ALWAYS the bridesmaid, never the bride.

That was the history of the Horsham Saints' 22-year tenure in the Wimmera Football League prior to 2015.

Since St Michaels left the Horsham District league to join the Wimmera league in 1993, the club had made the grand final on seven occasions. Every time, they left empty handed.

The closest and perhaps the most heartbreaking of those defeats came against cross-town rivals in 2014, as a late goal to Horsham Demon Joel Geue snatched the Demons their 11^th premiership in 12 years.

Saints then head coach Shayne Breuer said it was a premiership that went begging.

"We probably should have won that one," he said.

"We had a good side, and they were up against it with injuries. But we let it slip. That's when I started to think, 'That's seven lost grand finals. This has to stop.'"

It was also two consecutive grand final losses for the Saints, after they had convincingly lost to Dimboola in 2013.

Breuer said he avoided using the history of the Saints' premiership drought as motivation for his players in his first season as coach.

But after finishing 2014 as minor premiers, entering the grand final as clear favourites, and losing by just six points, Breuer decided enough was enough.

"The psychology changed," he said.

"Initially I thought I wasn't part of the history, so it didn't mean anything to me. We tried to steer away from it.

"But then in 2015 ... we decided enough is enough. In my second year, I thought it has got to be a driving force."

Perhaps part of the reason Breuer did not use the Saints' history as motivation in 2014 was how abruptly he took on the coaching role.

Breuer was approached by Saints then-president Roger Sordello just two months before the start of the season, after playing-coach Phil Butsch was forced to step aside due to health concerns related to his fight with cancer.

"When Phil had to step down, I went to see Shayne straight away," Sordello said.

"Within 24 hours, he had made his mind up to commit to the job."

Breuer was hesitant to leave ties at his home club of Kalkee, but with his family's support, he decided to sign on.

"I thought with what had happened with Butschy and stuff, I wanted to help out," Breuer said.

"Roger came in next day and asked me if I'm in. I said 'Yeah, I think so,' and he drove me straight down to the oval, where all the boys were training.

"He pushes me out and says 'Here's your new coach boys.' I thought, 'Gee, thanks for giving me plenty of time to prepare Rog!'

"I was thrown in the deep end a bit, but I absolutely loved it. We had some really good people, assistant coaches, committee and a great bunch of guys in the team."

Breuer said the self-motivation among the playing group was a defining feature of the team's success.

"It was an amazing group of blokes," he said.

"The three years I spent there were just awesome. The vibe around the club - we would get 50 or 60 blokes on the training track every night. Everybody was just so keen to succeed.

"I was just steering the ship - it was the players that were doing all the work."

Sordello - who stepped down as president in 2015 and into the role of Director of Football - said Breuer was a big part of the club's success.

"He'll never say this stuff about himself, but one of his biggest assets was making everyone feel included," Sordello said.

"Getting everyone's input, welcoming everyone into the club, and making people feel like they were contributing."

Spurred on by the disappointment of the previous two seasons, and helped by the inclusion of several handy signings, the Saints would lose just one match in 2015.

The two Horsham sides again locked horns in the grand final, but this time, the Saints unleashed a first-half blitz to set up a historic victory.

Through best-on-ground Sam Jasper's five goals, the tireless ruckwork of Michael Rowe, Garry Hallam marshaling the back six, and Daniel Rees' work on a wing, the Saints dominated all across the ground to hold a 54-point lead by half time.

"We were about 40 points up at three quarter time, but you still had this fear factor of thinking, 'surely we can't get rolled from here?'" Sordello said.

While the Demons closed the gap in the second half, the damage was already done. St Michaels claimed a long-awaited premiership 16.6 (102) to 9.8 (62).

"When we won, it was probably just initially relief," Sordello said.

It was extra special for the likes of 39-year-old Heath Watson, Garry Hallam who played with the memory of his late grandfather, and Phil Butsch, who after sitting out in 2014, fought back through the unimaginable to earn a premiership medallion.

"Even in 2015, he was probably at the worst stage of hist treatment at times. He wasn't guaranteed of playing," Sordello said.

"For him to get back and to get the reward, it was huge."

But lying in the shadows of any premiership is also the story of those who missed out.

After booting nine goals in the Saints 2014 grand final loss, Gavin Kelm battled a knee injury all season in 2015 and missed out on the premiership side.

He was best on ground and won a premiership earlier that day in the reserves, but Breuer said he lost sleep leaving Kelm out of the seniors.

"It's a thing you will never forget," Breuer said.

"Those decisions I still think about all the time. (Kelm) wasn't in the side coming in, he'd been injured a bit and we had to make that call. It wasn't easy.

"He'll never forgive me, and I don't blame him. But those are the calls you have to make sometimes."

Sam Jasper's best on ground performance capped of a remarkable season for the 18-year-old.

Jasper had crossed to the Saints from Kalkee in the off-season, and took the Wimmera league by storm.

He earned himself a reputation as a big game player, deemed best on ground to win the Anzac Day medal and the interleague medal earlier that year.

"I knew him from Kalkee. He came across and he was probably as fit as he has ever been," Breuer said.

"He played some great football for us, stepped up in some really big games and had an outstanding year."

Between the reserves and senior premierships, Sordello described 2015 as the "perfect season".

"It was just huge for those stalwarts at the club," he said.

"Guys that had been at the club for 40-50 years, had seen us move to the Wimmera league and not get any return on it for 22 years ... it was tears in the eyes all around.

"It's something I won't forget."

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