He was in the Dunedin team that lost the title to Taieri in the final minute last year.
''It feels better, because of what we went through last year,'' he said.
''You have got to lose one to really know what it is like to win it.
''To go so close last year and walk away with nothing hurt. It gave us the motivation in the final minutes to go to get up off the ground and keep working.''
It was Anderson-Heather's fifth final but his first as captain. He will be back for more next year.
He was the standout player in the game with his ability to drive forward with the ball in hand to test the defence.
''In this team, you know that if you carry the ball hard you have faith in the boys to get in behind you and clean those guys out,'' Anderson-Heather said.
''If I can do my job, it is one less thing for the other boys to worry about.''
Anderson-Heather (25) captained junior teams when he was growing up in Hawkes Bay. But this was the first time he captained a team in the seven years he has been in Dunedin.
The Dunedin team took stock at halftime and devised a plan to take the initiative away from Taieri in the second spell.
''We had played 40 minutes of footie and hadn't fired a shot,'' Anderson-Heather said.
''We did not want to go out without giving it our all.
''We tweaked some of our tactics and held on to the ball and it paid off for us.''
In the first half, Dunedin had played the same way on attack and wanted to get Taieri chasing Dunedin around the corner.
''In the second half, we used our switch-back plays and kicked the ball away less,''Anderson-Heather said.
''We knew that if we could hold on to the ball for long periods, they would get frustrated and make errors.
''We've had a good pack at Shark Park every year. It's something Dunedin has been renowned for.''
Anderson-Heather also praised the Dunedin backline.
''Those young boys in the backs stood up against quality opposition today,'' he said.
It was the fifth time that coach Ed Baker had taken his Dunedin team to the final and it was his second banner.
The Dunedin policeman has done his dash after eight years - two with Harbour and six with Dunedin - of coaching premier rugby teams and will have a rest next year.
He gave confidence to the Dunedin team with his analysis of the game at halftime.
''We wanted to play our own game by using a bit of width, which we did in the second spell and it opened up the game for our forwards,'' Baker said.
''These guys showed a lot of heart and desire to dig in deep and pull the game back from out of the fire. That's where it was,'' Baker said.
''We were looking at defeat at halftime.''
