‘It feels awesome’: Sam Willoughby leads the way in Echuca’s back-to-back premership

By Aydin Payne

Sep 24, 2023

What a star: Echuca’s Sam Willoughby claimed the Wilf Cox Medal and AFL Victoria Country Medal. Photo by Megan Fisher

Sam Willoughby is built for grand finals.

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The classy hard-nosed and talented midfielder was best-afield for Echuca as the Murray Bombers clinched back-to-back Goulburn Valley League premierships in Sunday’s 37-point win over Kyabram at Deakin Reserve.

Willoughby, 12 months on from claiming the AFL Victoria Country Medal in the drought-breaking premiership over Euroa, was once again the star of the show for the Murray Bombers.

Willoughby was integral in helping Echuca edge back Kyabram’s early lead in the second quarter with a superb running goal.

The VFL-talent was at the bottom of the packs, clearing the ball forward and tackling until the final siren of the 36-point grand final win.

Willoughby, who crossed to Echuca from Deniliquin, said he was over the moon to help the Murray Bombers etch their name into history books with back-to-back wins.

“It’s such an awesome club. You can tell by the amount of people here today, the crowd was just covered in green, You can tell it means just as much to the supporters than it does the players,” he said.

“It’s just an awesome feeling.”

Enjoying the moment: Echuca’s star midfielder Sam Willoughby embraces supporters after the win. Photo by Megan Fisher

Willoughby highlighted that despite Kyabram leading at the main break by five points, the Murray Bombers knew they had it in them to run away with it.

“It feels unreal, it’s great to get it done for a couple of boys who missed out last year,” Willoughby said.

“We know we’re fit, we reckon we’re one of the fittest clubs in the comp so we knew it would come and the game would break open. We just stayed positive and it came.