AN UNGUARDED MOMENT

THE TEARS IN DAD’S EYES ARE THE TEARS OF A MAN WHO DROVE HIMSELF THROUGH TWO DECADES OF AFL FOOTBALL IN PURSUIT OF THE MEDALS HANGING AROUND OUR NECKS. THE TEARS IN OUR EYES ARE THOSE OF TWO BOYS WHO’VE JUST STEPPED OUT OF THE SHADOW OF A SPORTING GREAT AND RIGHTED A WRONG.”

TWILIGHT

is approaching on Saturday, September, 29, 2007.

Like so many times before, I sit in front of my locker, exhausted but exhilarated from winning a big game.

Our team meeting is over, our song has been sung. But today is different from all those other games.

It is different to every other day of my life.

Today the Geelong

Football Club has put an end to 44 years of longing, wiping away decades of heartbreak and pain.

I look around the room trying to soak it all in, trying to capture memories that will last a lifetime.

I watch the happiness and pride in the faces of 21 other men, some of my best friends, men I admire and respect.

Men who are now AFL premiership players.

The hours preceding this moment have passed in a blur, our journey together up the Melbourne Cricket Ground tunnel folding into a deep roar from the crowd that carries us through four quarters of football that rewrite Geelong’s history.

Now the locker room is filling with coaches, support staff, fans and well-wishers, people whose faces tell stories of happiness and relief.

I look at my brother Nathan, who has kicked three goals and taken his game to another level. He’s absorbed the pressures and expectations of the football world and delivered when it mattered most.

There is a beaming smile on Nathan’s face. Joy radiates from him. We’ve finally achieved the very thing we set out to do when we were young boys chasing each other around the backyard.

My concentration is broken when one of the team trainers approaches, puts a gentle hand on my shoulder and says, “Hey Gary, your dad’s just outside the rooms. Do you want to go out now and say hello to him?”

I’m immediately up on my feet and start walking towards the door, where my father is waiting.

Even from a distance I can see that he’s getting teary, and I call Nath across for what will become one of the most significant moments of our lives.

The tears in Dad’s eyes are the tears of a man who drove himself through two decades of AFL football in pursuit of the medals hanging around our necks.

The tears in our eyes are those of two boys who’ve just stepped out of the shadow of a sporting great and righted a wrong.

They’re tears of pride.

12 YEARS LATER

IF

YOU believe Geelong is still in the premiership window and you can still contribute, then why not have one more crack?

Those were my father’s words of encouragement as I sat down to weigh up the pros and cons of entering the 2020 pre-season campaign, and playing one more year in search of a third premiership.

In terms of playing on for my 19th AFL season, there was a lot to consider.

One potential scenario was retirement. In the rooms after the preliminary final loss to Richmond, disappointed and sore after another big final, I had the chance to reflect deeply on an opportunity missed.

It was an emotional time for me in the rooms that night.

I reflected on two decades in the game, and what I’d put my body through for the best part of those two decades.

My remaining football dream was a late-career premiership to go out on top, and I felt like 2019 was the year.

I believed we had the team to get there, but we missed our opportunity.

Going on for another season was a big commitment, and I needed the input of those closest to me.

As I was sitting in the rooms, pondering my future, my father came in for a chat and, as is often the case when we’re together in those scenarios, the cameras immediately turned towards us to film the moment.

The TV commentators speculated that fans might have been witnessing a symbolic moment in which I told Dad that I couldn’t play on, and that he’d just watched my last AFL game.

Truth be told, I hadn’t made a decision at the time and knew it required consideration when my emotions had levelled out.

I knew the club would want a decision from me eventually, but they said

I could take plenty of time to think about it.

I didn’t want to rush the decision, and I needed to have conversations about how it would work with people whose opinions I respect.

Because my dad had been through this, I sought his opinion. And I also talked it through with (wife) Jordan, who’d already made so many sacrifices to support me in my career.

The biggest question I need to answer was whether I could