Gallery | Echuca, Echuca, Echuca: The team so nice they won the league thrice

Echuca kicked the first major of the day thanks to a counter-attack run that resulted in gun forward Hugh Byrne strolling into an open goal.

Shepparton’s unwillingness to send the ball long down the line was apparent from the start.

Instead, the Bears tried using short, sharp kicks to break through Echuca’s staunch defence.

However, early nerves and miskicks kept giving the Murray Bombers opportunities on goal, with Echuca’s Sam Reid snapping truly from a turnover to take the score to 15-0.

Against Echuca, Shepparton needed a fast start, but the pressure of the occasion seemed to consume the Bears early, only venturing inside 50 a couple of times in the first quarter.

Reid took a mark 35 metres out on the boundary and kicked a beautiful set shot goal - his second for the quarter - before Jack Evans kicked Echuca’s fourth a couple minutes later.

A running snap on goal from Shepparton’s Joel Brett - returning from injury for the first time this finals series - breathed life into the Bears.

However, two quick Murray Bomber goals meant all signs pointed to an Echuca boilover as the match neared quarter-time.

As the siren blew, Echuca held a 42-point lead, 7.6 (48) to 1.0 (6).

Shepparton fans watched on nervously to start the second quarter, hoping desperately that the slight breeze to the eastern end of the ground would help the Bears claw their way back into the grand final.

Unfortunately for Shepparton, two quick goals to start the second term took Echuca’s lead to 53 points.

The Murray Bombers connected brilliantly from defence through the guts, resulting in star midfielder Sam Willoughby streaming in on goal to kick his second as he hunted his third straight grand final best-on-ground award.

Shepparton’s Jonty Wardle gave the Bears their only highlight for the first half, taking a specky in the back line.

As the match neared halftime, dark clouds circled Deakin Reserve, both literally and figuratively, as Echuca sat 78 points clear, 86-8.

Talk of record grand final margins spread through the crowd as pundits watched on in shock.

As the two sides entered the sheds, Echuca had five multiple-goal scorers, with Cooper Willoughby, Cooper Barber (three goals), Byrne, Reid and Sam Willoughby (two) all dominating for the men in green.

The Bears were effectively hanged, drawn and quartered with a half to play as player-coaches Ted Lindon and Xavier Stevenson searched desperately for a second-half motivator.

To start the third quarter, Bears defender Bryce Stephenson was moved into the first centre bounce.

Shepparton started the third quarter trying to control the ball and move it more steadily up the ground, but once again, missed kicks and turnovers gave Echuca control.

A poor kick in the Bears’ defence gave Evans his second goal of the day and the Murray Bombers an 82-point lead.

As the margin pushed towards the 100-point region, tensions started to boil over in small spot fires around the ground as not-so-friendly words were exchanged between the two sides.

It seemed Echuca had taken umbrage to the mere fact that Shepparton had been compared to them in terms of quality.

The Murray Bombers were determined not to cruise to the finish line but rather brutalise and deliver a loss so punishing and haunting that the Bears’ players remember this result for years to come.

2024 Morrison Medallist Ash Holland fought valiantly in the ruck for the Bears, while small defender-forward Connor Fleming was one of Shepparton’s best.

Bears forward Brett finished the day as a multiple-goal scorer for Shepparton.

The biggest margin in a Goulburn Valley League grand final on record was 76 points when Tatura defeated Echuca in 1995.

With the Bears trailing by 83 points at three-quarter time, there was plenty to play for Shepparton’s sake in terms of pride.

Trent Herbert kicked the first of the final term to claw the Bears back to an 80-point deficit and closer to not securing the unwanted record.

However, the Murray Bombers continued to pile on the goals before a long bending snap from Echuca’s Riley Smith pushed the margin to a clean 100 (140-40).

The final score finished 22.22 (154) to 9.4 (58) as the Murray Bombers romped to a third successive senior football premiership, cementing their place in the league’s footy folklore.

Echuca’s performance was the definition of a clinic.

The Murray Bombers produced its highest-scoring performance of the season and the biggest score in a Goulburn Valley League grand final, according to the GVL Weekender.

Echuca claimed the largest grand final margin on record with the 96-point victory.

The domination from the Murray Bombers also meant they were no longer the holders of the highest deficit and largest score against in a Goulburn Valley League grand final.

Echuca co-coach Simon Maddox, who has masterminded the Echuca football dynasty alongside counterpart Andrew Walker, paid tribute after the game to the special group he had at his disposal.

“If you had have said three years ago we would win three in a row, I would’ve said you’re dreaming, I mean we hadn’t won one for 20 years,” Maddox said.

“They’re a great bunch of boys, they’ve all come out of our junior system, and that’s a credit to the club, credit to the coaches, it’s one big family.

“We trained on Saturday morning two weeks ago and we had 71 on the track, and that’s boys who were missing out on a game.

“They still turned up, head up, and did their bit for their club and for their mates, so she’ll be a big party this week.”

With the under-18, reserves and senior flags heading back to Victoria Park, Maddox had a pretty cheeky response when asked about just how spectacular it is to enjoy so much success as an entire club.

“We’ve clocked the game mate,” he said with a grin.

“It doesn’t get any better, we’ve clocked the game.”