Turvey Park stalwart Lachlan McRae has made the decision to hang the boots up

Saturday's grand final win against Griffith was McRae's 144^th first grade game for the Bulldogs and is a reward for the loyalty shown by the experienced defender.

Joining the club back in 2009, McRae made his senior debut in 2010 and has stuck with the Bulldogs through thick and thin since.

After seeing the club go through some of their darkest days, McRae said it was just incredible to see the Bulldogs back on top of the Riverina Football League.

"To be perfectly honest to be where we are today is just unbelievable," McRae said.

"To see where the club was and where it's got to, having been through the thick and the thin and sticking with it and just to be here today is just unreal.

"It's one of the best feelings."

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The Bulldogs were battlers throughout the early 2010's and went through a period in 2012-16 where they only recorded six victories.

Despite being stuck down the bottom of the ladder for a long period of time, McRae admitted that he never gave up hope the Bulldogs could return to the top of the league.

"We always had good young blokes around, we just could never stick with it," he said.

"But those good young blokes are back here today with the Josh Ashcroft's, Andrew Emery's and all those fellas coming back and being a part of something so special is just unbelievable."

McRae was one of the few players that stuck fat with the club through their darkest times and he revealed that he never gave any thought of moving to another club.

"Honestly the day that I got here as a young bloke when I was 17 I just knew that this was my home club," he said.

"I'll stay here and stick with it and even through the darkest times, I had a period where I had twins and had a year off and then Covid came and I had another year.

"But I thought I'd come back and I'm so glad I did."

McRae's loyalty was rewarded with a drought-breaking premiership win and he said that it made sense to leave on a high.

"That'll be my last senior game," he said.

"I'll take it on the high and that's it.

"I'll still be at the club but this is it for me definitely."

It's been an incredible season for the Bulldogs and McRae said he was immensely proud of the group for overcoming a number of challenges and setbacks this year.

"We had a really hot period then a really cold period and then really hot to finish off," he said.

"Then that first final where they got us by three goals and we just knew we had to regroup, come back together and start playing our brand properly.

"It showed today, it definitely showed today."

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