But the line-out master says it's the up-and-coming greens that have driven the club's most recent successes.

The 33-year-old second-rower called Saturday's win over the Lions the culmination of seven years of hard work but for many in the squad - like rake Charlie Henley, fullback Jamil Khalfan and flanker Sam Greatbatch - it was the first starting appearances in a grand final winning outfit.

Hughes-Clapp said having that mix made the victory all the more special.

"It's huge ... there's been a core group for that seven years and a lot of us are getting to the end of our careers and we've worked hard," he said.

"And then to have the new group coming through as well, winning it together means a lot as a whole group."

The former Shute Shield player was full of praise for his Emus teammates, but so too his City opposition, who threw everything at the minor premiers early on.

"They're a good team, athletic, we just had to be patient," Hughes-Clapp said.

"We've played a lot together and we knew what we had to do; stay calm, weather the storm, and after that first 20 (minutes) we were down by one point. We knew we were in a good spot."