The Mean Machine had their seventh-consecutive flag well and truly locked up at three quarter-time as they led Mitiamo by 50 points.

And that’s what the final margin ended up – a 50-point win to the Mean Machine, 19.12 (126) to 10.16 (76), at Pyramid Hill’s Mitchell Park.

It was an historic win for the Mean Machine as they became the first club in LVFNL history to win seven flags in a row, while the victory also capped an unbeaten season as they extended their overall winning streak to 30 on the trot.

Saturday’s victory featured plenty of similarities to a year earlier when the Mean Machine were also too good for the Superoos.

Just as they did last year the Mean Machine put the foot down in the middle two quarters when they kicked 13.5 to 5.8 to break the game open, while the underdog Superoos squandered the chance to apply scoreboard pressure in the first half.

The warning bells began sounding for the Superoos during the second quarter as Bridgewater asserted its authority.

Brilliantly led by captain Zeb Broadbent, who was a dominant force at the clearances, and the classy Zac East through the midfield, the Mean Machine banged home six goals during the second term.

Forwards Andrew Collins and Brad Rohde kicked two each, while Ben Galea and East each slotted one.

Rohde – who played on despite suffering an AC joint injury – nailed two set-shot goals, while the first of Collins’ goals was a superb snap on his left foot.

Down the other end it was a tale of missed opportunities for the Superoos, who constantly blew chances inside 50, kicking 2.4 for the quarter on the back of 2.5 in the first term.

One of the Superoos’ two second quarter goals was a sensational shot on the run from 50m into the wind by their best player, Dougie Thomas.

When coach Justin Maddern – who had earlier made the surprise move to play the first quarter in the midfield – converted a set-shot the Superoos were within 16 points at the 20-minute mark and hanging in, but the last two goals of the term through Galea and East pushed Bridgewater’s lead out to 27 points at half-time.

At the stage the Mean Machine had only two more scoring shots than the Superoos – 15 to 13 – but led 9.6 to 4.9.

Yet while the margin was less than five goals and Bridgewater had defender Luke Harrison (concussion) taken to hospital and Rohde battling the AC joint injury, there was a feeling of inevitability about the result considering the way the Mean Machine had destroyed the Superoos after half-time in their previous two meetings.

Any chance of a Superoos’ revival was snuffed out as the Mean Machine continued on their momentum of the second term with their highest-scoring quarter of the game against the wind in the pivotal third.

As the game opened up and the superior fitness and polish of the Mean Machine showed out, they slammed on seven goals.

Four came in a six-minute burst in time-on through Andrew Collins, Alex Galea, Darren Clutton, courtesy of a 50m penalty, and Zeb Broadbent.

Broadbent’s goal extended the Mean Machine’s lead to a game-high 56 points, before Thomas launched his third long-range goal for Mitiamo just before three quarter-time.

Just like the first and second quarter, the Superoos kicked more behinds than goals in the third term as they scored 3.4 to Bridgewater’s 7.3.

With the sting out of the game, both teams added 3.3 apiece in the last quarter before the siren sounded on Bridgewater’s historic seven-peat, with the margin the sixth of those flags by at least 50 points.

Earlier, the Superoos made an encouraging start when they kicked two of the first three goals through Andy Grant and Dylan Clohesy and led by seven points after 19 minutes.

But when the lively Alex Galea kicked back-to-back goals to put the Mean Machine five points up at the 23-minute mark, they wouldn’t be headed again for the rest of the match.

Alex Galea had four shots at goal in the first quarter for a return of 2.2, before finishing the match with four goals.

Andrew Collins also bagged four, as did Rohde, who now has 29 goals across the Mean Machine’s seven grand final wins in a row.

Rohde is one of four seven-time Bridgewater premiership players, along with Clutton, Deon Jones and Daniel Nalder.

Zeb Broadbent capped an outstanding season by winning the AFL Victoria Country Medal to complete a 2016 triple of premiership captain, grand final best on ground and league medallist.

The star duo of East (two goals) and Andrew Collins, premiership coach Marc Lindsay, Alex Galea and ruckman Josh Metherell were also named in the best for the Mean Machine, whose team of 22 now have 94 premierships between them.

Thomas (three goals) was the clear standout for Mitiamo through the midfield with a tireless performance.

Back-line players in Jarad Webster and co-captains Luke Lougoon and Clohesy, who after starting forward returned to his customary position in the back half, were also among the better players for the Superoos.

Bridgewater premiership team: Marc Lindsay (coach), Zeb Broadbent (captain), Tom Broadbent, Darren Clutton, Alex Collins, Andrew Collins, Zac East, Alex Galea, Ben Galea, Luke Harrison, Deon Jones, Rick Ladson, Jared Keely, Tom Kuhne, Angus McKinley, Josh McLeod, Josh Metherell, Daniel Nalder, Tristin Nalder, Callum Prest, Brad Rohde, Harry Symons.