Ex-Dee serious in search for finals

LYNDEN Dunn can see the funny side of the debate he was inadvertently drawn into during the week, but it is one he hopes to change.

His Collingwood teammate Taylor Adams said on radio Dunn was relishing his new club because “he had not been a part of a successful team”. His former Melbourne teammate Bernie Vince fired back, saying the Magpies had missed the past three finals series.

The banter amused Dunn ahead of today’s Queen’s Birthday clash where his football present and past collide, and where his first AFL coach, Neale Daniher, will continue to inspire, with the Big Freeze.

“[Adams] was trying to look after me and pump me up a bit, and maybe his words came out wrong. Then ‘Bern’ had his say, but it was all in good fun,” he said. “It will be nice to get out there and play footy.”

Dunn does not escape the reality that finals football is the itch he needs to scratch after 13 seasons and 171 matches in a career defined by hard work.

No current AFL player has played as much footy as he has without playing a final.

The closest he came was as an emergency in Melbourne’s last finals appearance in 2006.

“It’s not a stat I am proud about, but it is a reality,” the 30-year-old said. “I really want to play finals footy.

“I wouldn’t change a thing about my time at Melbourne. It helped shape the man I have become today and I will always be proud to call myself a Melbourne person for life. But having come across the road to the Holden Centre, everyone has embraced me and my family.

“We’ve got players here at the moment who have tasted the ultimate success and want to taste it again. We have players who have never played finals and that is what drives them every day.”