs…KBB (Kallan Braid-Ball), BJ (Ben Parrott) …they came across and have now played in a flag with us boys.
“Then there’s the juniors that have come through the club, like Butsy and Tyler Evans, it’s just awesome for everyone.
“It means everything, when we won it nine years ago, we thought it would just happen, but it’s not that easy, you don’t just click your fingers and it happens.
“To everyone at Tooradin, from the committee down, this is for you and we thank you for all your support.”
