Being dropped for a grand final after playing the entire season is one of the more heartbreaking experiences a player can go through. Just ask Derek Kickett.
Kickett was controversially dropped from Essendon's team for the 1993 grand final after a poor finals series. His omission saw him walk out on the Bombers and point the blame solely at coach Kevin Sheedy.
History shows that the Bombers won the flag, with Kickett's replacement, Dean Wallis, exerting his usual physical presence.
Kickett was subsequently picked up by the Sydney Swans where he played 68 games over three seasons. Three years after his grand final heartbreak, his last AFL game was the 1996 grand final, which the Swans lost to North Melbourne.
As far as anyone knows, he still has not spoken to Sheedy in the 17 years that have passed.
What he said: "Personally, I hate his guts." - Bomber-turned-Swan Derek Kickett on the eve of his first match against Essendon in 1994.
CROWS FLY APART
Andrew McLeod and Tyson Edwards played in Adelaide's 1997 and 1998 premiership sides. They share a unique record of being the only pair of players in the history of the VFL-AFL to line up on the same field in more than 300 games.
They were also close friends until a series of events involving their wives and tennis star Lleyton Hewitt forced a wedge between the two Crows stars.
The falling out went unnoticed by all but their closest teammates as the Crows made it to two consecutive preliminary finals as the rift deepened.
Both players retired in 2010, with the friendship a distant memory. The professional relationship remained as successful as they come.
What he said: "They are still there - and everyone can see they can play in the same team. That is a credit to both guys. And they have both had a gutful of the continued attention that moment attracts." - Adelaide chairman Bill Sanders, 2009.
HARDIE DONE BY
Brad Hardie will probably go down in history as the last man to ever win a Brownlow Medal in his first year of AFL football. That was 1985, Hardie's debut season with a Footscray team which made the preliminary final.
By the following year, things had soured for the Dogs. They slipped to eighth on the ladder and Hardie and coach Mick Malthouse were not seeing eye to eye.
The situation reached its lowpoint in a game late in the season when Hardie was dragged by Malthouse. The flame-haired defender peeled off his jumper, waved it agitatedly at his coach and hurled it away in disgust.
He still won the Dogs' best and fairest that season but was off to the newly formed Brisbane Bears the following season.
What he said: "The bloke is a tosser. That's my feeling on him." - Brad Hardie, after missing a spot in Mick Malthouse's greatest team he had coached, 2010.
THE OLD BULLS
Not all feuds are between players and coaches. Some are kept exclusively for coaches, as shown by a very public argument between Kevin Sheedy (that man again) and former Blue, Lions, Bears and Tigers coach Robert Walls.
Their rivalry stretches back to their playing days when Walls was at Carlton and Sheedy at Richmond and went right through both their coaching careers.
It reached its peak in early 2001 when Sheedy and Walls traded barbs on radio after Sheedy responded to criticism of his coaching by intimating that Walls was a 'sniper' in his playing days.
Sheedy appeared alongside Walls on Channel 7 show Talking Footy two days later where they continued their war of words before eventually shaking hands in a truce that was hardly permanent.
What he said: "Clearly, in the end, two of his clubs (Fitzroy and Brisbane Bears) have gone broke and are out of existence." - Kevin Sheedy, 2007.
A LETHAL ENDING
In the early part of the decade it seemed the Brisbane Lions could do no wrong, winning premiership after premiership.
Jason Akermanis was a crucial part of their glorious run, winning a Brownlow Medal and booting five goals in a premiership side. Then it all went pear-shaped.
The Lions started to lose a few games and Akermanis' individualism stood out more in a losing team. Matthews was not happy with Akermanis' tendency to speak out of turn and he was soon out of Brisbane.
He moved to the Western Bulldogs and enjoyed a couple of solid years before an eerily similar downfall brought an end to his glittering AFL career.
What he said: "Bottom line: this is the second club in four years that has turfed him mid-season. You only do that if you think, 'We've got to get him out of the place'." - Leigh Matthews after Jason Akermanis was cut by the Bulldogs.
THE HOLY TRINITY
This one wasn't exactly a three-way spat but 10 years on from Malcolm Blight's appointment and axing as St Kilda coach, it's fair to say not one of Blight, Rod Butterss or Grant Thomas would be on the greatest of terms with the other two.
Blight was axed by Saints president Butterss and football director Thomas - who later became his replacement - towards the end of his first year in charge of the Saints after coming to the club in a blaze of publicity before the 2001 season.
Blight hit out strongly at Butterss in 2008 after the former president questioned Blight's ability to coach. This happened to be two years after Thomas had also been shown the door by Butterss, who had fallen out heavily with his former close friend.
What he said: "I couldn't give a rat's tossbag whether he thought I could coach or whether anyone thinks I can coach or can play." - Malcolm Blight on Rod Butterss, 2008.
SAM HAS A CRACK
Sam Newman and Peter 'Crackers' Keenan have both built media careers by looking at football with a sense of humour.
But neither of them were laughing in May, 2002, when Newman announced on The Footy Show that Geelong's ruck problems at the time were due to Keenan's influence on big men Steven King and Peter Street.
Not one to back away from a fight, Keenan was set to launch legal action before offering to sort out their differences in the ring. Newman was initially reluctant to escalate the matter but eventually agreed.
The end result was a boxing match in front of a small crowd with Keenan coming out the winner.
What he said: "Crackers is a fool and to see a man like Steven King being reined under his wing is just a disgrace to the football world. In the interest of the club please leave and give Steven King a chance to resurrect his career. He (Keenan) is an imposter. He stands on the boundary, knows nothing and thinks he knows everything.'' - Sam Newman, 2002.
AN ALMIGHTY BLUE
Carlton was in deep trouble in 2006. It was about to finish dead last for the second consecutive year and the knives were out for coach Denis Pagan.
Assistant coach Barry Mitchell was a former Carlton player and had some influential former teammates in positions of power at Optus Oval.
A push was made by a group headed by Carlton premiership player Fraser Brown to oust Pagan and replace him in the senior role with Mitchell.
Pagan didn't take too kindly to that idea and promptly severed all contact with Mitchell, forcing him to occupy an office on the opposite side of Optus Oval so that the two didn't cross paths.
Mitchell left at the end of the year to coach VFL team Box Hill while Pagan stayed on, only to be axed at the midway point of 2007.
What he said: "All I did was speak to the board for 15 minutes, that's all I did. I didn't ask to speak to the board, I didn't push myself to speak to them." - Barry Mitchell, 2006.
TIGERS EATING THEIR OWN
When Richmond axed favourite son Kevin Bartlett at the end of 1991 it was an ugly departure and one that stuck with Bartlett for years afterwards.
He famously refused to attend any Richmond functions until every last person involved in his axing had left the club.
He remained true to his word and 16 years passed before he reacquainted himself with his yellow and black family.
What he said: "No, no apprehension whatsoever. I mean I was there for 27 years so I think I know the place pretty well." - Kevin Bartlett ahead of his long-awaited return to Richmond, 2007.
THE POWER TO WIN
Port Adelaide had developed an unfortunate reputation as chokers when they failed to convert two consecutive minor premierships to flags in 2002-03.
So incensed was club sponsor Allan Scott that after the Power went down to Collingwood in the 2003 preliminary final that he declared the team would never win a premiership while Mark Williams was coach.
A year later, two moments were etched into football history as the Power claimed the flag - Williams walking the boundary line holding his tie up like a noose to mock the choking jibes and taking to the premiership podium to deliver the message "Allan Scott, you were wrong!".
What he said: "Everyone was talking about us being chokers and not being able to deliver. To the credit of the players and staff, no one was fulfilled, no one was satisfied and they just kept going at it." - Mark Williams, 2009.
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL.
