THE Hamilton dressing room was still showered in champagne when Scott Coleman declared last September that the Hawks wanted the "Olympic rings" - five straight Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union premierships.
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As quickly as Coleman made the bold statement in the aftermath of the 20-12 win over Maitland in the 2018 grand final, it was stored away.
Any questions or references to the club's shot at history were played with the straightest of bats.
Behind closed doors, the pursuit of a record fifth consecutive title was a driving force from the first day of pre-season.
On Saturday, Hamilton achieved their goal, shutting down a gallant but out-gunned Wanderers 36-7 at No.2 Sportsground to surpass the four wins a Cyril Burke-led Waratahs notched from 1950.
"It was definitely something we aimed for," Coleman said. "We spoke about the Olympic rings in the pre-season.Then we locked it away and made a point of being humble. We were going to print it on a T-shirt for grand-final day but decided to stay quiet."
Before the Hawks' dynasty, Maitland had been the last team to go back-to-back in 1998-99.
Only three clubs, Wanderers (1963-65), Waratahs (1970-72), University (1984-86) and Singleton (1995-97) have won a hat-trick of titles.
"We have a good nucleus of players who have have been there for years," Coleman said. "We keep adding cream to the top. The guys who come in add a lot of value to the team, plus we have built from the bottom up as well. It is sustainable for a long time."
Captain Steve Lamont is one of five players alongside Joe Akkersdyk, Peter Bakarich, Sireli Bainivalu and Fiso Vasegote to feature in all five grand final triumphs.
"Credit to Bubba (Coleman), he brings in new faces and new ideas all the time," Lamont said. "He keeps it fresh and finds a new way to look at things. It's not just his voice all the time, he has a whole entourage to help him."
Coleman intends to stay at the helm "for one more year and hopefully put in place a succession plan for someone to take over".
Saturday's win was almost a carbon copy of their four previous grand-final wins - death by suffocation.
They applied the blow torch to the Two Blues' set piece, dominated possession and field position and converted pressure into points.
Four of their five tries - two to lock Joe Akkersdyk and one each to Steve Lamont and fly-half Dane Sherratt - were scored from five metres or closer.
With a strong wind at their back, Hamilton began on the front foot and led 17-0 after 30 minutes, despite losing Sherratt to a head knock.
Chase Hicks got the Two Blues back into the game with a brilliant solo effort after a ball over the top from Nimi Qio just before half-time.
Spirits lifted, Wanderer had two early opportunities in the second half but failed to convert.
Winger George Ashworth was chopped down a metre short, Luke Sherwood was swamped from behind as he was about to deliver a pass to an unmarked support player and Luke Simmons spilled a difficult pass with the line open.
"At half-time, I said you set yourselves up for the grind and now you have to stand up and do it," Coleman said. "We knew it was going to take 80 minutes. We had to simplify things and play boring rugby into the wind."
