Collingwood defender Brayden Maynard has admitted that he has often thought about the 2018 Grand Final, believing that he should have been rewarded a free kick for a block by West Coast's Willie Rioli, in what proved to be a pivotal moment in the premiership decider.
The moment certainly hasn't been forgotten by many, judging by Maynard's perspective.
“It’s funny, sometimes I’ll just be walking down the street and I’ll just hear a ‘you were blocked Maynard!’ I look around and go, ‘oh bloody hell,’” Maynard told The Age.
The incident in question garnered a massive outcry in the following days, with many agreeing with Maynard's view that the 22-year-old should have been rewarded a free kick, rather than the mark being paid to Eagle Dom Sheed.
Sheed would famously go on to kick the winning goal to land the Eagles their first premiership since 2006.
Maynard has had time to process and relive the experience since then, and has experienced a range of emotions.
“In the moment I didn’t really think much of it. When I rewatched the grand final I did rewatch that part, and feel like I did get blocked but you can’t do anything about it now. Hopefully this year is the year. It was pretty disappointing," Maynard said.
“It was pretty crazy. I was only in my fourth year. I was still young. I kind of just let it go, and didn’t think much of it. Months after the grand final was when I started to think about it more, because it kept popping up on vision, in the grand final replay.
