The Blues' 8.4 (52) to 5.9 (39) victory was never a certainty until the 22-minute mark of the last term when Jared Dakin scrubbed through the last goal of the game from close range.

Only then did the razor-sharp tension which had permeated every moment of the previous two hours fade from the contest as North Launceston accepted the end of its incredible three-year flag streak.

The rain-soaked win broke a nine-year flag drought for the Blues and held huge personal significance for coach Mitch Thorp.

"I've been a little bit unwell - that's why I didn't play some footy earlier in the year and the boys were very supportive," he said.

"I'm so proud to be a part of a group that cares for me and I care for them and we did it together.

"To have won three premierships today for the Launceston Football Club, it hasn't happened before and I don't reckon it'll happen again - we've got one to go tomorrow [Sunday] with our under-18s."

A game which featured just 13 goals never had a dull moment.

Ex-Blue Jack Rushton made a big statement with the game's opener inside the first minute but there was even more said at the end of the first term when a melee broke out on the siren.

Scuffles and off-the-ball free kicks spilled over into the second term but the Blues weren't phased as Tim Jones and Dylan Riley combined to set up goals for Jay Blackberry in the first minute and Fletcher Seymour in the second.

North's superstar skipper Brad Cox-Goodyer pulled a big punch late in the third with a textbook 50m set shot but his counterpart had the answer.

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Jobi Harper's clutch checkside after the three-quarter time bell reeled the margin back to a point and his smash-and-grab from a ruck contest deep in the forward line stretched the margin to seven points five minutes from full time.

"There was some brutal contact, some high level skill in inclement conditions," Thorp said.

"The game itself was probably the most intense game of football I've ever played in.

"The physical combat ... the skill level, Jobi Harper's goal on three-quarter time just swung the momentum, the crowd lifted and the whole grandstand was bloody shaking.

"It was just a captain's goal and to run over the top of them late was exactly how we scripted it - we knew it was going to be tough, we knew there was going to be blood spilt and there was."

North Launceston led for much of the day and at multiple stages in the final term looked a real threat of sealing their sixth flag in seven years.

Late inclusion Jackson Callow soccered home from a tight angle to stretch the margin to seven early in the last and Tom Bennett roved five minutes later to restore the Bombers' lead.

North finished with more scoring shots but could have been sharper in front of goal.

"It just wasn't our day today - all the key indicators spelt to us dominating," coach Taylor Whitford said.

"We had 20 more inside-50s, won clearances - we just couldn't get the score on the board.

"Our third quarter was good - probably didn't take enough advantage of it and even the last one when Tommy Bennett put that goal through, we probably just needed one more to break the back but we couldn't do that and they went down and took their chances."

Whitford said his side remained on an upwards trajectory.

"Launceston took their chances in the end and it's a big learning year for us - I think we're in a better place in terms of our next generation this year than we were last year," he said.

"In terms of Oliver Sanders, Baynen Lowe, Ben Simpson, Tom Donnelly - they're the next generation of our footy club and if they continue on that path we're going to continue to have success."