Celebrating on the Lord's balcony, singing in the changing room, posing on the outfield with the T20 World Cup trophy - for Phoebe Litchfield it made the soul-searching and "uncomfortable" conversations in the aftermath of two semi-final exists worth it.
"I think those other two needed to happen," Litchfield said the morning after the team had celebrated their seventh T20 title "accordingly".
Other teams may look on with a degree of wonder: Australian cricket was hardly in crisis after the losses in Dubai (2024) and Mumbai (2025), but such is the level of expectation around the country's most successful sporting team that it was enough to raise questions about whether the edge had gone, particularly as self-inflicted errors played a key role in the defeats, and quite how well a transition from an era of greatest was being managed.
In the build-up to the final against England, Litchfield had spoken about coming into a side that was just expected to win global silverware but now found the cupboard empty for the first time in eight years. With a trophy safely back in possession, she reflected on the team getting back to the top.
"I think being able to sit in a room and talk about how and why we missed those moments, and probably just identifying and naming that fear or that pressure and being like, yeah, it was there and we felt it and weren't able to perform," she said.
"So [we] did a bit of work with that and then implemented it in training, tried to manufacture those moments or just expose us to more of those moments. That was probably the idea around all that work. But, yeah, those meetings were uncomfortable and credit to the girls who were there, especially potentially the people who made those mistakes. It was a cool thing to be in, just own it and be honest and true."
It was a theme captain Sophie Molineux had addressed after victory on Sunday. "We've been talking about this for a long time," she said. "I suppose it's been six months of really deliberate conversations and training and everything to prepare us for a day like today. Within a day like today, there is moments and some are small, some are big. But I think what this group has become really good at is to be able to recognise those moments and instead of running away from them, I think the group really want to be a part of them.
"That's really powerful. And where that comes from is the girls trusting their own ability and trusting that the people around them, one, back them, and two, are going to be good enough to go with you."
No doubt individual players will identify moments that exemplify the new philosophy, but from the outside the clearest example has been their powerplay batting. Even taking into account the differing conditions, Australia's increase in scoring rate from 2024 in the UAE was vast: 9.52 in this edition compared to 6.53 two years ago.
A microcosm of the approach was on display at the very start of the chase at Lord's when Georgia Voll clubbed offspinner Charlie Dean down the ground for four first ball. Voll soon chopped on against Lauren Bell, but by the end of the powerplay Australia were 62 for 1 and the game was as good as over.
Beth Mooney, who would go on to be named Player of the Tournament, was 28 off 19 balls, the latest example of her increasing impact in the fielding restrictions where she finished as the second-fastest-scoring opener in the competition (strike rate 148.88) behind Shafali Verma (170.66).
"It's been our blueprint since the knockout in the Dubai T20 World Cup," Litchfield said. "We always go hard in the powerplay. It's kind of a non-negotiable trying to set up the chase or set up the game. I think it's the best way to put a team under pressure as a fielding side. If batters come out and take the game on and put [you] on the back foot, it's always a daunting feeling and then you're just chasing your tail. It's exactly what we wanted to do."
With the back of the chase broken, there was no letting up as the boundaries continued to flow, including an audacious reverse sweep for six by Litchfield - a trademark of hers, but still a stunning stroke. "I haven't got any of those away all tournament, and then continued to air swing at them," she said. "Finally got one out of the middle … it's a good feeling."
Neither Litchfield nor Mooney was quite able to see the chase home, but even walking off they will surely have known the job was done. A few overs later it was official. "It's a real dream come true," Litchfield said.