I rate it as the second-hardest message. The hardest is informing a young player that he's been cut from the list and that his whole career is ending at that point.
Missing out on a grand final is gut wrenching, but if you have a future at the club there is always next year and a chance you’ll play in another grand final - it might only be a slim hope but it’s better than none.
At Port Adelaide in 1999, we were gearing up to play our first-ever AFL final and in the last moments of the preparation before the game we decided to make a change to the team.
We left out Bowen Lockwood, a young player in our side, and he was extremely disappointed because we’d only really made the change because he was tall and slim and we were playing North Melbourne, who went on to win the premiership, and it was pouring with rain and muddy.
We brought Stuart Dew in instead and he kicked the first goal for us and played pretty well. It was probably the right move, but even to this day Bowen would reflect on that moment and the missed opportunity.
Listening to Mick Malthouse and Ross Lyon speak at the AFL Coaches Association dinner on Tuesday night it seems like St Kilda will go right to the wire with its selection.
I’m thinking Steven Baker might come in as a very late change. I think that would be a good thing for the club and would add a little bit of spice to the contest early on in the game.
In contrast, Mick said he’s going to try and tell the 22 players that are playing on Saturday as early in the week as possible. I think he knows it is sound practice for the 22 to be calm and confident that they’ve got their positions in the team set.
He’ll also talk to the 23rd, 24th and 25th players in the squad about their preparation and how they need to approach the day given the situation with Luke Ball. You would anticipate that there’ll be some doubt on him right up until the last warm-up.
In 2004, prior to our grand final against the Brisbane Lions we had a lot of anxiety over our selection. The side had been playing well for three years, but one of our major players, Brendon Lade, was under a cloud with a back injury.
We gave him all the time during the week to prepare and waited until the morning of the game to make the call.
We gave Ladey a fitness test out on the field in front of our hotel.
Thankfully, he passed and the physios and doctors did a great job to get him through the game.
Brett Ebert, Damon White and Stuart Cochrane were our emergencies that day and they all reflect on their near-grand final experience. I’m sure they see it as a missed opportunity and one that they’ll never be able to get back.
When the club celebrates the 10-year anniversary of that grand final win in a few years time those guys will feel so close, but still removed from the fact that they weren’t part of it on the day, which brings me to my next point.
I think the AFL should consider awarding premiership medals to more than just the 22 players who play in the winning grand final side.
This season it took 11 wins (and percentage) to reach the final eight, so you could argue that any Collingwood or St Kilda player, who has played in 11 wins has contributed to the club’s success and should therefore be presented with a medal.
You could argue the Pies won 17 games to secure top spot on the AFL ladder and the Saints 15 to finish third, so that should be the number of wins required by players at either club to warrant a premiership medal.
It may only apply to one or two players, like Ball if he fails to come up, but those players certainly deserve some recognition.
They won’t get the recognition that they played on grand final day, but receiving a medal is a pretty sound and justifiable second prize.
And my tip… Pies in a close one.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
