That was the question posed on Sunday after Echuca lost a second straight Northern Country Women’s League grand final.
Making the 34-point loss to Nathalia even tougher was the fact it was just the Murray Bombers’ second loss since the start of 2019, with both defeats in grand finals.
Coach Damien Dalziel said while Nathalia was the better side on the day, he didn't yet know what the answer was to Echuca's grand final collapses.
“I presume everyone will go next year ‘you’ve lost the last two grand finals, but are the best side during the year, but can’t make it when it counts’,” Dalziel said.
“We’ve got to rectify that as a group and work out how we can be that best side at the end.
“The last thing we want to be known as is the side who dominates the home and away (season), but can’t win the grand final.”
Lining up for the decider, Echuca got itself on the scoreboard with an opening-quarter goal, although it would be the last time the usually high-scoring side would do so.
“It was pretty full-on and plenty of body hits early, and we levelled the scores,” Dalziel said.
“After that, (Nathalia) had too many strong, big targets up forward and across the ground.”
The Purps continued to make the most of their chances, extending their lead out across the next three quarters as Echuca tried to play catch-up to no avail.
“We chopped and changed a bit, brought Jodie (Lake) out of the forward line and into the middle,” Dalziel said.
“(Nathalia's) aerial marking was really good, and probably one thing we weren’t able to do.
“And every time we got the ball, we were under pressure.”
After speaking with the group after the game, Dalziel said he was incredibly proud of his team for all it achieved this season.
“We’ve lost a grand final, but for the group to stick together — we’ve got a huge bond,” he said.
“The group as a collective is absolutely awesome, they deal with everything that’s thrown at them.
“They all turn up and do the hard work. They just love playing footy.”
With the season done for another year, Dalziel said the group would go away, reset and evaluate ahead of next year.
“We celebrate the year that was, then collect our thoughts and decide what each of us does in the future,” he said.
“We’re a tight-knit group, but just need to work out what we need to bring into our football.”
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