![RED TERROR: Gunnedah celebrate their grand final win over Pirates. "You know, it's been a long time coming, and the relief was the first thing [I felt] - and now it's just excitement: we're so excited," says Gunnedah skipper Sarah Stewart. Photo: Ben Jaffrey](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/KUhQizDbwW8WqAyPP4x5yp/4cc6d47a-a54d-497d-b0cd-399cbb3b20da.jpg/r0_15_1155_664_w576_h298_fmax.webp "RED TERROR: Gunnedah celebrate their grand final win over Pirates. \"You know, it's been a long time coming, and the relief was the first thing [I felt] - and now it's just excitement: we're so excited,\" says Gunnedah skipper Sarah Stewart. Photo: Ben Jaffrey")
Gunnedah captain Sarah Stewart has spoken about the pressure she felt heading into the grand final against Pirates, saying "relief" was the strongest emotion she experienced immediately after the historic win.
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The Red Devils dominated the sevens finale from the outset - winning 20-5 to capture their first premiership.
The victory was a measure of atonement for losing last season's grand final to Inverell 37-5.
That was Gunnedah's debut season. And before Saturday's clash, Stewart - the player of the grand final - said the Red Devils were a better side for having experienced the loss to Inverell: they were tougher.
Stewart said: "You know, it's been a long time coming, and the relief was the first thing [I felt] - and now it's just excitement: we're so excited."
The triumph was all the more sweeter, she said, because "it's winning it with your best mates". "The team that we've got, it's been a two-year team, and the girls that have come on board this year have just fit in so well.
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"And you can see that today by all the girls on the sidelines wearing their jerseys, despite the fact that they can't actually play today. [That] means so much to us.
"And it's great that Central North had enough medals that we could actually give them a medal too. So that was really special."
Stewart described the conclusion of the match as a "Wow, what just happened?" moment. "And you're just so caught up in the moment ... It's about right then - not just thinking about what's just happened on the field."
Minor premiers Gunnedah scored four tries to one - with No 5 Kate O'Donnell crossing for strong back-to-back tries late in the match.
Gunnedah opened the scoring via No 7 Izzy Hunt, when she went herself close to Pirates' tryline early in the match: 5-0.
Red Devils No 10 Nichole Carlyon then combined nicely with Hunt to cross out wide: 10-0.
You sensed Pirates needed to score next to stay in the contest, and that is what happened. Amy Raphael barged over late in the first half: 10-5 to Gunnedah at the break.
It's winning it with your best mates. The team that we've got, it's been a two-year team, and the girls that have come on board this year have just fit in so well.
- Sarah Stewart
