Brad Ashcroft capped off a superb return season with a brilliant five-goal performance in the Bulldogs' grand final win

Ashcroft returned to the field this year after having roughly 18 months on the sidelines following back surgery.

The full-forward finished the home and away season with 61 goals which saw him finish second in the Stewart Fraser Medal and earn a spot in the Riverina League Team of the Year.

Ashcroft has certainly had to overcome a number of challenges to get back to playing football, however he said Saturday's premiership win had made all the work hard worth it.

"I've definitely had my troubles over the years and I had a year and half off footy," Ashcroft said.

"I've really tried to work hard on my body over the last few years and went and had surgery on my back.

"There was a lot of work put in and I couldn't have done it without the physios and the support team.

"Turvey has done a heap for me so it means a lot to come back and win a flag with them.

"It's a lot of hard work, but it's definitely worth it in the end when you can win a flag with a bunch of ripping blokes.

"I'm very proud of the club and from where we were to where we are now, Zoc (Michael Mazzocchi) puts in a mountain of work and the whole committee I couldn't thank them enough for the work they've done."

MORE SPORTS NEWS:

Ashcroft is a club junior and was part of the young group that revitalised the Bulldogs as they came out of their dark stretch between 2012-16.

After seeing the club on it's knees as a youngster, Ashcroft said it was fantastic to now see them back on top of the Riverina League.

"I sort of got there just as we were coming out of the tough times," he said.

"But we always had strong juniors at Turvey and through the 17's we really tried to focus on keeping them coming through and keeping them at the club so they could become good first grade footballers.

"You can see that we've got a lot of good footballers that have stayed at the club and now they are starting to develop.

"We've got a lot of blokes in their teens and early 20's and it helps when you've got young fresh legs on the field in finals I guess."

The final siren saw an outpouring of emotion as the Bulldogs' faithful celebrated a premiership that was 21 years in the making.

Ashcroft revealed that he was unsure what to do when the final siren blew at Narrandera Sportsground but admitted it was one of the best feelings he's ever experienced.

"I didn't know what to do," he said.

"I honestly didn't believe it but it was one of the best feelings you'll ever have.

"I can't thank the club and Zoc enough and all the boys, but yeah I'm just very proud."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: