After being smothered by teammates on the field, the fair-headed rover led the team into the rooms and received the most attention while singing the winning anthem.

It was Deans’ final game of the season. He and fellow Grovedale footballer Tim Delaney are heading abroad, meeting up with another former teammate Cameron Young, and returning in October.

Deans, who has been at Burdoo Reserve since he was junior, is sure to be back in the yellow and black next year.

But the grand send-off on Saturday showed how much he would be missed in Grovedale’s campaign for another grand final berth.

The gesture would have also given remaining players another incentive to go harder in his absence.

Football manager Trevor Colbert said Deans was a “true club person” who has looked like captain material since he was a boy, winning club and league best and fairests along the way.

But Grovedale is united in supporting the sojourn, which will benefit his life experience and leadership potential.

“He’ll be sorely missed,” Colbert said. “But there’s a big wide world out there.”

Grovedale heads into the break fourth on the ladder and travels to play Lara when the competition resumes next weekend.