THE final siren went and the crowd erupted! I got caught up in the excitement and the emotion and ran into the huddle to celebrate, and then I remembered what happened the previous week. Wary of another one of Tadhg’s celebratory kisses, I decided to stay at arms length of him in all the revelry. However, Tadhg had his eyes set on Kirky. I couldn’t be sure as there were players everywhere, but I suspect Tadhg landed one on Kirky!

This game was different from the others, and not just because Lewis Jetta kicked a goal. At three quarter time I took a quick glance at the score board to check the scores. It is not unusual to see updates from other games going on around the country, but a political update with Liberal vs Labor progressive scores wasn’t expected. And probably for the first time ever, Roosy beat Kirky in a lap of the SCG, albeit in their lap honour at the end of the game.

It was a great team performance but there were individuals that stood out too. Dan Hannebery’s ability to back up after last week’s performance and play another exceptional game was incredible.

Rhyce Shaw now seems to mark better with one arm than two. Jude Bolton can’t make a cricket ball turn or swing, but it seems apparent he has mastered the ability to turn a football.

However, the night belonged to Roos and Kirk, and justifiably so.

On Saturday morning in the newspaper I read in awe of what the 15 opposition captains in the competition had said of their experiences of playing against Brett Kirk. Usually when a player retires it’s his teammates who are quoted and understandably so. However, never before had I seen each AFL club captain asked their opinion of a player. Not one of the captains declined to comment.

Words such as “mental toughness”, “respect”, “passion”, “resilience” and “leadership” were common themes. These words have nothing to do with athletic ability or level of skill and can only be developed from game after game, year after year, consistently performing each attribute. Every player would aspire to be viewed and remembered for every one of these qualities when they retire, but this is simply not the case.
 
Of all the captains, I thought Collingwood’s Nick Maxwell gave the greatest compliment:

“It would be hard to argue with anyone who said Brett Kirk was the most respected player in the history of the game.”

I’m not arguing with that person either!