After a couple of false starts, grand final opportunity finally beckons for Geelong\u2019s Max Holmes. Photos: GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n
Geelong had long since wrapped up its preliminary final win over Hawthorn last Friday night, but it was only with just three minutes left on the clock that Max Holmes could finally relax.<\/p>\n
His number came up on the board to rotate off. If he could make it to the bench without incident, he\u2019d finally get to play in a grand final. It was a nice moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cGryan Miers was sitting on the bench, and he\u2019s one of my good mates at the club,\u201d said Holmes, speaking to ESPN in the rooms after the game. \u201cHe got up and gave me a big old hug and we smiled at each other for a couple of seconds. It was a pretty good feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n
And why would Holmes have taken his grand final ticket as a given after having been robbed of the opportunity in crushing circumstances not just once, but twice?<\/p>\n
In 2022, he twinged a hamstring in the Cats\u2019 preliminary final thumping of Brisbane, and despite training solidly during the week, was not selected for the big one against Sydney, coach Chris Scott taking no chances on the fitness front. It didn\u2019t go down well.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was a younger player who wasn\u2019t as influential in the team, and at the time I was pissed with \u2018Scotty\u2019, Holmes said on Monday. \u201cNow I can understand why he did what he did, and I respect that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last September, however, presented some unwanted d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu, when with Geelong again having the upper hand on Brisbane in a preliminary final and a now more experienced and valuable Holmes the most damaging player on the ground, a hamstring niggle forced him off again, and eventually to be subbed out of the game.<\/p>\n
Those closest to the 23-year-old insist, however, he would have been right to go on grand final day. And given how easily Brisbane accounted for Sydney after scraping over the line against the Cats, it\u2019s not too great a stretch to suggest it was a niggle which may have cost both he and his club another flag.<\/p>\n
For a player who\u2019d missed barely a game across the past four seasons to that point, it was cruel luck indeed. And now a fine young man who has barely put a foot wrong his entire sporting life, be it as a junior athlete or footballer, as much as any player taking the field on Saturday, deserves a lick of the ice-cream.<\/p>\n
Why the character reference? OK, disclosure time. I\u2019ve known Max since he was a five-year-old kid starting school with my own son, David. Max\u2019s mum, former Olympic runner Lee Naylor, used to walk the pair home to her place, from where I\u2019d pick David up.<\/p>\n
PLEASE HELP US CONTINUE TO THRIVE BY BECOMING AN OFFICIAL FOOTYOLOGY PATRON. JUST CLICK THIS LINK.<\/a> <\/p>\n I was privy to one of \u201cthose\u201d moments, when as Lee and I shared a coffee out on the verandah, I witnessed the seven-year-old Holmes drilling the most perfect lace-out short passes at David\u2019s chest, and the sort of clean ball-handling you\u2019d be impressed by with an 18-year-old, let alone a kid in Grade 2.<\/p>\n He handled himself pretty well in front of a camera even then, too, as I discovered when I \u201cvoxpopped\u201d him for The Age out the front of the MCG on grand final day in 2010. Eight-year-old Max, with his dad Anthony, was decked out in the red-white-and-black of St Kilda as the Saints took on Collingwood. <\/p>\n Why was St Kilda going to win? \u201cBecause Collingwood (the 2010 version) haven\u2019t played in a grand final and St Kilda have \u2026 Nick Riewoldt\u2019s going to kick all the goals,\u201d said little Max. Well, given it took the Pies two games to win it, he was nearly right.<\/p>\n Just going through some old video stuff. Here’s me doing voxpops for The Age before the 2010 AFL Grand Final between Collingwood & St Kilda, and who should I stumble upon but newly-crowned Geelong best and fairest winner but then enthusiastic 8yo Saints fan Max Holmes! \ud83d\ude02 pic.twitter.com\/oCcc12xxa0<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Rohan Connolly (@rohan_connolly) October 10, 2024<\/a><\/p>\n Of course the genes and natural ability have helped. But Holmes is a kid who never gets ahead of himself. Indeed, there\u2019s a lovely sense of self-deprecation which isn\u2019t always a trademark of young stars in their early 20s.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I say I\u2019ve really worked hard on a few things I get laughed at by the other players,\u201d he chuckles. \u201cThey think I\u2019m a bit lax, a bit slack sometimes. Joel (Selwood) used to call me \u2018Slacksy\u2019.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019d say it\u2019s just understanding the game a bit more. You\u2019re always learning stuff. The more experience you get, the more you learn. The more situations you\u2019re put in, the more work you do, the more you learn.\u201d<\/p>\n So, third time lucky for Holmes grabbing that premiership medallion? Well, getting to the end of the grand final spot playoff in one piece was a major hurdle cleared. <\/p>\n And given how well the Cats have prepared for this opportunity, and the stunning preliminary final form of skipper Patrick Dangerfield and Bailey Smith, another big finals performance from Geelong\u2019s reigning best and fairest as well might be one too many weapons for the Lions to handle.<\/p>\n Having just played his 100th game, only 23, and with a good decade of potentially great football ahead of him, you\u2019d think there\u2019ll be more premiership opportunities for Holmes yet. But even this first one is overdue. And perhaps, for the preliminary final hard luck story, the biggest hurdle might already have been cleared.<\/p>\n This article first appeared at ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t