The Lions went down 26-14 to Orange Emus in the Central West Rugby Union's decider at Wade Park, and while Tremain said he was "gutted to the core" by the loss he was determined to see it lead to bigger and better things in 2021.

"The fire's been lit. We've turned the corner now and we're ready to take on next year," Tremain said.

"I wanted that one badly but I've lost grand finals before and we've bounced back. It hurts and it hurts bad but I have to give it to them, they lifted in the second half and were too good.

Tremain said coach Viv Paasi had said to his group on their first week back post lockdown he wanted to see his side playing on the last day of the year - a goal they achieved.

"It's extremely disappointing but that's nothing we can do about it but be proud of our year," he said.

"We've come a long, long way - two years of wooden spoons to now be at a grand final is exceptional.

"We've got to keep our heads up and we now look forward."

The sting of Saturday's loss will linger well into next year, too, and the man known as Blocker is "100 per cent" locked in to returning in 2021.

"I feel we lost that. The first half I felt we were the more intense side but missed a couple of opportunities," he said.

"A try went begging, but hey, that's footy."

Tremain said plenty more could have gone right for the Lions, but Emus' experience got the job done.

"First half we should have put more points on and I really thought we were on top in the first half, I think everyone saw that but to their credit they regrouped and we gave away way too many penalties," he said.

"God knows what the count was but you can't win a game with that many penalties.

"Once the second half they lifted and we couldn't stop them, that was the simple fact of it."