After walking through the guard of honour formed by his teammates at the end of Saturday's game, Kurt Selmes felt the emotion of the moment.
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The Crookwell Green Devils captain played the last home game of his career on the weekend in his 63rd match for the club's senior side.
"It feels unreal," Selmes said after the Green Devils' 30-20 win over the Binalong Brahmans.
"I've been playing since I was a kid, I think it's about time I hang the boots up. That was unreal, the boys really dug in deep and I couldn't be any prouder of them."
The Crookwell crowd was at its vocal best for Selmes' last appearance at the Memorial Oval.
Loud cheers erupted whenever the Green Devils, and particularly Selmes himself, gained any ground with the ball in hand, while the Brahmans were on the receiving end of relentless and often humorous sledging.
Though being cheered on by the throngs of Green Devils supporters is a unique honour, Selmes is eager to see what life is like as a spectator.
"It's going to be pretty good sitting on the other side of the fence," he said.
"We're renowned for being a tough club, and I'd like to watch the boys carry that on."
Toughness was in high demand on Saturday, as Crookwell and Binalong went full throttle. Thudding tackles left players from both teams doubled over at various points, though thankfully there were no injuries incurred.
The fourth-ranked visitors scored first after a 20-minute deadlock at the start of the game. This opened the floodgates, but not in the way the Brahmans had hoped.
Almost immediately, the Green Devils responded with a try of their own, which was soon followed by two more to close out the first half.
With a 16-4 lead at the break, Crookwell was in control but knew better than to take victory for granted.
"I was a bit nervous at half time," Green Devils coach, Brian Gray, said.
"We've been in this situation quite a few times at half time, and on a couple of occasions the players let the scoreboard dictate their effort levels in the second half, and got the other sides back into the game and it cost us.
"That was a point we made at half time, that we've been here before and dropped off a little bit before we were home.
"They were really good in the second half and were under the pump a little bit there."
The Brahmans made a comeback five minutes into the second half, with a try that took the score to 16-8.
Both teams traded scores for the remainder of the game, but Crookwell maintained its lead despite being reduced to 12 men after Max O'Brien was sin-binned.
Saturday's was the second win for the Green Devils this season, who now play two away matches to close out 2021.
Though at one point Crookwell had no wins and six losses, Gray said the start of the season was not as bad as that tally seemed. In the coming weeks, he hopes the players can continue the improvement they have shown and add more victories to their record.
"This year was a genuine rebuild, we've lost a lot of good players, a lot of experience, a lot of quality," Gray said.
"We are getting there, we haven't had any real thrashings all year. A lack of experience has cost us a couple of games we should have won.
"We're looking forward to some more wins this year and plenty more next year."
This weekend, Crookwell will take on the 2020 George Tooke Shield grand finalists, the Bungendore Tigers, at Mick Sherd Oval.
The women's game will start from 12.50pm, with the men's to follow at 2pm.
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