The writing had been on the wall for more than a quarter, yet that did little to ease the pain for a devastated squad. Like the 2024 decider before it, this year's GVL grand final had slipped away in a one-sided contest.
And it was more than a misty-eyed Bears den when co-coach Xavier Stevenson announced the grand final had been his last in charge of the senior outfit.
Post-game, an emotional Stevenson touched on his journey from a five-year-old team mascot to leading his beloved Shepparton, now departing after four seasons.
There was only one way for Wells to describe his impact: “Huge.”
“With Ted (Lindon) before that, and then obviously Xav and myself this year, I'm probably lucky enough that he was like a brother to me,” Wells said.
“I actually coached him in under-18s - we've gone through and the families are really close.
“He’s done an amazing job with his football club, and it's time as he said. He's got a business that's going really well and two young kids.
“I'll certainly miss him.”
Liam Duguid, Luke Smith (two goals), and Ash Holland’s attempts to salvage some pride saw them among the Bears best players on the day, but the holes in the contest game proved too many to plug, and coming into the game without perennial contributors Adam Decicco and Kade O’Dwyer exacerbated the Bears difficulties at the coal-face.
Smith had battled manfully through finals, earning him the Barry Connolly best in finals accolade.
“Luke and Liam were really good for us,” Wells said post-game.
“We had to throw him forward and on ball just given we were a couple of rotations down in the last three weeks. That probably threw us out a bit in terms of structure, and maybe that hurt us as far as around the ground.
“All credit to Echuca. They were very good, they were very disciplined, they play their roles very well.”
Wells says the group will lean on one another over the coming days, taking stock before turning their attention to end-of-season duties and planning for what lies ahead.
“We’ve still got a few things in front of us to tick off,” he said.
“It’s been a big year, they've done really well.
“This is going to hurt for a while, so we don't need to probably be around each other too much post that.
“They can have their time then.”
Despite the loss, Wells took pride in the Bears efforts to get all three football sides to grand final day, with the under-18s upsetting Echuca to claim back-to-back flags.
“It’s great for the club,” Wells said.
“To have three sides in on grand final day, not too many in the clubs can do that.
“I think Gus (Echuca co-coach Angus Byrne) mentioned that as well in his speech to us.
“I’ve got a great relationship with Gus, he was Vic Country under-19s when I was there for a few years, and it’s nice to hear that he thinks that we've got our program in the right shop as well.”
