Liam Picken soaking up premiership glory after an epic final thirty minutes of football in Grand Final

LIAM Picken knew at three-quarter time all he had to do to taste premiership success was endure 30 more minutes of pain. And what a performance he put in for the last quarter.

LIAM Picken knew the equation at three-quarter time was simple.

“Thirty minutes of pain for a lifetime of enjoyment,” the hard as nails, now premiership player told himself.

And so, like he has done through the Western Bulldogs entire finals campaign, the reinvented former tagger stepped up and inspired his side to a momentous victory.

It started with a monster tackle on Sydney defender Dane Rampe and while there was no score as a reward, it set the tone.

“It got me into the game,” Picken said.

“I thought I’d had a quiet third quarter ... just in the last quarter, I knew it was 30 minutes to go, that’s all it needed to win a premiership.”

With 12 minutes to go, reminiscent of his dad Billy, the Collingwood legend and finals king, Picken flew, floated and held a screamer.

Liam Picken celebrates one of his goals. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

“I just knew I had to take the mark,” Picken said.

“It was important on the forward flank, I knew it was a key moment, I needed to take the mark for the side.”

Not long after he then found a way to goal after minutes of desperate Dogs’ forward scramble. Picken picked it up clean and was straight in front. The score gave his side a seven-point lead.

“I couldn’t believe it in the last quarter,” he said.

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“The ball came a couple of times to me and teammates found me, it was bloody amazing.”

He kicked the sealer off a Jake Stringer delivery adding to his second quarter snap, where he scored after a one-two and overhead handball from Lachie Hunter to finish with three for the match.

“It was a bit of a blur the last quarter,” he said.

“But I knew that 30 minutes of pain and it was there.”

Picken said he was feeling both elated and relieved.

Liam Picken soaks up the Grand Final win with his family. Picture: David Caird

“I’m just trying to soak it all in,” he said.

“Enjoy it, make sure these memories stay with me forever.

“We’ve worked so hard. I probably didn’t expect this to happen a couple of years ago, but it makes it even more enjoyable.

“The last couple of minutes we knew we were going to win, it was quite enjoyable to suck it all in.

“You’ve just got to remember this for the rest of your life. To share it with my teammates, we relied on each other, (there was) so much heart from the boys.

“It’s one side that’s just come together really close, we knew that we could do it.”