MEL’S PAIN HELPS BUFFETTES REIGN
Failing to make side for last year’s decider proved key in Darwin coach Taylor shaping a flag-winning outfit
VICTORIOUS Darwin Buffettes coach Mel Taylor says she channelled the pain of missing out on last year’s grand final loss to PINT to lift her players into a premiership outfit in her first season in charge.
Taylor was left out of the club’s 11point defeat last year and she had to do the same as coach on Saturday.
“This is probably the ultimate,” she said when asked if this was the most special win of her career which began with the boys in under-14s.
“I was playing with these girls last season and I missed out on playing in the grand final.
“At the end of the day, the best team needs to play and I wasn’t in that team.
“I had to put girls aside today and they didn’t get to play.
“It takes more than the 20 (to win a flag). We are one, all of the time.”
An emotional Taylor said the win was extra special, with the mother of a friend battling cancer.
“We’re not sure she’ll make it,” she said.
“She’s like my second mum. Cancer, I hate you.”
Taylor admitted it was hard to find the right words to describe the win.
“I’m very humbled to coach a team and a family club like Darwin Buffaloes,” she said.
“It is just a pleasure to be here today and come away with a win.
“Girls you did it, you make me so proud. I wouldn’t be standing here (without you).”
She was then forced to make a mad dash as several players chased after her, armed with water bottles.
Earlier, moments after the final siren blew, skipper Kylie Duggan said Dominique Carbone and Gwynne Medal winner Molly Althouse were the standouts for the winning team.
“Molly didn’t stop the whole game,” she said.
“(Carbone) just lifts the standard … she lifts the girls around her and makes the girls want to try harder.”
She said winning the Buffettes’ first premiership since 2015-16 was “amazing”.
“We worked bloody hard today,” she said. “Grand finals are different, they take a lot out of your body.”
Duggan, who will take a week off to recover before going into “basketball mode” with the Salties, said avenging last year’s premiership loss was a big motivating factor.
“It’s always in the back of our heads,” she said. “We’ve come close for so many years.
“Premierships don’t come easy and we probably won’t play with the same group of girls again.
“You have to make the most of those moments and we certainly did today.”
Tigers co-captain Eliza Morrison said she was feeling “pretty defeated” by the loss.
“We fought to the final siren,” she said. “It was our first grand final so we’ll learn a lot from that.
“There’s not much more we could have given today. They just played really well.”
Tigers coach Shannon Millar said her girls could take a lot out of their first grand final at Premier level in a bruising encounter.
“They didn’t give up … as you can see from that last quarter they kept fighting til the end,” she said.
“They were the better team. “I think there’ll be lots of things we can take away from the game, I’ll rewatch it six times and get back to you.”