For Torquay, the lucky number is 10.
A stunning ten-goal third-quarter burst has secured the Tigers their tenth Bellarine league premiership, beating Anglesea by 62 points at Leopold Memorial Park, 16.17 (113) to 7.9 (51).
For Dom Gleeson, it was his third premiership win as coach in his tenth season in charge.
After being on the end of a seven-point loss to the Roos in the second semi-final, Torquay proved why it has been flag favourite for most of the season.
“As I tried to explain in the couple of weeks after being beaten by Anglesea, they’re a formidable side,” Gleeson said.
“People were saying over that two-week period, ‘What happened?’.
“We lost to a better team on that day, and we did some learning and some soul-searching, and we were fortunate to get through Drysdale and gave ourselves an opportunity to play today.
“A lot went right for us today, that’s for certain.”
Torquay did the damage on the scoreboard during what is known as the “premiership quarter”.
While the Tigers had held Anglesea to just two goals in the first half, the margin was only 19 points, and the game remained in the balance.
However, Torquay made the most of the breeze favouring the ground’s Bellarine Highway end in the third term.
Jesse Dawson and Luke Mahony kicked goals inside the opening five minutes to extend the Tigers’ advantage to 31 points.
Roo Simon Umbers reduced the margin to 26, but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the afternoon.
An eight-goal burst, which included seven different goalkickers, ensured Torquay would claim consecutive flags for the first time since 1987.
And while the yellow and black faithful among the massive crowd in attendance revelled in the barrage, Gleeson wasn’t getting carried away in the coaches box.
“It was great, but I wouldn’t say I was enjoying it, being a grand final, and the pressure, and just wanting the group to hold firm,” Gleeson said.
“I never felt that Anglesea was totally out of it, and it might seem a bit silly looking at the scoreboard now.
“I just felt they had that ability – and they’d done it during the season – to run over sides late.
“We really stuck to the task, and it was an amazing quarter of footy.
“But, we just couldn’t relax, knowing how good Anglesea can be.”
Anglesea restored some pride in the final term, kicking five goals to two.
Torquay young gun Chase Loftus, who went head-to-head with Roos playing coach Jordan Keras in the midfield, received the medal as best-on-ground.
That’s despite a less-than-ideal preparation for a grand final, which he kept from his coach until after the game.
“Chase was up all night vomiting, and he’s played – honestly – the greatest game an inside midfielder can do,” Gleeson said.
“Jordy has some touches, so he didn’t keep Jordy phenomenally quiet.
“But, he certainly had an influence on his disposals, and he won some great footy.
“I think the umpires got it right.”
Former North Melbourne AFL-listed player Charlie Ham, midfielder Baxter Mensch and Dawson, who kicked five goals, also impressed for the Tigers.
Dawson, Billy Henderson, Tom Diamond and Max Hurley etched themselves into club history by becoming three-time premiership players.
“Dawsy’s one of these cultural players who only come around so often, and he’s having a huge impact on this young group,” Gleeson said.
Former captain Ash Caldwell kicked two goals for Anglesea, and he was among its best, along with Max Virgona, Keras and Dylan Featon.
Dynamic forward Dyl Pettingill was held to just one goal by Tom Hooper.
However, Gleeson was quick to credit the pressure up the field from Torquay’s midfield in helping Hooper.
“He probably didn’t get the supply he was used to from the previous couple of weeks against Drysdale and us,” Gleeson said.
“Hooper played a really good role and won some one-on-one battles, but the other defenders helped him.
“And up the ground, we put pressure on them, which they did very well against us in the second semi-final.”
Earlier in the day, Torquay won the reserve grade premiership with a 30-point win over Geelong Amateur.
Thanks to five goals from Luke Wittman and an impressive display from Cooper Heard, the Tigers reversed the result of last year’s decider, 13.5 (83) to 7.11 (53).
Grovedale claimed the AFL Barwon under-18 division two premiership following a comfortable 54-point win over Lara.
The young Tigers proved too strong, 11.7 (73) to 3.1 (19)
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