IT WAS the most lopsided A-grade grand final of the decade, but the 2014 premiership decider produced one of BFNL netball's greatest and most sentimental moments.
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The clash between Kangaroo Flat and Golden Square was the expected swansong for star Roos goal shooter and club legend Nina Cass.
And with the contest well beyond doubt in the final quarter, Roos coach Jannelle Hobbs brought youngster Annie Spear on at goal shooter, with Cass moving out to wing attack to replace Karly Bingham.
The switch allowed Cass to play out the dying minutes alongside her niece Spear in what was to be a fitting ending to a fabulous career at Dower Park.
But subsequent appearances in the BFNL's lower grades and on the bench for the Roos' next premiership win in 2016 meant the retirement would be on hold for a while yet.
But who would know that at the time? Certainly not Cass herself.
"It was definitely going to be my last game ... it really was," she said.
"I think I was the (team) manager the next year, then B-grade was short (on players) a week before the (2016) season started and they asked if I could fill in. That ended up being a fill-in every week.
"We won the flag and because I had filled in one or two games in A-grade that year, Jannelle asked me if I would sit on the bench.
"I had no expectations of playing or anything, but happily went out with two premierships."
Cass, who has gone on to coach the Roos to premierships in B-reserve in 2017 and B-grade in 2019, said getting to share the court with her niece was one of her favourite netball memories and has watched on with pride as Spear's A-grade career has flourished.
"Anneliese had a stint at Strathfieldsaye and then came back to Kangaroo Flat and has worked really hard to get back in the A-grade team," she said.
"She missed a fair bit of netball in the 12-months after she left us, but came back and played A-reserve the first year and a few A-grade games, but has worked really hard to get her spot in that A-grade team.
"It's great seeing the kids - especially the Kangaroo Flat kids - we've had a good retention of young players.
"A lot of last year's A-grade grand final team were Kangaroo Flat kids, and now we've had the under-18 footballers win, hopefully, that puts us in good stead for the next few years."
The A-grade flag was the second of two premierships on the day for Spear, who earlier played in the 17-and-under triumph over Sandhurst.
A talent-laden junior team for the Roos included two players, who would become A-grade premiership players in 2016, Milly Wicks and Ruby Barkmeyer.
A dominant A-grade season for the Roos featured just one loss against Gisborne, in round nine, and a draw, against Kyneton in round eight.
Remarkably, both games were played at Dower Park.
The Roos advanced to the grand final at their earliest opportunity, defeating Gisborne 43-36 in the second semi-final.
In contrast, Golden Square travelled the long path to the premiership decider.
After finishing the regular season in fourth place with a 13-5 record, the Bulldogs defeated Maryborough 39-33 in the elimination final, before they sent Kyneton packing from the finals race with a 52-34 semi-final win.
The Bulldogs continued their golden run in the preliminary final, defeating Gisborne, which had finished the regular season in second spot, 41-37.
Having beaten the Bulldogs by 11 goals in round three and 20 goals in round 12, Kangaroo Flat entered the grand final as red-hot favourities.
The odds shortened even further when the Roos bounded to a 10-goal lead at quarter time, 17-7.
With the Roos' impenetrable defence of Alicia McGlashan and Monica Wellington preventing the Bulldogs from making any serious inroads, Kangaroo Flat was able to maintain its margin at half-time.
The second-half was all one-way traffic with the Roos shooting 26 goals to Golden Square's 18, cruising to a 53-35 premiership win, their first since 2010.
McGlashan was voted best on court for a sterling performance at goal defence.
To this day, Cass views the 2014 win as the culmination of three years of hard work under Hobbs, who joined the club in 2012.
"We had been building for a couple years to win that and I was lucky, I was like 42 or something at that stage," she said.
"To be playing at that level and that age, I was quite happy with myself, but we had a great team that year, it was strong from end-to-end.
"We probably under-achieved a bit the year before. We went down to the state titles and finished runner-up there and the expectation for the season was high, but we lost Lauren Cowling with a knee injury and a few other things happened.
"So 2014 was a couple of years of hard work paying off."
We had been building for a couple years to win that (premiership) and I was lucky, I was like 42 or something at that stage.
- Nina Cass
It was another feather in the cap for Hobbs after she had led Loddon Valley league club YCW to seven grand finals prior to her arrival at Kangaroo Flat.
'Experienced' and 'strong' were the first two words to spring to mind when asked for her thoughts on her 2014 line-up.
"Karly Bingham dominated that game at wing attack and her feeding into the goalers was outstanding," Hobbs said.
"Chelsea Sartori was only very young at that stage, she had just come over to Flat from Castlemaine and played a fantastic game in centre.
"Lauren Cowling was a co-captain with Alicia, but sadly had done her knee and she missed the grand final.
"That was majorly disappointing for her.
"Alicia is a fantastic defender and it was no surprise to see her with two medals around her neck that day (premiership and best on court).
"How she didn't get in the team of the decade is beyond me, she was the best defender in the league for a long time."
For Hobbs and several of her players, the flag win was redemption for their one-goal loss in the previous year's grand final against Gisborne.
Karly Bingham dominated that game at wing attack and her feeding into the goalers was outstanding.
- Jannelle Hobbs
Best on court McGlashan singled out the contributions of three of the Roos youngest players, 17-year-old centre Sartori, goal attack Mackenzie and goal keeper Wellington, as just as important as those of their more experienced team-mates.
"That was Chelsea's first year for us and she hadn't really played midcourt and because Loz had done her knee we threw her into centre and she had to learn pretty quick," she said.
"She was amazing and just went so hard. It was an awesome first year for her.
"Rachel Mackenzie too, she was only young and that was probably her best year for us.
"In that grand final, she hardly missed a goal, and I think she might have had broken ribs as well.
"She played a fair bit of that season with injury, but her and Nina were combining so well by then. No one was going to stop Nina with her rebounding.
"I loved playing with Mon Wellington too that year before she went off to Melbourne and played VNL down there.
"We had such a strong unit back then.
"I remember for Square, Abbey Ryan was very young. I don't know if it was her first season in A-grade, but she did really well and proved she was a very good player straight from the beginning."
With Cass playing her final game, McGlashan recalled going into the grand final with a mindset of 'we have to win it for Nina'.
"It was really special to see Nina and Annie play together in a grand final," she said.
"In some ways it was hard, we had finished top that year and we were the team everyone was chasing and that's harder than going in as the underdogs, as you have everything to lose.
"But being the last year, we wanted to do it with Nina and we did it and it was nice for her and Annie to have that moment."
The two teams would clash again on grand final day two years later, but not before the Square would have the chance to atone in 2015.
Grand final line-ups
Kangaroo Flat: Monica Wellington; Alicia McGlashan, Simone Butler, Chelsea Sartori, Karly Bingham, Rachel Mackenzie, Nina Cass, Lauren Cowling (injured), Annie Spear, Bridget Chambers, Sarah Fern, Yasmin Thomas.
Golden Square: Lia Marrone (playing coach), Meg Gilbert, Allira Holmes, Amy Davies, Ashley Ryan, Abbey Ryan, Lucy Morcom, Jody Richards, Jaclyn Tanner, Belinda Pinner, Aimee Ryan and Georgia Cross.
- NEXT UP: 2015 - Golden Square completes the perfect season
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