They've finally broken the drought. After two long years and 23 straight losses, the Tuggeranong Hawks thrashed the Gungahlin Jets by 54 points.
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The Hawks sealed a 14.10 (94) to 6.4 (40) victory at Greenway Oval on Saturday, after a comprehensive performance in front of an ecstatic home crowd.
Hawks player Jack Adamson kicked a stunning 60-metre goal in the final quarter of the game and said the team had come into the match with a new found intensity - despite the massive losing streak.
"Everyone had an absolute red hot crack, no one left anything in the tank and I think it was just shown in that team song it meant so much to everyone. So pretty speechless at the moment," Adamson said.
"I think just today, there was a real feeling of 'we want this, this is our game' more than anything. I think we just came out from the start with that intensity and just kept it up throughout the whole game. Pretty simple but yeah."
It has been a tough couple of seasons for the Hawks, but coach Peter Ashcroft said the team has remained more motivated than he expected.
"Last year was really tough but I think the guys understand where we are at. We knew it was a long road ahead, we weren't going to get a couple of guys back and then all of a sudden become a grand final winning side," Ashcroft said.
"We had to get guys back and we had to work on a game plan and our structure and get the club back to where is needs to be. They understand it, they've been absolutely fantastic. We've got a rather large leadership group who've been absolutely fantastic at keeping everyone up and motivated."
The Jets started the game off strongly, jumping to a 13-0 lead. But the Hawks bounced back and tied scores at 13-all after goals by Joseph McGrath and Nathan Smith.
The score hit 19-19 just a few minutes into the second quarter, but from there it was all the Hawks.
Matthew Ghirardello kicked a game-high four goals, including a 60-metre effort to help seal victory in the final quarter.
The Jets struggled to put together a team for the game, so much so that coach John Love had to pull the boots back on.
"I played last year. But I've only played the last couple of games this year mainly due to the amount of injuries the club has and has experienced. So we've got about 12 out at the moment and it's really hurt the club. We've clearly got a lot of work to do to front up next week against Belconnen," Love said.
Ashcroft also knows that while the team will want to enjoy this win, they'll have to continue working hard for next week's game against the Demons.
"They seem to put big scores on us with just the way the play their football," Ashcroft said.
Elsewhere, the Ainslie Tricolours notched up a 17.14 (116) to 8.7 (55) win over the Eastlake Demons at Alan Ray Oval.
