Bundoora Bulls coach Phil Plunkett was ecstatic as he received his medal as premiership coach in his first year in the role.
But it didn’t hang around his neck very long. Plunkett called Lou Galea, a long-time supporter of the club to the stage and presented him with the medal to the cheers of the crowd.
Galea was told a year ago that he had only three months to live.
“Louie is struggling with some health issues,” Plunkett said. “He said to me at the start of the year that he might not be around for another Bundoora premiership.
“So I said to him, ‘you made it, you won it, here you go’. It means a lot to him and his family. He’s a major part of the way the club is.” Despite his ill health, Galea smiled broadly as did hundreds of other Bulls supporters after Bundoora pulled off a remarkable comeback.
At three-quarter time, Plunkett urged his players to take the game on and, despite the 33-point deficit, it was obvious the playing group, coaching staff and fans believed the game wasn’t over.
Plunkett said he truly believed the Bulls could still win the game. “I just said we’ve got to take risks because we’ve got nothing to lose,” he said.
“We can’t save the game. We had to try to win it. Play on at all costs, throw caution to the wind and don’t leave the ground wondering what might have been.
“The breeze helped and once we started to create a little bit of doubt in Montmorency we were able to come home with it. It was just a terrific effort from all 22 of them.”
Bundoora was being comprehensively outplayed earlier in the game, but the Magpies kept their opponents in it with some poor kicking for goal. The Bulls were able to get crucial goals to keep their heads above water, but even Plunkett admitted that they were making it tough for themselves.
“They were very much so [in control]. Particularly in that second quarter they kicked a few into the breeze and we weren’t able to capitalise on what we had and I thought it’s gonna be a tough one from here,” he said.
“But adrenaline’s a big thing in footy. Our advantage was last week when we played Northcote Park [a 66-point win]. That gave us a massive amount of belief that we could do it and we took that into this week. The boys were very excited before the game and they fought it out well. I’m very pleased.”
