Decade of highs: 10 of the Best south-west performances

There were premiership streaks, moments of individual brilliance, drought-breaking wins and much more from the start of 2010 till the end of 2019.

The Standard sport journalist SEAN HARDEMAN has compiled 10 of the best moments from across the decade. Who has made the the list?

Moment: Koroit dominates the Hampden league

No club has had the same dominance over the Hampden league like Koroit's senior footballers and netballers have in the past decade.

The Saints netballers edge out their football counterparts with number of premierships won this decade, coming in with seven but the footballers have collected their six in succession.

Koroit's netballers claimed two three-peats. Their first coming in 2010-12 and the second in 2017-19. A solitary premiership in 2014 takes them to seven out of the last 10 flags.

The footballers streak has been well reported. Their impressive dominance of senior football stretches from a 2014 victory over Warrnambool to a narrow win over North Warrnambool Eagles in the 2019 decider.

The senior ranks have not been the only successful Saints.

Their reserve footballers (2010, '19), Division one (2013, '16), Division two (2011-12, '18), 15 (2018) and 13 and under (2019) netballers have all saluted on the league's final day.

It brings their total for the decade to an impressive 22 premierships. During that time they have also had 13 runners-up.

Moment: Seahawks break championship drought

It had been 18 years since the Warrnambool Seahawks tasted Big V basketball success.

But in a dominant 2016 season, the Seahawks progressed through to the grand final series and saw off a plucky Casey Cavaliers to win the division one title.

NBL-listed guard Nathan Sobey returned and showed his star power in the grand final series clean sweep - draining a combined 82 points across the two wins.

Following an emphatic 96-85 victory over the Cavaliers, the Seahawks cut down the net in front of a jam-packed crowd at the Arc.

Sobey and fellow 2016 recruits Xavier Johnson-Blount and Alex Gynes played an influential role in securing the title.

The Seahawks' roster, which also included Josh Dean, James Mitchell, Dion Smith, Brock Carter, Sam Gray, Jacob Sobey and Curtis Ryan, went undefeated at home in 2016.

Moment: Mermaids unique back-to-back

No one would have picked the Warrnambool Mermaids would be back-to-back champions in two divisions, two seasons after returning from recess.

But that is exactly what the Louise Brown-coached roster did in 2017-18.

In their first season back in Big V basketball, the Mermaids stormed to a division two grand final series clean-sweep of Wallan Panthers in the best-of-three finals series.

After earning promotion, Louise Brown's side continued its upward trajectory to finish the 2018 season as champions of division one.

They had to wait till the final of three grand final series matches to defeat the Casey Cavaliers and claim the rare division one-two double.

Moment: Jamie Veal becomes first local to win the Classic

No Warrnambool driver had won the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic until Jamie Veal turned it on in late-January 2016.

Veal, who entered the weekend as the sentimental favourite, delivered the city its first home-town Classic triumph in front of a bumper crowd at Allansford's Premier Speedway.

Veal, who started on pole, survived five re-starts and a late surge from three-time winner Kerry Madsen to became the first Warrnambool-based driver to win the Classic in its 44-year history.

A re-start in the dying stages sent a scare through the Veal camp but the in-form driver held strong to achieve a long-held dream, pumping his fist in celebration as he crossed the line in front of his family and friends.

Moment: Dennington dominates district league netball

For 11 years Old Collegians were the only team ever to score an A grade three-peat in the Warrnambool and District league.

That was until Dennington started its super run from 2015-17, winning three flags of their own to join Old Collegians as joint-record holders for the most WDFNL top-flight premierships won in succession.

Their run started with a four-goal victory over Old Collegians, backed up in 2016 with a dominant 17-goal win over Merrivale and finished the treble with another 17-goal victory over Nirranda.

Sue Fleming led the Dogs to their first and third premierships while Katie Burt had the reins for the second.

Dennington's aspirations of a historic fourth consecutive premiership were crushed the following year when Nirranda ended its 18-year A grade drought.

Moment: Creek break premiership drought

Russells Creek had waited 40 years for premiership drinks but in 2018 they finally tasted the sweet joy of Warrnambool and District Cricket Association division one success.

Led by second-year skipper Cameron Williams, the Creekers broke a 40-year hoodoo after defeating Allansford in the 2017-18 two-day finale.

After setting the Gators 131, thanks to a 64 from Williams, Russells Creek's bowlers restricted Allansford to 82 to claim victory.

Williams said post-match it was only the beginning of a Kangaroos' dynasty, with camaraderie the key to their future success.

The 2017-18 season the club also netted titles in the WDCA's one-day and twenty20 formats.

Moment: Corey McCullagh wins Classic

Winning the Grand Annual Sprintcar Classic was only a dream for Corey McCullagh, until one night in 2018 when his dream became a reality in the 46th edition of the race.

The home-town favourite hit the front with nine laps to run in the 40-lap A-Main, surviving three re-starts to secure the biggest win of his career.

McCullagh, who started in go-karts, began in ninth spot but showed dare to upstage American Carson Macedo and three-time winner Brooke Tatnell in the feature in front of an adoring crowd.

The delivery truck driver celebrated heavily as he was swamped by his family friends after scoring the emphatic victory.

McCullagh became the third Warrnambool-based driver in three years to win the Classic after Jamie Veal (2016) and James McFadden (2017) saluted before him.

Moment: Tommy Jackson scores centuries in Victorian Premier Cricket top-flight debuts for Geelong

Woodford product Tommy Jackson couldn't have made a more impressive start to life as a Victorian Premier Cricket division one player than scoring centuries in his two debuts for the Geelong.

Jackson became the first player in the club's history to make centuries in both his maiden First XI one-day and two-day games.

The 18-year-old scored 107 against Northcote in his one-day and overall debut in the Cats' top side and then smashed 136 off 193 balls in his first two-day match, which ended in a 40-run loss to Ringwood.

That same season he went on to score another century - 122 from 178 balls - in the Cats' two-day grand final defeat to Carlton.

Moment: Gold Medals wins Brierly-Grand Annual Steeplechase double

Symon Wilde describes champion jumper Gold Medals as a "suspect stayer" but on May 3 2018 and in two races the nine-year-old became a legend.

Gold Medals took the 2018 May Racing Carnival by storm, winning the Grand Annual Steeplechase-Brierly double for the Warrnambool trainer.

He became the first horse to win both jumps features since Frankoo Verymuch in 2005 and joined the local jumping legend Galleywood, who won the Brierly-Annual double in 1986, as the last Warrnambool-trained jumper to achieve the feat.

On the opening day of the carnival Gold Medals battled with champion jumper Zed Em before crossing the winner's post a half-length ahead of the Patrick Payne-trained runner.

Two days later he again edged out Zed Em to win by a short-head in one of the greatest finishes to the world famous Grand Annual.

Moment: Mortlake's epic run of flags

The South West Cricket Association has been dominated by nearly a decade of year of the Cats due to Mortlake's phenomenal run of division one premierships.

The Cats, led by inspirational leader Todd Lamont, won four straight flags from the 2011-12 season until they missed the grand final in '15-16. They then returned to win two more in '16-17 and '17-18.

Their run at seven flags in eight years was spoiled last season by a determined Pomborneit side, who they had beaten twice in their run.

Their first flag was secured with a one-wicket win over Noorat. The next two were a seven-wicket and 56-run victories over the Bulls before it was followed by a five-wicket win over Bookaar.

The final two flags were secured with a six-run win over Terang and a 53-run victory over Heytesbury Rebels.

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