Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge hands his medal to injured captain Bob Murphy in 2016. Photo: AFL MEDIA
Every year an AFL grand final brings heartache, not just for the losing team, but for the players that don’t get selected to play.
The week leading up to the big game we speculate who will be in the team, and when it is finally revealed, it’s the heartbreaking omissions who stand out. We hear the hard luck stories, but we move on quickly, all eyes on who will be there, those who missed completely separated.
This year will be no different. When Geelong beat Brisbane last Saturday night, Gary Ablett and teammates went over and hugged the Cats’ players not part of the 22 waiting in the race after the game.
There was heightened emotions, of course, Geelong had just made another grand final after years of pulling up short. The Cats knew they had done this as a group. But most of those standing there in that race knew they wouldn’t be playing in the biggest occasion of all.
On a side note, I don’t think it matters who you barrack for, to see Ablett, a champion of the game, play his last game in a grand final must make everyone smile.
It has been a phenomenal career, 356 games and two premierships with Geelong in 2007 and 2009. On Saturday, he has a shot at a third. He has given this game so much, it just seems fitting to me.
Last Friday, as Richmond qualified for a third grand final in four years, we also saw Mabior Chol jumping up and down, completely elated that the Tigers had made it again, with a chance to win a third premiership in a dominant period.
There’s a pretty good chance Chol won’t play. I hope he does. But his obvious joy said that he, too, was part of that moment and part of the achievement of Richmond getting there once again. All of those Richmond players, even those not out on the ground, felt that same connection.
This season we have seen players move their families, indeed their whole lives, to other states to live in hubs. Their whole worlds have been their teammates and their coaches.
In Richmond’s case, there were several players who stepped up to replace senior players, like Shane Edwards and Bachar Houli, who initially stayed home, rightfully, to enjoy the births of their beautiful children.
Shane and Bachar would later join the hub to play senior football. Both are wonderful and important players to Richmond, and of course absolutely deserve to be there playing in the grand final. But would they have that chance this week had less senior teammates not stepped into the breach for them?
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I’m of the school of thought that the players that help get their team there and are not selected to play nonetheless still deserve a premiership medal on Saturday if their team wins.
I’ve thought and talked about it for years. And I feel like this year it really should be the case, because so much more has been sacrificed by so many to make the season happen.
A few moments in the history of our game stand out to me. Like when Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge gave his injured captain Bob Murphy his premiership medal on the podium in 2016.
I remember how the football community embraced this moment. It just seemed right, and still does to this day.
There were 17 other players who contributed throughout that premiership year for the Bulldogs, and it would have been nice to see them get one, too. That’s not having a go at Bob or Luke, two of the nicest humans you could ever meet. I just wish the others did. And I wish it was the case every year.
What about Derek Kickett, who played in every game for Essendon in 1993 before being dropped for the grand final? I’m not saying a premiership medal would have fixed the hurt that came with this decision. But Derek helped get his side there in the first place. He should have one.
Or, say, Leon Davis? He played 20 games for Collingwood throughout 2010, including the memorable drawn grand final against St Kilda, but was omitted from the Magpie line-up which clinched the flag in the following week’s replay.
Sure, Leon didn’t have a great grand final. But he did kick a crucial goal at the start of the last quarter of that amazing drawn game. Without that, Collingwood wouldn’t have even had the chance to win a replay. And he and Kickett are only two of literally dozens of similar examples.
Take a look at other sports who do this. Like the NBA, which gives a championship ring to all members of the organisation.
Not just the starting players, but the reserve players, the coaching staff and the administration. The NBA fully appreciates and acknowledges that everyone involved plays a role in making that championship happen.
Major soccer leagues do this as well. The efforts of all players, whether they have played five games or 30, are acknowledged in helping their team to the top.
The AFL should follow in those footsteps and reassess the way we single out the players on only one day.
Stop making it just about those 22. They may be the ones who win it on the day, but they certainly didn’t get there by themselves. It’s time to acknowledge every player on the list who helped make a premiership possible.
