Dylan Van Berlo nullified a series of Albury’s attacking raids in defence, effecting four marks or intercepts late in the frenetic first quarter.

“I reckon he’s had 15 marks,” Pies’ coach Dean Stone said.

“He actually doesn’t realise how good he is, 22 years old, six-foot five and can play like that.

“We’ve played him on talls, we’ve played him on smalls, he got split open in the second quarter.”

It capped Van Berlo’s breakout season, after he first suffered the left hamstring complaint in 2014.

“Pretty much my pelvis and hips and back were out,” he said.

“I’ve been seeing the ‘chiro’ (chiropractor) and ‘physio’ (physiotherapist) flat out and they’ve been trying to strengthen up my ‘glutes’ (gluteus maximus muscle).

“There’s been a few dollars spent there.”

But it’s paid off after his superb performance.

“The boys backed me week in, week out,” he said.

“’Bords’ (Michael Bordignon) just said to me, ‘go for your marks’, it was unreal.”

He can look laconic, but it hides a competitiveness.

He said the win was “definitely up there” with the greatest moment of his life.

“My role was to just try and mark the ball, try and intercept the ball and, if I can, run off,” he said.

“It worked and ‘Hydey’ (Chris Hyde) came to me and shut me down a little bit there at one stage.

“But, in the end, it worked well for us, I got back to helps ‘Bordsy’ out, (Josh) Mellington had no impact, so it was super.”

Van Berlo produced a superb late tackle and he was the game’s leading marker.