A missed opportunity at premiership glory leaves the losing side questioning internally and externally, ‘What could have been?’
Nagambie and Waaia have followed similar trajectories since joining the league in 2018.
Since then success has followed both, albeit without the holy grail — the Haisman Shield.
Late on day two in the tightly-contested grand final, no-one in the strong crowd at Katandra Recreation Reserve would have been able to confidently predict which captain would be hoisting the famous shield above their heads come the end of the match.
In the end, it was jubilation for Waaia’s Mitch Cleeland and despair for Nagambie’s Mark Nolan and Zac Winter-Irving.
The Lakers gave it their all and after a quick run of wickets early on day two, they had the Bombers 9-81, trailing by 16 — a target that felt as big as a mountain at the time.
Playing coach Winter-Irving’s side fought hard till the end, but after a 10th-wicket partnership from Bombers pair Kaleb Gilmour and Will Trower, the Lakers were left with too much to do to pull back a miraculous win.
Speaking after the match, an understandably drained Winter-Irving was full of praise for his players and their fighting spirit.
“I’m super proud of our boys who are absolutely spent, massive pat on the back for their efforts, but credit to Waaia they get the chocolates in the end and credit to our boys for the effort,” Winter-Irving said.
“It was a super effort from both teams.
“I guess in the end it just shows there’s only a marginal difference (between winning and losing).”
The Lakers fought hard against the odds in the second innings to nearly push their noses back in front late in the match.
Winter-Irving said bowlers from both sides were highly accurate with Kookaburra in hand across the two days.
“It would have been a good game to watch, maybe not with the bat,” he said.
“I think both teams going in knew that there was going to be a lot of wickets in the game.
“There was nothing special about the wicket, it was just pressure.
“Pretty good bowling from both ends created wickets for both sides.”
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