“A grade hadn’t made a final in 10 years (just a few years ago) and B grade had never made a final,” she said.

“To turn that around in just two years is astonishing. It’s not just a credit to the coaches, it’s a credit to the community and especially to the players that put in all that hard work.

“It’s a promising thing for the club.”

After being stunned in the first quarter against Dennington a fortnight ago, the Blues came out fired-up and switched on early in Saturday’s decider.

Things looked shaky early as the Dogs dropped in the first three goals of the game, but the Blues fought back and went into quarter-time with scores locked on 10 goals apiece.

But a Dogs’ blitz in the second term saw the margin blow out to an insurmountable 13 goals by the main break.

Nirranda was able to chip the margin back – at one stage getting within eight goals – but the result never looked in doubt.

”I think where the game was won and lost was definitely the start of that second quarter,” Townsend said.

“They just got a massive run on; they really came over the top of us and allowed us to make mistakes and then they capitalised on it, which was very disappointing.

“I’m happy with the game – I’m obviously not happy with the outcome – but for us to not drop our heads and not just let them roll over us like they did the last time, and even just for us to pin that margin back a little bit is promising.”