FOR Strathfieldsaye Storm coach Darryl Wilson, Saturday's historic BFNL grand final win over Sandhrust was all about the players.
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"I can't believe it. The feeling in the room... I've never heard anything like it before,'' Wilson said.
"I love all my flags, but this one is pretty special given it's the first for the club.
"This group of guys will go down in history. Fantastic for the club and the community."
Wilson took over the reins as Storm coach four years ago.
After missing the finals in 2011, the Storm made the preliminary final in 2012, lost the grand final to Golden Square in 2013 and are now premiers.
"The first thing that struck me at this club is that they wanted to win,'' Wilson said.
"There's no good playing if you don't want to strive to succeed.
"These guys wanted to and the support from people like Glenn Cowling, Ray Patterson and the group has been unbelievable.
"There's some disappointments today because there was a group of players that missed out and we had to win it for them."
Sandhurst threw everything at the Storm in the first half.
The Storm led by as many as 26 points halfway through the second quarter before the Dragons rallied to close the margin to five points at half-time.
Off the ball incidents midway through the term involving Sandhurst skipper Blair Holmes and Strathfieldsaye duo Lachlan Sharp and Steven Baker seemed to spark the Dragons and unsettle the Storm.
"(At half-time) I asked the boys to show us what character they had.
"The basis was go out and play footy.
"There was a couple of things off the ball both ways that swung the game back Sandhurst's way.
"The message was play football - settle and control, dictate the pace of the game. To the boys credit they did that after half-time."
Star forward Sam Mildren and former St Kilda defender Steven Baker earned special praise from Wilson.
Mildren's career was in doubt three months ago because of chronic hip and back injuries.
"Sam is a star,'' Wilson said of Mildren.
"If his injuries weren't as bad as they were he'd be an absolute superstar.
"To his credit he does everything right and today is a repay for all his hard work.
"I still rate Baker higher than nearly any player in the competition because he is defensive.
"Attacking is easy, he does all the other stuff. A phenomenal tackler, pressure and when's he's around the ball players are scared they are going to tip them over."