THE AFL’s newest premiership skipper is a ‘son of the West’.
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Home for Easton Wood is both the south-west Victorian town where he developed a passion for football and the western suburbs club which honed him into its leader.
Wood paid credit to those steadying influences after becoming just the second person in Western Bulldogs’ 91-year VFL-AFL history to captain the club to a premiership on Saturday.
"So much of who you are is where you come from,” he said from the jam-packed winners’ change rooms.
“I was a Camperdown boy, born and raised, until around 16 years old when I went off to Geelong Grammar.
"The football club has been my home for the last nine years.”
Wood, who led the Bulldogs in injured skipper Bob Murphy’s absence, labelled the 22-point win over Sydney "the biggest moment of my life”.
He held the premiership cup aloft with Murphy in what is likely to become one of the sport’s iconic memories.
"It is unbelievable, absolutely surreal,” Wood said.
“It is huge; it's the biggest thing that's ever happened to me, it's the biggest thing that's happened to this club in the last 50, 60 years, so it's truly special.”
A lunging Dale Morris tackle on Swans superstar Lance Franklin and subsequent Tom Boyd goal at the 21-minute mark of the final term sealed the Bulldogs’ fate.
But Wood, playing his customary role as a rebounding defender, didn’t allow himself to dream.
"This game can break your heart,” he said.
“I was just trying to make sure we just executed everything right down to that last moment because the amount of work that goes in to get to that point, I just wanted to make every single second and every moment count.”
The All-Australian was left stunned when the siren sounded to catapult himself and his teammates into the Bulldogs’ history books.
"It was completely emotionally unprepared for that moment,” Wood said.
“I was completely overwhelmed and broke down.”
The Bulldogs rose from seventh, beating West Coast at its Subiaco fortress, ending Hawthorn’s quest for four straight flags and knocking out Greater Western Sydney on the road to reach their third ever grand final.
Their only flag prior to Saturday’s fairytale finish came in 1954 and their most recent grand final appearance was 55 years ago.
Justine McCullagh-Beasy
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Sports journalist with an interest in feature reporting. Email: justine.mc@austcommunitymedia.com.au
