Coleambally were coming to grips with the feeling East Wagga-Kooringal had come to hate, as the post-mortem into their grand final loss began on Saturday night.
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The nightmare of a slow start coming back to haunt the Blues unfolded for coach Josh Hamilton from the opening siren.
“We did all the talking but we probably didn’t turn up until the first five minutes in the second quarter, or not even then,” Hamilton said.
“That was probably where we lost it. We got back a bit there (later in the second quarter) and started to get a bit of momentum but it was too late.”
The Blues kicked only one goal in the first quarter, through the exciting Shaun Light, who worked hard all day to try to spark something.
And goals to Dean Pound and Nathan Jones just before half-time offered hope but they were still 32 points down at the main break.
EWK only kicked one goal between the 12th minute mark of the second quarter and the 22nd minute of the last term, but a 44-point deficit was almost impossible to rein in against the most consistent team of the last three years.
“They deserved to win,” Hamilton said.
“They’re drilled well. They run from defence well. They’ve got good skills, good forwards. They’re a good side, no doubt in the world.
“You don’t play in three grand finals if you’re not. They’ve had a bit of a bad luck the last couple of years and today they got what they were after I guess.”
Hamilton also praised his opposite Nick Hull, saying the league’s best-and-fairest “monstered me in the first quarter”.
The coach was one of three players reported, continuing a series of incidents in recent matches against the Hawks.
Yellow-carded in the semi-final loss and reported in the round 18 loss at Gumly, Hamilton gave his three-quarter-time grand final address from the bench after he was one of four players given a 15-minute spell.
He is facing suspension for a striking charge. And he was hurting afterwards as the reality of the day set in for a devastated Blues dressing room.
“To win a grand final… I’m only 25. I don’t think I know what it really takes to win one,” Hamilton said.
“We just went out there to do our best and I guess sometimes it takes you to lose one to understand it. Because it hurts now.”
He said he couldn’t be prouder of his players and the club in taking a chance on him as a first-year coach.
“I’ve never really bled for football, you know what I mean? Until these guys.” he said.
“I’d do anything for them. It’s not only the players, it’s the committee. Everyone gets behind you. They told me from the start they’d have my back. And the community – I couldn’t ask any more of them.”
