THE high-flying North Warrnambool Eagles have become the first Hampden league side in 13 seasons to win its first 11 matches.
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But history says that counts for naught on grand final day – just ask the 2003 Camperdown model.
The Magpies collected 17 straight home-and-away wins before falling short on the big stage.
Their grand final conqueror was a Jason Mifsud-inspired Koroit, which clawed back from 49 points down in the third quarter to collect its first premiership in 30 years.
Camperdown stalwart Peter Conheady, who was president at the time, was among the stunned Reid Oval crowd which watched the Saints etch themselves in south-west football folklore with a seven-point win.
“For all the right reasons for Koroit and all the wrong reasons for Camperdown, it’s gone down in Hampden league history as one of the best grand finals,” he said.
Conheady said the Magpies’ disappointment served as a reminder to teams in a strong home-and-away position, including 2016 pace-setter North Warrnambool Eagles, that anything can happen come finals.
“It is great to be sitting on top and winning but North would already know they’re a long way from making the grand final and winning it,” he said.
“There are so many determining factors you have no control over. I am sure they’re focused on getting there (into the finals); I am sure they’re not talking premierships just yet.”
Teams atop the Hampden league table after 11 rounds since 2003 have endured mixed results. Six sides have gone on to win the flag – South Warrnambool (‘06 and ‘11), Terang Mortlake (‘08), Koroit (‘09) and Warrnambool (‘10 and 12).
Four, including the infamous ‘03 Magpies, finished runners-up and three failed to make the grand final. Koroit stumbled in 2004-05 and Terang Mortlake missed the big dance in 2007.
Conheady, like many Camperdown fans, knows the importance of playing until the final siren.
“The (2003) grand final was pretty amazing,” he reflected on Friday.
“At half-time we were 48 points up and I am led to believe some of the Koroit faithful in the crowd left to go home and, as legend has it, Jason Mifsud made an awe-inspiring speech at half-time. He kicked a mountain of goals in the second half.”
Pies coach Wayne Walsh said the Saints played “an amazing third quarter”.
“We were on fire (early in the season) but Koroit did have players come back at the end of the year, it’s not as if we were the dominant team (at that stage),” he said.