K Rock Football | Queenscliff captain Caleb Whitley answered his coach’s challenge in the best way possible, collecting the Josh Finch Medal as best on ground in the Coutas ‘ 51-point grand final win over Torquay.

Whitley was outstanding in leading the Queenscliff defence, taking nine intercept marks and finishing with 26 possessions as the Coutas claimed the 2026 premiership, ending a 13-year premiership drought in front of a crowd estimated at 7000 people.

Coach Heath Jamieson revealed the seeds of the performance were planted days earlier, in the coaches room at the Couta Bowl on Tuesday night.

“I just thought his body language wasn’t good enough for me,” Jamieson, who led the Coutas to their 2011 premiership during his first stint at the club, told K rock Football.

“He looked worried, and if there’s one thing that I’m grand final week, it’s never worried.”

Jamieson said he told his skipper to “poke your chest out”, reminding him: “It’s grand final week. We’re not losing. We go to work.”

The coach did not shy away from the fact that finals had not always been kind to his captain, who was making his 148th senior appearance for Queenscliff.

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