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QUEENSCLIFF's first flag was the drought-breaker. The second was confirmation. The third a dynasty.
The Coutas wrote themselves into the record books with a dominating display of pure football, breaking the BFL grand final apart after half-time to defeat Drysdale, 14.16 (100) to 6.11 (47).
With the game still in the balance, Queenscliff added four goals to one in the third term before kicking away in the last to bury its opponents.
"It was never going to happen in the first quarter or second quarter, but eventually if we kept going at it, we were going to break the game open," victorious Coutas coach Tom Limb said.
"Coming into the game, we knew Drysdale were going to be a hard side to beat, so to come away with a win is a really good feeling."
For 11 Coutas players it was their third premiership medal. Limb understood how privileged a position his teammates were in to achieve so much success.
"I had to wait a long time to get one (a premiership), so for me I understand that you never know when your last one's going to be or you never know if you're going to get one," Limb said.
"It's definitely a hard feat and one that we're proud of and we'll enjoy."
Queenscliff's advantage was its use of the football inside forward 50.
While Drysdale had to continually bomb the ball in to Tom Dewey, who was nullified by the Coutas' back six, Queenscliff utilised the duo of Eddie Grout and Daniel DeGois to perfection.
Both tall forwards booted three goals to propel their team to victory, one that was all the more sweeter for Grout who missed out on the side's 2011 and 2012 successes despite playing at stages during the year.
As Queenscliff continued to apply physical pressure, the Hawks crumbled.
For each of the first three quarters, the Coutas booted the first goal of the term inside a minute, which crushed the confidence of Drysdale.
The reigning premier consistently found a more direct route to goal and valued the hard running of midfielders such as Roscoe Holmes, Brad Ridings and Tom Limb.
But even when Queenscliff held an eight-goal lead midway through the final term, Limb couldn't celebrate just yet.
"Finals footy, you can never be satisfied I suppose," Limb said.
"There's no chance (to relax), really.
"You just know you've got to keep going, because it only takes a momentum swing and Drysdale specifically can bag on goals pretty quickly.
"We just had to run it out."
The Coutas' loss to Drysdale in the second semi-final proved poignant as they rectified the errors that plagued their only loss for the 2013 season.
Queenscliff forced the Hawks to counter against an attacking brand of football, which worked in its favour as Drysdale was left undersized.
"We were outclassed by Drysdale in the first final, they showed us what you've got to do if you want to win finals footy," Limb said.
"Not once did we think about (the loss) as a playing group, we just knew that there was that much pride in the group that we were going to bounce back."
