Ecstatic Cowboys hooker Jake Granville says he can't describe the emotion of winning a premiership with the club he joined for the 2015 season but said he can't help but spare a thought for his former teammates who will be doing it tough after losing a Grand Final in golden point extra time.
Granville was a bit-part player at the Broncos in 2013-14, playing a total of 10 first grade games behind the likes of Andrew McCullough before shifting north for an opportunity – one that he has since taken with both hands.
The majority of despondent Brisbane players on Sunday night were former teammates of Granville's and he said while he knows they'll be doing it tough he was grateful for the opportunity presented to him by the Cowboys.
"I am mate, I feel for them a little bit," Granville told NRL.com after the win.
In particular Broncos halfback Ben Hunt – who Granville played alongside for two years – would have been hurting after dropping the kick off that put the Cowboys in range to snap the premiership-winning field goal.
But Granville was too overwhelmed by the emotion of winning a Grand Final to be too concerned about how his vanquished opponents were feeling.
"I don't know how I'm feeling at the moment but I know it's awesome to cap the year off like that with such a great group of guys," Granville said.
"They (the Cowboys) gave me my opportunity to play NRL and it was hard to leave there but I had an opportunity up north. I'm happy with the move and really excited about what the boys have.
"I'm a bit speechless but what they've done for me, they've made it a lot more comfortable for me to move up there and slot in and I really appreciate what they've done."
The 26-year-old Rockhampton product has been a revelation in his first full year of NRL, burning opposition sides with his pace out of dummy half, and he was at his crafty best in the 2015 decider, laying on two tries (one for centre Justin O'Neill and another for prop James Tamou).
"I was pretty happy with my performance. I was concentrating on my defence. I knew I could get into the game. I just had to work off my defence basically. I was happy to get big Jim over the line and we haven't done that all year," he said.
"He's a big player for us and he gets us going forward, him and 'Thumper' [Matt Scott], I feel really comfortable in the middle with them two blokes, they look after me and I'm happy to be playing alongside them.
"They get us going forward, every now and then they get a quick play the ball for me to work off. They were unreal tonight, they worked hard in defence like you have to against such a great side like the Broncos.
Granville also praised the club's passionate supporter base who made the long trip down in numbers.
"It's so good to win for them after 20 years, they're such passionate supporters," he said.
"If you saw the airport last week and before the game this week it was huge, I can only imagine when we get back it's going to be out of control. They'll be going nuts."
Match report: Thurston kicks Cowboys to premiership
NRL Grand Final: Five key points
Cowboys player ratings
Broncos player ratings
Match highlights
Magic Moment: Feldt's late, late try
Magic Moment: Thurston wins it
WATCH: Winning skippers' speech
WATCH: Hodges' post-game speech
