The Hoppers were six goals down at half-time but responded with eight straight unanswered goals in barely 20 minutes to take the lead.

“When it’s second versus bottom I thought, here we go again,” Bombers coach Greg Meyland said.

“I thought we were going to play a good half of footy then fall away — but we kicked the last two of the third quarter and there was no looking back from there.

“It’s credit to the boys, they were hungry to win the game and nothing was going to hold them back.”

Highly rated at the start of the season, The Bombers hadn’t won for nine games.

Needless to say, it was a rousing rendition of the club song.

“It’s been three months since we’ve sung it so it was sung with a lot of passion,” Meyland said.

“We’ve had a couple back, we’ve been training well, we’ve played on wet grounds for the last six weeks and have got used to the conditions.

“We were desperate to win, everything had to fall our way and it did.

“It was a great atmosphere in the rooms after the game.

“We had a club function and there was a huge turnout so the club culture was definitely up and about again.”

Finals are no longer an option for Waaia, but there is still plenty to play for before the end of the season.

“We just don’t want to finish bottom of the ladder,” Meyland said.

“But I think there’s a good chance we can get off it.”

Murray Bushranger Connor Brown and Mark Meyland both kicked four goals, while Danny Glover and Mark Baker were the Bombers’ best.

Also among their best players were Brayden Coates, 15, and Jesse Trower, 14, who has now played 12 senior games in a row.

“We’ve regularly had four under-17s play seniors and up to five in the team have played a game beforehand,” Meyland said.

“But they’ve stood up and really taken their chance which is a big time positive for the club.

“Players like Jesse have been terrific and he’s a real talent.”

With more players due back, including Meyland himself, the Bombers will hope there’s a few more positives before the season’s out.

“The chips were down at one stage but it was credit to our boys to come back again,” Meyland said.

“We’re just very glad to break the shackles.”