Of the seven players who stepped onto the Vansittart Park court and guided West Gambier to the holy grail on Saturday, only two were alive when the club last won a Western Border netball A Grade flag in 1999 and both struggled to hold back the tears.

Sisters Lisa McGregor and Amy Cram have been trying to taste the ultimate glory for the Roos their entire careers and struggled to contain their emotions when they embraced after the final whistle which marked the drought-breaking premiership.

Not only had West won its first A Grade flag in 23 years, but it did it against the team which has won almost every grand final since then in Millicent.

The first Roo to touch the premiership cup for more than two decades was coach McGregor, who said she was still coming to terms with the success when she spoke to The SE Voice two days after the event.

“I do not know if it has sunk in yet … it is just such a great feeling,” she said.

“The buzz is still around and we are just so happy.

“Especially Amy and I because we have been at West since we were 10 years old and we are now 34 and an A Grade flag was the last thing we wanted to tick off.”

Despite most of West’s squad playing in its first grand final, McGregor said there was a remarkably composed feeling around the group as it chased history.

“We had just such a calm feeling around us,” she said.

“Even through the warm up there was not a nervous vibe around the group.

“There was no panic from the start to the end of the game because we just focused on each quarter and centre pass.

“We just had a feeling in the group we could do it because we trust each other, so we focused on ourselves, took the moments, handled the pressure and got the job done.”

Despite the 12-goal win, it was no easy ride with the Roos having to fight toe-to-toe with Millicent across a tightly-contested first half where only three goals separated the sides on the scoreboard.

McGregor said she had braced herself for a tight fight and believed the turning point arrived at three-quarter time which allowed her to soak up the success during the closing minutes.

“We knew it was going to be a four-quarter battle and had to ride it out because every game we played against them had been even,” she said.

“But at three quarter time we were up by seven goals and Millicent made a change with their wing and goal defence and that is when I thought ‘here we go’ because we were settled.”

But there was no stopping the Roos as they controlled the final term to secure the success.

Seventeen of the side’s 19 final term goals were scored by the dominant Sarah Ritter, who was named best on court for a starring role at goal shooter and McGregor had the best seat in the house.

She said Ritter led the way in a mighty team effort.

“Sarah was unstoppable, especially in one on ones in the circle,” McGregor said.

“Sarah and Portia (McRae) have had great battles all year, but Sarah just killed it.

“Zoey Malseed was also great because our full defence was solid all day putting pressure on across the full 60 minutes and we were able to convert on anything we turned over.”

McGregor said another highlight was the strong support from the entire club and revealed West is not likely to stop celebrating the win any time soon with a special trip to Bali on the cards.

“I am just so proud of being involved in a club that has worked so hard for us and the fans were amazing,” she said.

“Singing the club song with everyone was special.

“We promised ourselves a netball trip to Bali so that is the next thing to organise.”