"I think it’s in our blood,” said Ellie Blackburn, as she stood on the grand final podium, premiership medal draped around her neck. “I can’t hold that cup up alone. KB, get up here.” And so, not for the first time in Bulldogs history, the crestfallen captain obliged, joining her deputy on stage to dually hoist the cup. Katie Brennan, clearly no stranger to Bulldogs folklore, then threw in the now-iconic Bob Murphy gesture, tearing away her polo shirt to reveal red, white and blue guernsey underneath.

The parallels with Murphy, however, were superficial alone (no matter the Bulldogs’ ill-fated first appeal, in which their lawyer inexpertly argued that it would be cruel for two Bulldogs captains to miss their teams’ premierships). Brennan, the victim of gendered inequity in the AFL and AFLW’s disciplinary systems, had as recently as Friday looked as though she could lead her side onto the ground given talk of a last-minute supreme court injunction.

In the end, however, the captain did as leaders often do: Brennan chose the selfless route, giving up the opportunity to lead her team into the decider, but pursuing justice for women through the Human Rights Commission. “The fight for gender equality is as every bit as important to me as the grand final,” Brennan said in a club statement on Friday. “And the decisions I have made reflect both of those priorities.”

After the game, the players insisted Brennan’s case had galvanised the group, who saw her suspension as “yet another challenge”. “We’ve had so many obstacles to overcome this season, and so many injuries,” said ruck Tiarna Ernst. “It felt like just one of those extra things. [But] we had trust in the whole 30, the whole playing group. We knew someone would fill her position. There wasn’t a worry that we couldn’t get the job done.”

Bonnie Toogood agreed, but was more effusive when talking of her leader. She pointed to her game-day boots, inscribed with Brennan’s No3. “I put it [No3] on there for when she got injured, but also this week especially,” she said.

She [Katie] deserves it just as much as us, and she was playing with us in spirit. I know I was thinking of her playing. She has done so much for women’s footy, this club, and the girls we have. I can say wholeheartedly I played for her.

Amongst her jubilant teammates, and eskies filled with beer, Brennan eschewed the polo for a grand final day playing guernsey, graciously greeting those who had come to mingle with the team. Clad in red, white and blue, a fan embraced her, stating solemnly: “You deserved to be there.” “I am here,” was her defiant reply. One by one, fans and media alike cried as Brennan held back tears, respectfully subdued.

In the end, the win was as much about Brennan as it wasn’t. No matter her fellow captain and coach’s fitting gesture post-game, the AFL’s crude dismissal of the clear case for gendered discrimination evident in her suspension put a significant dampener on the occasion. For fans of the women’s game – often those most well-versed in feminism – it spoke of a collective fear that the league is being mismanaged in its second season by an organisation that lacks the same passion for AFLW regularly on display from its ardent supporters.

In that sense, the fact the final was played at a ground with limited cover – in a rather unfortunate downpour – only added fuel to fire. Many AFLW fans had called for the game to be hosted at Etihad given the superior facilities on offer including, most pertinently, a roof. However, with the game held at amateur Princes Park, thousands queued in torrential rain with forecast thunderstorms and lightning, and rumours the game could be called off. In response, many thousands more stayed away altogether. The end result, a crowd of just 7,083 was a disappointing, if predictable, outcome in the conditions.

Ikon Park was clearly ill-equipped for the occasion, the ground floor – including several blocks of women’s toilets – flooding, while Missy Higgins’ pre-game entertainment routine was cancelled without warning, purportedly due to fears the stage would damage the sodden ground. In her place, 17 girls danced in ponchos to a PA system that failed in those areas under cover (where most fans were). Thanks to dark clouds looming overhead, meanwhile, Ikon’s much-maligned floodlights were also called into action.

In the media centre, Champion Data statistics went down, while Channel Seven’s graphics also failed. No doubt, with Carlton’s requested injection of cash, the ground has the capacity to become a worthy home of women’s football. As it stands, however, the use of its facilities for a grand final only reinforces AFLW’s second-class citizen status.

None of that, nor their beloved captain’s suspension, however, could dampen the victorious Bulldogs’ spirits. After a vigorous rendition of Daughters of the West the team retreated into the locker room, with shouts of “players only!” There, with the door slightly ajar, the players belted out Katrina and the Waves classic Walking on Sunshine as lagers were poured into the newly-minted Western Bulldogs 2018 Cup. By the time they were done, sunshine had poured onto Ikon Park, not a grey cloud in the sky.