Shepparton’s rugby union stars had both hands gripped like glue around the Dynasty Sport premiership trophy all weekend following their fabled 29-18 grand final victory over Geelong Rams on Saturday.
In the lead-up to the big dance at Box Hill Rugby Club, ever-humble Bulls coach Moronae Silaga said his side was “going to enjoy this one this year no matter what happens”.
Funnily enough, the Bulls had the time of their lives — by winning, no less.
But as a nightmare start threatened, the Bulls were dreaming if they thought this premiership would come easy.
Less than two minutes into the match Geelong broke down the left flank and it took a great chase-down tackle by Danny Patea to prevent Rams winger Andrew Ratawa from bowling right through.
Instead, Geelong spun the lolly from left to right and Geelong’s prop was able to bundle it over the line for an unconverted try.
A Rams conversion 15 minutes later drew the deficit out to 8-0.
But the Bulls had something of their own cooking.
Driving phases by the forwards edged the Shepparton side closer to the line, and there to claim the spoils was Fatu Peletiso as he added the finishing touches on a brutish Bulls move.
Danny Patea, a man earmarked by Siliga before the match as a difference-maker for the Bulls, converted a penalty just before time to bring it to 8-8 heading into the half.
However, the dazzling fullback was only just getting started.
And unfortunately for Geelong, so was star centre Kitione Seruisavou.
Five minutes into the second stanza, scrum half Samuela Waqarerevaki picked the ball up from a maul before Marist Viliamu turned on the jets and thrashed his way to the paint.
Though he was stopped a metre shy, Seruisavou secured Shepparton’s lead as he touched ball to grass for a 15-8 Bulls lead.
Geelong, not to be outdone, hit back five minutes later.
Off the back of a flowing and fluent pick-and-carry move, Geelong flicked it out left, and Rams winger Ratawa was there to handle the last offload and fall down for a try.
Back and forth had been the game’s nature all day, but it was about to veer off course quickly for the Rams.
A Bulls blitz down the left wing resulted in another try — and despite some confusion between the ref and touchline assistant — it was confirmed, and Seruisavou rightly claimed it.
Another Patea penalty lifted the Bulls to 23-13, and with 10 minutes left on the clock, Geelong completely boiled over.
The Rams were reduced to 14 men following a yellow card stemming from a Shepparton scrum — an aspect the Bulls had dominated all day.
However, 14 became 13 in remarkable circumstances as the player brought on to fill the gap left by the omitted Ram gave away a penalty try a minute after the first offence, earning himself a sin bin in the process.
Though Geelong rallied back admirably to score a try with two men off the field, it was purely consolation as the final whistle trilled directly after.
“It was a tough game, but we prepared really well for it,” Silaga said.
“The boys were keen and excited for the game, so coming into it we knew we were organised and we knew had to fix the little things and we’d get the results at the end.
“The first half started really slow — it wasn’t the way we wanted to start.
“We wanted to make sure we were switched on, we started really slow, but we started picking up the momentum to draw the game before half-time.
“My message was for us to stick to our game plan, just trust the players and work together as a team.”
Silaga heaped praise on his side’s bench impact, strong forward pack and classy backs with Waqarerevaki earning a special mention, returning from a fractured jaw to almost nab the player of the game award.
Instead, that went to fellow Bull, Liahona Vaegaau, while Viliamu cleared the field regarding metres gained by any player on the park.
All arrived in a game worthy of grand final status, and for the Bulls, it manifested in another champagne moment for a club fast earning its crust as one of Victoria’s rising rugby union powerhouses.
