Living in Deniliquin, Willoughby completed a 90-minute drive to training twice a week, while travelling more than three hours on occasions just to be able to pull on the bottle green and play with the Murray Bombers.
In one of the most dramatic GVL grand finals in recent memory, that commitment rose to the fore, as the gun midfielder produced one of his best performances in the Echuca jumper to help break its 20-year premiership drought.
Awarded the AFL Victoria Medal as the best player on the ground in the opinion of the umpires, Willoughby was lost for words after the game.
“This such an unreal feeling,” Willoughby said.
“I’ve lost my voice, I can’t even talk, honestly I just don’t know what to say.
“The drive (down from Deniliquin) feels like nothing now.
“This has been the best four years of my life playing with this footy club and to be a premiership player it means so much.”
Returning to the Murray Bombers side for the decider after missing the semi-final with a hip complaint, Willoughby was thrown right into the fire to battle a star-studded Euroa on-ball unit.
And fresh off a fourth-place finish in the Morrison Medal on Wednesday, Willoughby immediately showed his class, getting his hands dirty around the contest and hurting the Magpies.
Walking up to accept the best-on-ground medal, Willoughby said it was an incredible feeling.
“It was just such an awesome feeling, something I’ll cherish forever,” he said.
“For me, the day was all about coming away with that premiership medal though, this is the one I’ve been chasing for four years since I got to the club.
“To see all the green in the crowd, my family in the crowd, words can’t describe how good this is.”
As for the range of emotions he experienced throughout the frantic finish, Willoughby said the final quarter felt like it would never end.
“Honestly, I thought the siren was never going to go, it was such an intense battle,” he said.
“I didn’t think we could stop them there for a bit, Euroa are such a great side and had his really battling there.
“But credit to our boys, we just kept at it got the game back on our terms and when that siren went I was happy as larry.”
