Trent Cotchin has spent much of his career under the closest of scrutiny, with both his football and captaincy fair game throughout.
That scrutiny — surely, finally — is gone. Cotchin is a Brownlow medallist, a genuine superstar and, most importantly, a premiership captain.
His influence in Richmond's grand final win wasn't limited to stats and touches, but could be felt in the unerring effort he brought, willing himself and his teammates to contest after contest from start to finish.
But his overriding feeling when the siren went?
"It was more emptiness after the game," Cotchin told the ABC.
"Just to see how each and every one of the boys reacts, how special it is for them, I couldn't be more thankful for being part of the group.
"I'm sure over the next few hours it will start to sink in and we'll get to enjoy it."
Cotchin could have been forgiven for once thinking it was a mountain he would never climb, with the Tigers mired in drama and stuck at the foot of the table for years.
A lot of history had to be overturned for Cotchin to become a premiership captain, but throughout he remained philosophical.
"We all grow up as kids loving this game, you can't focus too much on the down moments," he said.
"It's never as bad as it seems and it's never as good it seems, but it just is.
"You sit at home most years — well every year — being so envious of those guys that end up on the stage at the end of September, but we've done it now.
"I don't know how to feel. I'm so amazed, I'm so proud, so thankful."
And what about his mate Dusty?
"He's a massive part of the Richmond family and an even bigger part of our family.
"The tears of joy from my wife and her family, that's on the back of just love."
