Golden Square hold on in grand final against Sandhurst

The legacy of one of the Bendigo league’s greatest ever players has another chapter after he dominated to help his side end a decade long premiership drought.

The legacy of Golden Square captain Jack Geary has been further cemented after a brilliant display in the Bendigo Football League grand final.

In the competition’s closest grand final for eight years, the Bulldogs won their first premiership since 2013 by six points, holding off a gallant Sandhurst.

Golden Square kicked four goals to two in the final term to overcome a four-point deficit at the last break.

The Bulldogs also held off a late challenge from Sandhurst in the final five to 10 minutes.

Leading by eight points the Dragons had two late shots on goal to potentially win the contest but missed both to hand the Bulldogs the win.

Golden Square celebrates winning the grand final on the sideline. Picture: SAA Imaging.

It was their 17th straight win in the competition.

“It was a tough battle, a really tough battle until the end,” Golden Square coach Christian Carter said.

“Full credit to Sandhurst they made us work really hard.

“In the last 10-15 minutes they spent a lot of time in their forward 50 and the boys had to compete with repeated stoppages and tackle hard to get over the line.”

Geary led from the front and was instrumental in the win, winning the Nalder Medal as the best player on the ground.

It was the third time he’s won the award and now has six premierships in the competition in just over 200 seniors games.

He will go down as one of the greatest Golden Square players.

“He’s a ripper, he’s got an unbelievable CV and that just tops it off,” Carter said.

“When we need him we get him in the middle and the cream rises to the top.”

Carter said the game was won and loss by the team practising the final few moments of the game, defending hard, in training.

Golden Square celebrates in the change rooms after winning the Bendigo league title. Picture: SAA Imaging.

Just like AFL teams who do situational training the Bulldogs did the same during the year.

“We’ve done a lot of training on moments and being big in moments in big games,” Carter said.

“Credit to the boys they’ve matured, they knew the game plan and knew what to do at certain times.

“I thought the grit we showed to tackle, fight and scrap, especially when it was in our defensive 50 got us over the line.”

The last time the Bulldogs won a premiership it was their fifth in a row.

Carter said he was keen to continue as coach despite no deal in place for next year.

“We’ve got another couple (of premierships) in us,” Carter said.

“It’s still a really young group and a lot of these kids have really big futures.

“(The grand final was a) good experience for them and they’ve done it on the big stage now.

“We’ve got to stick together, go again and hopefully there is a bit more success on the horizon.”