The day before he was one of the first responders on the scene when a massive tree fell in the main street of Port Douglas. 

Then, when the Port Douglas Crocs were looking down the barrel of defeat after slumping to effectively two goals down halfway through the last quarter of the Grand Final against South Cairns, Jared Petrenko was again the first to respond to will his side across the line in an epic finish.

Petrenko hovered around half forward in that last 10 minutes to repeatedly send the ball into the forward lines, kicking one goal himself, and setting up the winning kick from another Grand Final hero - Shay Linke - who coolly slotted home his sixth goal to give the Crocs a five-point buffer against a gallant South Cairns Cutters team.

Linke’s match-winning goal followed a down-the-ground free after Petrenko was dumped after disposal while once again delivering the ball to his forwards.

Heading into the last quarter three goals up, there was an air of confidence in the Crocs huddle that they could hang tough for a decent-seized victory.

The Cutters were kicking with the breeze, but it had dropped away towards the end of the third quarter, and Port Douglas had been consistently winning the ball in the middle with the  strong midfield unit including Murphy Short, Sam Fairclough, Ben McPhee and Tom Cantwell.

But, as the final stanza unfolded, the Crocs seemed more content to hold on than kick away, and errors crept into their game including howlers from Kai Karamatic, who accidentally kicked the ball about 35m the wrong way, and a 50m penalty from Harvey Moore gifting the Cutters a goal.

After leading by 18 points at three quarter time, this brainfade put the Crocs nine points down and staring defeat squarely in the eyes.

But, step up the hero of the moment Petrenko, who wheeled around on his right a minute later and curled one through the big sticks to bring it back to three points.

With the ball camped in the Crocs forward line for the next 10 minutes, misses from Max Hemphill and Linke, and a missed pass by Kye Chapple, ramped up the tension as the grandstand shook on its foundations from the parochial Cutters supporters trying to will their team home.

The Crocs players fell to their knees in a mixture of elation and relief as the final siren blew to register a 12.8 (80) to 11.9 (75) win.