It is rare to find two people who care more about their club than Lincon Smith and Aidan Davis.
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So it was unsurprising to hear Smith, the Gunnedah Bulldogs first grade captain, speak from the heart when he described the club's last few years as an "absolute hell".
The Bulldogs' travails have been well-documented.
Over the last few years, they have struggled to lift themselves off the bottom of the Group 4 first grade ladder.
In that same span, Smith and Davis have gone from fresh-faced newcomers to young men tasked with leadership within the team.
It is fitting, then, that these two, who have become critical parts of the glue holding the side together, spearheaded the Bulldogs' charge to one of their biggest wins in years on Saturday.
"It's all building for us at the moment," Smith said.
"It's one of the best things that's happened, and we knew it would have to be a scrappy win over a good side. That's what we needed before we start winning [regularly]."
Gunnedah's gritty 30-14 victory over the Boggabri Kangaroos on Saturday was not only their first win over their long-time rivals since 2022, it also secured them the Boyde Campbell Cup.
That, Davis said, was a massive part of the team's motivation.
"We spoke about it all week," he said.
"A lot of our boys knew Boydo, and we really needed to get that win. It means a lot to us boys, and he played here in the 18s side for Sean [Hayne]. We just lifted, went well at training and put it on the park."
Smith and Davis can scarcely remember a time where they weren't playing footy together.
The two Gunnedah Bulldogs mainstays first became teammates in the blue, red, and white during primary school, and have shared the field at a local and representative level almost every season since.
And not only did they take part in Saturday's win, they played crucial roles.
As per usual, Smith was relentless and showcased rare fitness for a man his size to exhaust Boggabri's forwards with his aggressive carries.
Davis, meanwhile, was named Players' Player after what coach Sean Hayne described as a "big" performance on the left edge, in which he produced a try and gained valuable metres every time he got ahold of the ball.
But more important to both men than their individual contributions was that they got their side through to a meaningful win together.
"There's no-one I'd rather do it with," Davis said.
"We've stuck together and played nearly every season together ... and to do that now is a stepping stone in the right direction," Smith added.
Saturday's victory came off the back of several extremely close losses. And both men feel the tide is beginning to turn at Gunnedah.
And they agree that a critical driver of that change is Hayne.
"I can't speak more highly of Hayney," Smith said.
"I don't know what it is about him, he is a quiet fella but he brings out the best in players."
"He's just calm, he lets us play our footy and believes in all of us," Davis said.
