THURGOONA has won its maiden Tallangatta and District league flag after hammering Mitta United by 60 points in Saturday’s grand final at Sandy Creek.
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Led by dual Blues premiership coach Peter Copley, the Bulldogs put the ghosts of past finals campaigns behind them with a clinical 18.20 (128) to 10.8 (68) victory.
It was the Bulldogs’ first premiership since entering the competition in 1988 and comes after grand final defeats in 2011-12.
Aydan Brown was best-on-ground in the midfield for the Bulldogs while Jake Bruce was electric in attack, finishing with 5.5 from 10 shots at goal.
Copley said the grand final victory was reward for those who had helped transform the Bulldogs from whipping boys in their early years to a competition powerhouse.
Saturday’s victory was the Bulldogs 16th from their past 17 matches and capped a stunning finals campaign, where no side was able to get within 10 goals of them.
“It’s fantastic, a lot of people have worked really hard over the years. The club started 28 years ago, I actually played against them and you’d beat them by 300 points and you thought what in the hell is this club actually doing here,” he said.
It’s fantastic, a lot of people have worked really hard over the years. The club started 28 years ago, I actually played against them and you’d beat them by 300 points and you thought what in the hell is this club actually doing here.
- Peter Copley
“The community has grown, the support has grown, it’s taken a while to get the culture right but that’s how you win them.
“The really rewarding thing for us as a club is that we’ve got a lot of juniors that played out there today.
“You have a look at what Mitta’s about, it’s about culture and people, and our young blokes that have come through the juniors and the seconds were just fantastic today.”
Ben Lloyd, Darcy Moore, Luke Gerecke, Rhys Hensel and Dylan Rake have all played in the lower grades for the Bulldogs and they shone on the big stage at Sandy Creek.
Lloyd showed why he is on the radar of several Ovens and Murray clubs with a sparkling display in the midfield.
Copley, who coached Mitta United to back-to-back flags in 2004-05, said he had mixed emotions about facing the Blues in the grand final.
“It was weird waking up this morning, I didn’t know what song to sing, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said.
“They’re a terrific club with terrific people, I really respect them.”
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Xavier Mardling
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
