Ready for redemption
THE last time Brett Deledio played on the MCG, he thought his career was over.
His former team Richmond had just beaten Greater Western Sydney by six goals in the preliminary final on route to a drought-breaking flag.
As he limped he off the MCG with another achilles tendon injury, his mind was wandering. His former teammates were celebrating a spot in the grand final, a place he never reached in 12 years at Punt Rd.
For most of that time he was one of the Tigers’ best players and for a period clearly their best. Now he was missing out.
Before he made it to the rooms, one of his best mates at the Tigers, Trent Cotchin, came across to console him.
“He’s a good kid, Trent,” Deledio said before the Giants’ clash with Collingwood at the MCG today. “I’ve known him for years prior to him even coming to the Tiges.
“I’ve still got a great connection with a lot of those boys. To get a hug and whatever else off them, it was good because I was obviously hurting.
“I was more disappointed that my body had let me down and I wasn’t able to perform. We weren’t good enough on the day and the rest is history for the Tiges.”
He didn’t watch the grand final — “still haven’t” — and instead took his family to Taronga Zoo.
Deledio had hurt his achilles tendon in the bye week before the finals, but carried it through September. At the zoo, he was wondering whether it was worth playing on.
“It was probably a little bit of embarrassment of how I was playing,” Deledio said.
“It does cross your mind, you think the game’s starting to go past you when you get a bit older and your body is letting yourself down.
“I’m probably being a bit too honest here, but that’s the things that cross your mind.”