The Crookwell Green Devils' bid for the title of Australia's Best Beanie has ended in heartbreak, after losing the grand final to Wagga Wagga Public School by less than 700 votes.
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After an incredible surge in momentum saw the Green Devils barge through the semi-final of the Cobrapparel-run competition with more than 4,000 votes, hopes were high.
But WWPC's media campaign paid off in the end, and secured 7,169 votes on Facebook and Instagram compared to Crookwell's 6,438.
"I didn't really think it would be that close, but I suppose I didn't really know," Crookwell She Devils captain, Annie Croker, said.
"Even though the populations of the two towns are very different, through social media you can go anywhere. That was the beauty of it, I think. All it took was a 'wow' reaction and you could get people voting from anywhere."
Despite falling short against WWPC, the Green Devils still managed to boost their votes by more than 50 per cent from the semi-final.
This, in no small part, was helped by endorsements from high-profile athletes like Emily Chalker, Jarrod Croker, Scott Neville, Lachlan Croker, and Millie Boyle, along with another from Farmer Neil, of Farmer Wants A Wife fame.
The exposure from such prominent members of the community has caused a surge in support for the Green Devils' social media profile.
"It was amazing," Croker said.
"Even losing the comp, our page got so much engagement, we got a lot of new followers, we sold a lot of beanies. Stuff like that which the beanie challenge brought to us was really good."
The beanie entered by Crookwell was a special edition made to mark the club's centenary. Following the popularity of the competition, awareness for the Green Devils' hundredth anniversary celebrations, which are set to take place later this year, has gone through the roof as well.
Due to the success Crookwell enjoyed and the closeness of the final, Croker said the option will certainly remain open to order a new beanie and enter the competition should it run again in 2022.
She did, however, add that the last week has been surprisingly anxiety-ridden.
"I assume if we get more beanies, we'll be in it next year," Croker said.
"It was pretty stressful towards the end there, my screen time went up a lot on my phone [laughs]."
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