Greenvale may have missed out on the ultimate prize in Essendon District Football League premier division, but the season has been a successful one for the club.
The seniors fell short at the final hurdle, but Greenvale’s reserves and thirds both won premierships.
All three grand finals were played against Aberfeldie.
Only the Gorillas, who had their three open-age and under-19 teams in grand finals, had a better season.
The Jets’ thirds won their premiership late last month, while the reserves tasted premiership glory on Saturday, defeating the Gorillas, 8.8 (56)-6.7 (43).
Jets’ senior coach Paul Chapman, in his first year with the club, said the fact they had three teams in grand finals spoke loads about the club.
“That in itself says a lot about the direction of the footy club and the people that are involved in the football club,” he said.
“Those guys are fantastic leaders and teach the guys to get better and help each other to get better.
“All in all, I’m proud of them. To come to a footy club really driven and that push each other, I feel like I’m the winner to be involved with the guys who are also involved in this footy club.”
Chapman said while the two premiership sides achieved the ultimate success, they were quick to reinforce to the senior team they had a successful year as well.
The Jets had one of their worst performances of the season in the grand final, losing 16.11 (107)-6.10 (46).
Chapman said the senior side proved a lot of doubters wrong. He said the easy thing would have been to believe what outsiders were thinking.
“Greenvale footy club lost a lot of players through the pre-season, a lot of talls, leaders of the football club,” he said.
“No one thought Greenvale would even play finals, let alone a grand final.
“It takes a lot of character to build something. We could have listened to the external pressure and say maybe we won’t be good.
“They wanted to be better and they pushed each other to be better.
“These guys [the players] deserve the opportunity to play in a grand final. It would have been great for them to play better in a grand final and put their best foot forward, unfortunately we didn’t.
“It’s not doom and gloom. Yes, we’ve lost a grand final and it hurts like hell. The guys have learnt a lot, the guys have grown as players and as people.”
For more pictures of the senior grand final, CLICK HERE
