Narre Warren’s Dylan Quirk reflects on his famous minor score 10 years ago

10 years after he pinched premiership glory with the last kick of the day, people still talk about Dylan Quirk’s famous moment.

Dylan Quirk

While Dylan Quirk’s memory of events following his famous grand final moment are blurry, he distinctly recalls earning the nickname ‘Barry Breen’.

The comparison, though at different levels, is somewhat appropriate.

Both Breen and Quirk secured premiership glory for their respective teams with the final kick of the season and did so through a minor score as wide-eyed teenagers.

“I still get messages about it today, we still talk about it to be honest,” Quirk said.

“In terms of that arvo and that night, I remember being called ‘Barry Breen’ shitloads from the old boys at the club.

“But aside from that, it was all a blur… I didn’t buy a beer.”

A baby-faced Dylan Quirk holds his premiership medallion.

Although Quirk was in just his second full season of senior footy when he made his colossal mark on the 2013 MPNFL Casey Cardinia grand final, he was already a premiership player and was an important cog in a side that had won each of its past 35 matches.

Quirk, 19 at the time, rode the emotional wave of the third and final edition of grand finals between Narre Warren and Cranbourne.

He felt the game would be a “regulation” win at the main break before thinking “game over” when Cranbourne came out breathing fire in the second half.

“The game was under control at halftime and we probably thought it was going to be regulation,” he said.

“All I remember is Max Gearon changing that pretty quickly, he kicked five second-half goals.

“Maxy was a good player, I always rated Max because I rated players who could win their own footy, but I certainly didn’t think he was capable of that.

“He turned the game on its head and we just couldn’t stop the momentum, I thought it was going to be regulation – we pumped them by about 100 points in the semi-final.

“They come out of halftime and were really aggressive, it might’ve been a bit of a tactic, I remember being beaten up a bit in the second half.

“I remember every time I went near it, every time someone ran past me, I felt like it they were really aggressive and then they just had full momentum.

“Holty started taking the piss as Holty does and we just couldn’t get our hands on the footy.

“They were full of stars as well, the difference was maybe their bottom four or five but they were still very handy.”

2013 MPNFL Casey-Cardinia Premiers, Narre Warren.

After Narre Warren’s Andrew Hunter levelled the scores, the Pies and the Eagles sat neck and neck at 99 points apiece with 25 minutes gone.

Quirk attended the centre bounce and remembers direct opponent Jarryd Barker winning the football for Cranbourne.

Luckily for the teenager, Barker’s kick landed in the hands of teammate Kain Baskaya – allowing him to run hard back towards goal and place himself in a perfect position with just seconds remaining.

Watching the footage again, Quirk provided his thoughts and analysis of the play as it unfolded:

“I haven’t seen this before,” he joked before pressing play.

“I definitely wanted it (the handball receive), Nick Scanlan is very good at getting out of that (the final tackle) and not having to handball it often.

“I’m thinking I am probably not going to get it, I’m thinking he’s just going to waltz around him and kick the goal himself because he’s done it a million times.

“It was a bad handball, we will blame ‘Scanners’ for that fumble… people don’t know, people think I went down because I was upset I missed it but both my calves cramped when I kicked it.

“I was in a bit of pain, both calves cramped at the same time, I didn’t even watch it go through and I didn’t hear the siren go, I was in agony.

“I would kick that (the goal) 99 times out of 100 but it adds to the story a bit doesn’t it?

“I get goosebumps watching that… that’s as good as it gets.”

As he recovered from the “agony” of cramp, hundreds of Narre Warren supporters stormed Pakenham’s Toomuc Reserve in elation.

A moment he said he didn’t fully understand until he tasted premiership success later in his career.

“When I won it at (age) 18, 19, you think how good is this for the boys, but in 2019 when I won it a bit older, you realise how much it means to all these people that ran on,” he said.

“I realised how important it is for the person that runs the canteen, the person that runs the bar, at this point (the final siren elation) I am thinking how good is this for me, how good is this for the team.

“But then in 2019 I had a bit more perspective about how much work goes into a footy club and how much it means to the people around.

“People were running onto the ground and there was tears, I probably took it for granted a bit, I won a senior flag at 18 and 19, I probably thought this is just what happens.

“To win it like this is crazy, ridiculous, but we were expecting to win that by plenty, so I think 2019 put the other two into perspective of how important it is for everyone else.”

The behind pushed Narre Warren in front, 14.16 (100) to 15.9 (99).

But as for the famous punt itself, Quirk remains under no delusions of grandeur as to how it sailed over the line.

“The kick… yeah shithouse, very poor.”