BDCA finals: Colts captain Josh Topliss says 2021-22 first grade premiership is ‘best I’ve ever played in’

Colts captain Josh Topliss says he will remember Sunday’s dramatic grand final victory against Eaton as the best of his six premierships. The club stalwart and second-year captain was in the thick of it during the tense final over on day two at the Eaton Sports Ground, but said it was the months of planning as much as his side’s gutsy comeback that made the triumph so special. “I think upon reflection, this one will go down as my favourite one and it hits a little bit different being skipper,” he said. “It doesn’t start in October for us. All through the winter we put plans in place towards building a squad and I had a big focus on not just making it about the 12 players that got to play, but all the A and B grade boys — making it about the whole squad. “We built that feeling up around the whole squad and I think we will see the fruits of that in the next couple of years. “That will go down as the best I’ve ever played in, I reckon.” Chasing 159 on the final day, the visitors needed just two runs off the final over of the second day. When Luke McPherson squeezed a ball away for one, it left club legend Topliss to finish the job — but he instead watched a wide sail past him to seal the deal with four balls remaining. “I was still pretty nervous right up to that last ball,” he said. “I was pretty happy to see it go down the leg side and I think as you can see from the replay, I was pretty happy to see the umpire’s arm extend there. “I was just so happy to celebrate it with the boys and to see all the plans from throughout the year come to fruition was just an amazing feeling.” Topliss’ six premierships is only bettered among current players by teammate Cruize Ciallella, who on Sunday won his seventh flag.