Every child’s dream is to play on that one day in September.
The bubbling desire for glory is the petrol that fuels all teams and players.
Players like 426-game Hawthorn star Michael Tuck have been fortunate enough to win seven premierships, while other players like St Kilda Legend Trevor Barker, didn’t even get to run out in a final across his 230-game career.
*Editor's note: This article was originally written the week before the 2021 AFL Grand Final.
The Nathan Jones story is a particularly heart-breaking one. Captain for six-years, three-time Keith ‘Bluey’ Truscott Medallist, 302 games, 198 losses and one admirable decision to fly home back to Melbourne and be with his wife for the birth of twins. A choice that is likely to leave a lump in the throat of any footy lover.
As a man who did so much for a club when they needed a leader, Jones now won’t be able to join in the potential success of breaking the 57-year drought he worked his backside to topple.
Sport is unquestionably hard, and that is why we love it.
Only a matter of days before one club tastes September glory, we are looking at some of the unluckiest grand final stories in history, and the players behind them.
12. Roy Simmonds - Hawthorn (1950-1961)
Akin to the Nathan Jones fable, Roy Simmonds was a beloved clubman for Hawthorn from 1950-1961.
Simmons finished in the top three of the Hawks best and fairest seven years in a row between 1951-57, but just when 'Kennedy’s Commandos' were gathering steam for a premiership tilt in 1961, Simmonds hurt a disc in his back ten-pin bowling and narrowly missed selection in the 1961 side.
He retired shortly after.
