FOR an undoubted powerhouse of the BFNL netball competition, the 2010s - until 2017 - had proven a touch lean for Sandhurst.
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The Dragons entered 2017 with only two grand final appearances to their credit since their stirring 2007 premiership triumph, the third-leg of a flag three-peat.
But it's not like they had ever been far away from the grand final equation, save for 2014, when the Dragons missed the finals altogether.
The 2016 season had represented a missed chance of sorts, when the Dragons, who finished the regular season a clear second on the ladder behind Kangaroo Flat, won their first final against Golden Square to put them within one win of a grand final berth.
That they nearly clinched the next week in a narrow loss to Kangaroo Flat, which went on to secure the premiership a fortnight ladder.
But the Dragons' season would end short of a grand final appearance the following week, when they fell to Golden Square in the preliminary final, 39-54.
There would be change, and a fair bit of it, before Sandhurst took to the court for the first time in 2017 on Easter Saturday against Strathfieldsaye, starting at the top.
The Dragons had been able to lure accomplished 2014 Heathcote District league premiership coach Tamara Gilchrist over from North Bendigo, in what would prove a stroke of genius.
Gilchrist was teamed with on-court star Heather Oliver to give the club not just joint coaches, but new sparkle and direction.
On the court, the additions included savvy goal shooter Rebecca Smith, who had started the decade as an A-grade premiership player with Eaglehawk, before switching to North Bendigo and then making the move across to Sandhurst with Gilchrist, and an athletic young defender with untapped potential, Imogen Sexton.
Added to a core of 2015 Betty Thompson Medal winner Oliver, star centre Brooke Bolton, dynamic goal attack Kelsey Meade, versatile and underrated defender Carly Van Den Heuvel and one of the competition's fast-rising stars Meg Williams, it would not take long for the new combination to click.
Starting the season with a 17-goal win over Strathfieldsaye, the Dragons demolished Castlemaine by 81 goals in round two.
But it was a 53-27 win over Golden Square - the previous season's runners-up - in round three, which sounded an ominous warning to the rest of the competition that the Dragons would be a force to be reckoned with.
Following a 50-plus goal win over Kyneton, the Dragons came back to earth in round five with a three-goal loss on their home court against Eaglehawk, now coached by Mali Roberts.
Sandhurst would exact its revenge over the Hawks later in the season to the tune of eight goals, but other than a round eight draw at Gisborne, the Dragons would enter the finals with a close to unblemished record.
Included along the way was another dominant 22-goal win over Golden Square in round 12.
Things would not be so easy when the two clubs met again in week two of the finals, with the Dragons eking out a comfortable enough nine-goal win (61-52), built largely on a dominant 32-21 first half and 18-12 opening term.
The Bulldogs would get a chance to atone for that loss after accounting for Gisborne for the second time in the final series by three goals the following week, and advancing to their fourth-straight premiership decider.
Sandhurst and Golden Square players lining up for the 27th edition of the BFNL grand final would not only have to contend with their fierce rivals, but some pretty horrible conditions.
With the temperature soaring into the high-30s, the grand final would be played in easily the hottest weather all season, while strong winds made goal shooting complex and painstaking.
The Bulldogs had the better of the first quarter and for a rare occasion in 2017 against the Dragons led at the first break, albeit narrowly, 12-11.
Sandhurst suffered an early blow when Van Den Heuvel went down with an injury in the opening minutes. She was replaced for the remainder of the game by Emma Tindill.
After slightly having the better of things in the second quarter, the Dragons were able to head to the break ahead 24-21.
With both sides in need of a spark to break the game open, it would be provided by Dragons goal shooter Smith, who - in the trying conditions - calmly slotted six-straight goals during the third term, allowing her side to surge to a 38-29 at the final change.
Never a team to lie down, Golden Square took the challenge right up to Sandhurst in the final term, but nothing was going to deny the Dragons a drought-breaking flag and a well-deserved 48-40 win.
For the second season in a row, it was a teenager who collected the best on court medal, with wing attack Williams edging out her team-mate and captain Oliver, who had started grand final week by winning her second Betty Thompson Medal.
In the aftermath, team-mates and Dragons supporters were quick to show their appreciation to their dual-league medal winner and joint leader Oliver by bowing down in praise midcourt.
Recalling the Dragons' breakout season and premiership triumph, Williams directed the lion's share of the credit to their coaching duo.
"When Tam came into the club, she set the rules straight that we are here for a good time, but we are here to get the job done," she said.
"It was clearly one of the best moves our club has made getting Tam in, she has been great for us. As soon as she came in she made the culture and made our team.
"It was a bit weird as a younger player, I was always nervous going up into A-grade because all these people you were playing with, you were once that little girl who was going to watch them play.
"For her to turn around and say you are going to be vice-captain of this team, with girls in the team who I admired as a little girl from the sidelines, it was a big step. But Tam really helped me with my leadership and stepping up and believing in myself.
"Ollie in particular was someone I really looked up to. Because I had a strong basketball background with Vic Country and national basketball programs, when I was younger I always thought I was going to go the basketball pathway.
"Watching her play for the Bendigo Spirit and then for me to be in the same (netball) team as her and in a leadership role alongside her, it was a huge deal."
Those beliefs have only gotten stronger with each of two subsequent premiership wins for the Dragons.
"2017 really set the benchmark for all these other years that have come," Williams said.
It was clearly one of the best moves our club has made getting Tam. As soon as she came in she made the culture and made our team.
- Meg Williams
For first-year coach Gilchrist, the flag win vindicated the decision to make the move to the BFNL.
"The first one is pretty special ... and surreal," she said.
"For me, coming across from North Bendigo to a new league and a new club, and to coach with Heather Oliver, and to be surrounded by players like Meg and Ollie and Imogen Sexton, it was a pretty awesome time."
As for the choice of best-on-court, there were no disputes from either rival camps.
"Meg is probably one of the best players I have ever seen play, she is amazing," Gilchrist said.
"Her team-mates rely heavily on her, but her work rate is second to none.
"I know 100 per cent right now, she is doing so much work on her own to be right to go if we get a season in this year, that's the sort of player she is.
"She is so dedicated to the job at hand, the game and especially her team-mates. I am very, very lucky to come across a player like Meg Williams."
Equally effusive in her praise was the opposition coach on that day, Allira Holmes.
"Meg is certainly a great wing attack, who provided us with many headaches at Golden Square, and still is now that I'm coaching Eaglehawk, " she said.
"She plays an amazing game every week and she certainly deserved that medal."
Grand final line-ups
Sandhurst - Imogen Sexton (GK), Heather Oliver (GD), Carly Van Den Heuvel (WD), Brooke Bolton (C), Meg Williams (WA), Kelsey Meade (GA), Rebecca Smith (GS), Emma Tindill, Erica Dalrymple-Monro, Gabriella Greene, Madeline Sexton.
Golden Square - Allira Homes, Meg Gilbert, Andrea Wilson, Julie Fennell, Gabe Richards, Delaynie Caldwell, Millie Donegan, Lucy Morcom, Georgia Anderson, Lia Marrone, Keely Wilson, Makayle Dole.
Bulldogs makes their finals presence felt
As one exciting era was just getting started for Sandhurst, another one was closing for Golden Square.
The Bulldogs' appearance in the 2017 grand final was their fourth straight and fifth in total since 2011.
It would also be their last during the 2010s as the Bulldogs ended the decade with two flag wins.
Their five grand final appearances during the decade ended up being an equal-high, with the Bulldogs sharing the honours with their 2017 grand final nemesis Sandhurst and Kangaroo Flat, which won flags in 2010, '14 and '16.
But could Golden Square have maybe added another premiership in that time?
The Bulldogs' 2017 coach Allira Holmes certainly thinks so.
"The year I coached I thought we could have come close, but that never quite happened," she said.
"That was the year Kelly Wilson left early for her (WNBL) basketball commitments and it was just not an option for her to come back to play finals, even though she wanted to.
"That would have been handy. We'd formed a good team, but had to adjust our game without her, which was fine.
"I thought that might have been another (grand final) we could have got."
Despite the loss, Holmes looked back on her years at Golden Square from 2013-18 with fondness, highlighted by a premiership win in 2015 and finals appearances in all six of her seasons.
"To be honest, I am just happy playing finals, especially grand finals," she said.
"I hadn't had a lot of that in my senior career before coming down here (to Bendigo). My season never went to September back home (at Cohuna), August was it.
"Being part of finals and grand finals are not something everyone gets to experience - it's something you can easily forget when you are part of the good teams that I have been lucky enough to be a part of."
- NEXT UP: 2018 - Sandhurst goes back-to-back
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