"A moving time": Hunter Valley bus crash victims honoured at AFLW grand final
Avid footy fans Nadene and Kyah McBride were among the ten wedding guests killed in the horror bus crash on the June long weekend.
They are survived by grieving dad and husband, Graham McBride, who was also on the bus at the time of the crash, but only suffered neck and arm injuries.
On Sunday, their lives and love for the sport have been honoured during the during the AFLW grand final between North Melbourne and Brisbane.
“We thank all of those involved in community football for their tireless efforts in making our game the best it can be,” the game's MC and Seven commentator Nat Edwards said as they brought out the cup.
Nadene, who was the founder and coach of the Singleton Roosterettes, has been named an official AFLW community hero.
Her daughter Kyah was a star player in the team, and was also part of the Sydney Swans AFL women's development squad.
Graham joined the guard of honour as his wife and daughter were acknowledged.
He paid a touching tribute to his loved ones before the game.
"Nadene has done a lot for football so to get their recognition back hits home," a teary-eyed Graham told Nine News.
"Everyone enjoyed being around the girls, they made you smile," he added.
In another interview with 7News he told the publication: “I think that cup will be full of happy tears and sad tears. It’ll be a proud moment."
”(Nadene) bled Sherrin in her veins. Footy was everything to her.
”I’m going to do it for my girls ... I bloody love them and they love their football.”
Just months prior to the tragic accident, Nadene and Kyah celebrated their teams win.
“For Singleton AFC when we first started, we were actually not very good,” Nadene said in a Ladbrokes video that resurfaced following the crash.
“One of our biggest deficits was about 263-to-nil I’m pretty sure. We only kicked two goals for that whole season, and I kicked them both and I was playing centre halfback.
“We’ve come a massive way since then and in 2020, miraculously and through a lot of hard work, we actually took out the premiership.
“We beat a team we definitely shouldn’t have beaten on the day and we did.”
Bus driver Brett Andrew Button was charged over the crash and remains before court.
Images: Getty/ Nine