While David Johnson’s six-goal haul stole the show in Emerald’s 59-point win over Berwick Springs, the veteran forward arguably saved his best moment of the afternoon for the post-game presentation.
Having been crowned best-afield and handed the microphone on stage, Johnson followed-through on a promise he made to a much-loved teammate earlier in the week, calling Noah Van Haren to the stage and hanging the medal around his neck.
Van Haren was a vital contributor to the Bombers’ success all season but suffered a partial tear to his AC joint late in the semi final loss to Berwick Springs two weeks prior.
The 18-year-old was given the choice to play through the pain in the grand final, but chose to put the team first and ruled himself out of the selection picture at the beginning of the week, showing maturity beyond his years.
Johnson, nearly double Van Haren’s age at 35, quickly formed a bond with he and the other forwards upon his arrival at Emerald this year, and did not want his teammate’s season to go unrewarded on the biggest day, having played in 17 of the Bombers’ 19 games in 2023.
“Everyone had told me that he was an absolute superstar, so I put him under my wing and helped him out,” Johnson said of his connection to Van Haren.
“I reckon he’s going to come close to winning our best-and-fairest.
“He hurt his shoulder two weeks ago and we gave him the option to play, but he said he’s not going to be able to give 100 per cent.
“He said ‘If I hurt myself in the first five minutes we’re going to be one player short, so I’m going to rule myself out.
“He wasn’t at the club but Sein (Clearihan, senior coach) came in and told us that he’d done that.
“You sort of well-up a little bit, because he’s just done such a good thing for the team.
“I think he deserved a medal of some description more than a few of us.”
Van Haren said he was touched by the gesture from a player who had made such an impact on him in his second season of senior football.
“It’s everything,” he said.
“That’s why we play footy, isn’t it? It makes a club, it’s beyond wholesome.
“As a young person, he took me under his wing and guided me through (the season).
“Obviously you’re going to get challenges in senior footy but he helped me through every single one, every step of the way.”
Despite his best efforts and following a course of rehabilitation since the injury, he wasn’t prepared to compromise his teammate’s chances of success after struggling to complete household chores.
“It didn’t tear all the way, so there was no surgery required,” he said.
“I was trying to stack firewood and I couldn’t even do that.
“I’d rather have someone who’s fit and ready to play, rather than, at the first contest, I could tear it completely, and then we’re a rotation down.”
For Johnson, the fact that he was able to take the field was a feat in itself, having also not played-out the semi final against the Titans due to injury.
What was feared to be a hamstring tear that would have put a line through the remainder of his finals campaign was eventually diagnosed as a glute strain that he willed himself to play through.
With Callum White missing the semi final through injury, the absence of Johnson was felt that afternoon, having made such an impact as a contested marking presence in the forward half of the ground all year.
He returned with three goals in the preliminary final against Healesville before his best-on-ground winning display in the decider.
“I’ve never hurt a hammy before and they just wanted to make sure that, if it was a hammy, they weren’t going to risk ruining it for three/four weeks,” Johnson said of the decision to sit-out the second half of the semi final.
“We went and got it checked out and they said it was a glute. I’m still in pain and I’ve had a few painkillers.
“I don’t normally do the right thing when it comes to injuries, but this time, I knew I had to.
“I was ice-bathing, having saunas, doing all the right things.”
2023’s triumph is Johnson’s second premiership, having tasted success with Norwood in the Eastern Football Netball League nearly a decade ago.
The Bombers could hardly have asked for more out of Johnson as a recruit, finishing the season with 61 goals and named in the Division One Team of the Year at centre-half-forward.
He described the feeling of tasting success straight-away at the Bombers as “surreal”, despite a sense early in the year that something special could unfold.
“Through the preseason we had a couple of practice matches. We knocked-off Gembrook-Cockatoo at Gembrook and played reasonably well against Upwey Tecoma at Upwey, and that’s when I thought ‘we’re pretty good.’,” he said.
“To come out against Officer and Seville in round one and two and put them to the sword, I thought ‘We’re the real deal’.
“I know how much it means to all the other boys, so it makes me happy to know that all the other boys are so happy and worked so hard.
“I’ve just swooped in at a good time.”
