Geoff Parling hailed Exeter captain Gareth Steenson's mental strength after his extra-time penalty winner saw the Chiefs crowned Aviva Premiership champions.
England international lock Parling will leave Exeter next month, heading for a short playing stint in Japan before possibly gaining a Super Rugby contract Down Under.
But the 33-year-old departed the English game in style, helping Exeter land a first Premiership title just seven years after they were promoted to English rugby's top flight.
And it was fly-half Steenson who delivered the goods, finally taking the sting out of Wasps with a 97th-minute strike that saw Exeter home 23-20.
"He is mentally very, very strong," Parling said.
"He will always step up, he will always want those big moments. He drives the team forward and is a very good leader.
"In extra-time, you are waiting for that one little advantage, one little mistake, but what a game it was. We will take it.
"It is just reward for the way the lads have gone about their business.
"When I joined the Chiefs (in 2015), I knew the hard work they were doing, and hopefully the lads now will use this to say they want a bit more of it and push on.
"We said the game was going to be won or lost on one small moment, simple as that.
"It was just belief. It could have gone either way, let's be honest, but we kept knocking the door and eventually we got the chance."
Exeter's triumph also made amends for defeat in the Premiership final 12 months ago, when they never recovered from a first-half horror show that saw opponents Saracens build a 23-6 half-time lead.
"There was a completely different feeling in the build-up to this game to how it was a year ago," Parling added.
"When we got off the bus, it was focussed. A year ago, I think the lads were a bit like 'look at the support' and were gobsmacked.
"Saturday was all about focus and the job at hand. I always felt we were going to win."
Exeter will be among a seven-strong English challenge in next season's European Champions Cup, and Chiefs head coach Rob Baxter has underlined how there will be no resting on laurels.
Baxter said: "As great as this (title) is, it can't be the defining thing about Exeter.
"If this is it now, and we are now on a nice downward spiral, I will be hugely disappointed and I will have massively failed in a large part of my job.
"We have got to where we are now, and we will enjoy it to the max, but the truth is we need to put a group of players together this close-season who are going to say 'I am going to do something about the fact we are now the Premiership champions, and do something to make sure it stays that way'.
"Part of that will be us playing and performing better in Europe.
"We have let ourselves down in Europe over the last couple of seasons with our performances in the first round. It should be a marker for us, and we don't want that to happen again."
Source: PA
