Finals #2 - Big game player
Whilst he is only at base-camp in terms of his ascension, Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe’s Dusty-esque performances in his first four finals have him being spoken about as the next incarnation of the ‘big game player’.
There's no better title a player can carry than 'big game player'.
Not All-Australian, not even Brownlow Medallist.
You will never be introduced as such, unlike any of the above, accolades the recipients carry with them for the rest of their lives. It would be rare that Swans champ Bobby Skilton would be introduced as anything other than ‘Triple Brownlow Medalist Bob Skilton’ since he won his third medal way back in 1968.
To be known as a ‘big game player’ means you are respected. No, it's even more than that. It means that you are trusted in the moments that matter by the people who know when it matters most.
And for all the discussion and noise in our game, mostly opinion trying to present itself as something more, the people who know, know the people who count.
And it is only the people who know who can bestow the title, never screamed out loud, assigned in hushed tones, and acknowledged with a slow nod of the head by those who also know.
“Player X is a ‘big game player’”.
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The first player I can remember being called a ‘big game player’ was Richmond superstar Royce Hart.
The talent of Royce was there for all to see and marvel at. But what made him special was that the best of this was on display in those moments that mattered in the games that simply meant more.
The words were spoken by his coach Tommy Hafey, and endorsed and echoed by my father Alan, who was Secretary of the Tigers during this era.
I heard them again when the great Tiger team came together for the 50-Year celebration of their all-conquering 1974 Premiership Victory, which coincided with the final game of the game’s standard bearer in terms of this nomenclature, another Tiger number 4, superstar Dustin Martin.
Such were Dusty’s achievements: three Norm Smith Medals as best on ground in Premiership victories, and whilst his Brownlow Medal sits in undisputed recognition of his sensational 2017 season, it is the ‘Norm Smiths’ that define his career, and forever will.
It is the ‘big game player’ summit, unlikely to be reached again.
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Whilst he is only at base-camp in terms of his ascension, Hawks midfielder Jai Newcombe’s Dusty-esque performances in his first four finals have him being spoken about as the next incarnation of the ‘big game player’.
He's four-for-four, rated by Champion Data as the highest-rated player on the ground in every final he's played.
Whilst Jai is earning his place in this lineage, he would understand the title is not something you claim, but something you become, and he, like the team itself, is still in the process of becoming.
And there is no better game to prove what they have become than tonight on the MCG, a Preliminary Final against a formidable rival, Geelong.
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Legendary Hockey coach Ric Charlesworth understood the value and importance of the ‘big game player’, not only as a characteristic to be admired, but an essential for success.
"The best teams are replete with athletes who make the right choice at the right time for the right reason."
But then he adds what really matters: "They choose the right time to utilise their gifts."
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Finals football doesn't reveal character - it requires it.
The month of September asks different questions than March, April, May, etc. Those months ask: Can you play? September asks: Can you access the best of what you bring when it matters most?
For some, the second question is paralysing. For others, it's liberation.
For Jai Newcombe and his four finals and four best on grounds, it is not a coincidence.
It is identity.
Jai, you are a ‘big game player’.
The highest identity the game can bestow.
Play on!
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