Every childโs 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, didnโt 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 โBlueyโ 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 wonโt 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.
2. Ben McGlynn - Hawthorn/Sydney (2006-2016)
Facing the axe before the most important moment in your footballing career is a bitter pill to swallow.
Knowing you are an integral part of the team, yet on the sidelines with injury, is like swallowing a chainsaw.
Ben McGlynn arrived at Hawthorn in 2005 and fought hard to get a spot in a dominant side starved of success. Made to watch from the stands as his side won their first flag since 1991, McGlynn knew he needed a change of scenery and was traded to Sydney at the end of 2009 with Josh Kennedy.
After 38 games between 2010-11, McGlynn had made a strong impression and missed only one game leading into the 2012 qualifying final, this was until his hamstring gave away and McGlynn missed another opportunity to win a premiership.
McGlynn described the bitterness that engulfed him in 2012 was exacerbated when his Swans lost the 2014 Grand Final to his former team. Fighting through injuries in 2015, McGlynnโs fairy-tale evaporated in 2016 when the Swans lost another Grand Final, this time to the Western Bulldogs.
Footy is a bloody cruel game.
