Hawthorn fan favourite Brendan Whitecross is finally a premiership player after Box Hill came from behind to beat Casey by 10 points in the VFL grand final.
In Whitecross's 11 years at the club, the Hawks have won four AFL premierships and one at VFL level and he hadn't been part of any of them until Sunday's 10.12 (72) to 8.14 (62) victory in front of 12,884 fans at Etihad Stadium.
"It's really special because ... my family has ridden the bumps pretty hard with me over the last five or six years through knee reconstructions, missing out on finals, the ups and downs of not being selected and playing a lot of VFL footy," Whitecross said.
"For me, it's not just a medal around my neck ... it's massive credit to my wife. She's had to deal with some pretty frustrating times, coming from myself this year and previous years."
Whitecross is uncontracted and faces an uncertain future as the Hawks ponder their off-season moves.
The 28-year-old wants to stay with the club and is content that he has done everything he can to extend his 111-game career.
The defeat made it a dirty weekend for Melbourne, with season-ending losses suffered at AFL and VFL level.
A day after the Demons were humiliated by West Coast in their AFL preliminary final in Perth, their VFL affiliate led by a game-high 25 points in the first quarter but couldn't maintain that momentum.
After making his AFL debut and playing seven games this season, Hawks mature-age rookie David Mirra capped his year with the Norm Goss Medal for best player on the ground.
Just over a week after Melbourne knocked Hawthorn out of the AFL finals, ruckman Marc Pittonet was also outstanding with 57 hitouts as the Hawks exacted some small measure of revenge.
Box Hill trailed by nine points at three-quarter time but hit the front for the first time when Kieran Lovell kicked a goal on the run 13 minutes into the final term.
In his last game for the Demons, Bernie Vince gathered 19 possessions playing mostly off a wing.
"We certainly let one slip ... in any grand final if you get run down like that it's disappointing," Vince told AAP.
"It's disappointing I couldn't go out on a high both in the AFL and VFL but that's footy. No one guarantees you anything in this game.
"But we move on ... I'm still really comfortable with the decision (to retire).
"Hopefully the young kids got some good finals experience at both AFL and VFL level and can use that in the future."
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