In just two months, Jaydon Stiles ensured that he will be spoken about with reverence long after he has left the region.
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The 26-year-old Victorian arrived in Gunnedah as a kind of hired gun, lured there by Bulldogs coach Doug Meagher after being left high and dry, footy and work wise, by COVID.
It's hard to predict the future in the current environment. But it is likely that Stiles will have moved on before the start of next season - perhaps to the Macorna Tigers, in the Golden Rivers Football League, where he had been offered a player-coaching job before COVID struck.
Whatever happens, he will be remembered as one of the most talented players to grace the AFL North West - a powerfully built goal-scoring menace, whose athleticism is matched by a fierce competitiveness.
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He regularly kicked goals that marked him as special, rumbling across the turf and then turning on a dime to split the posts from acute angles. He led the competition with 64 majors in the regular season.
Stiles was simply sensation in the Bulldogs' 52-point grand final defeat of a game Swans at Wolseley Oval on Saturday. Under a baby blue sky and fanned by cool spring conditions, he kicked eight majors - screaming in delight after the more impressive ones and sparking gasps among the 1500-strong crowd.
With his family watching a live stream of the match from Portland, Victoria, he was named best on ground. Post-match, he said living conditions were still "pretty ordinary" for his family and friends in Victoria because of the state's strict COVID measures.
It was his first senior premiership, which was made more special by his younger brother, Josh, playing alongside him. Winning the grand final "means the world" to him.
"Obviously with COVID everywhere we weren't expecting to play footy at all," he said. "So, to come up here and win a flag, and for it to be the first time [for me], there's no better feeling."
The Stiles brothers were among four talented Victorians who debuted for the Dogs this season - the others being Gillies Medal winner Josh Chiavaroli and Liam Scott. They were instrumental in Gunnedah matching the feat of the '86 Dogs by remaining undefeated for the season, the final score in the finale 18.16 (124) to 11.6 (72).
