While there's no doubt over which under-18s side had the best season, Watson would have loved to see his men given the chance to avenge their only loss throughout the winter.

"There's definitely an empty feeling there," Watson said.

"It's totally different to being there on the day and having that adrenaline and excitement that a grand-final brings.

"I don't think we saw the best from our guys. We probably would have played Rhinos and we wanted to get one back on them."

In their previous meeting - which was at Dubbo - City led with five minutes remaining before Rhinos scored a try at the death, leaving Lions with a goal of getting even later on in the season.

While they never got that chance, the group had a discussion after the ruling with Watson suggesting the premiership would have ended up with them one way or another.

"I think the result would have been the same regardless," he said.

"We could have put 40-50 points on them [Rhinos] in a grand-final."

Every coach attributes premiership-winning runs to different strengths or traits, and Watson took a simple path when asked to explain where his team stood out.

"I think the pure amount of game time they were getting really helped them," he said.

"We had a lot of guys who would stick around after the game and play thirds, seconds, or sit on the bench for firsts.

"When they got in and played that higher level of footy it made them stand up for us."

"It definitely wasn't our training," he said.

According to Watson, there were a host of standout players during the winter, but five-eighth Harry West was a front-runner for best and fairest.

"He ended up captaining the side... he really stood out for us," he said.

Pride Park will feature a few different faces in 2022 and Watson isn't sure what his role will be next winter, but he knows he'll be contributing to the Lions players one way or another.

After three years at the helm, Viv Paasi announced he'll be stepping down from the top-tier coaching role as John Nunn is set to replace him.

"I haven't spoken to the first-grade coach yet but I'm sure I'll be here," he said.

"I don't know if it will be back with Colts yet, but I'll be here helping out wherever I can."

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