Port Adelaide ruckman Scott Lycett reveals he sometimes messages best mate Corey Siemers, who died in 2010
A decade on from the death of best mate, Corey Siemers, Port ruckman Scott Lycett has revealed to The Advertiser he messaged him on grand final day 2018, hours before winning a flag.
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On the morning of his first AFL grand final in 2018, Scott Lycett messaged his best friend, Corey Siemers, seeking inspiration.
“Thinking of you mate. Hopefully you can help me out and are looking down on me,” Lycett recalls writing via Facebook.
The then West Coast ruckman knew there would not be a response – Siemers had died eight years earlier.
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“Sometimes I still message him on Facebook, even though I know I’m not going to get a reply,” Lycett tells The Advertiser.
“I haven’t messaged him for a while but I have messaged him a fair bit. I think the last time was grand final day, 2018.
“It’s just something I do sometimes when I think of him.”
Hours after that grand final day message to Siemers, Lycett won a premiership with West Coast.
“I’m not sure if I wrote back to him after the game – I was in a good place at the time,” Lycett says with a laugh.
Siemers died in June 2010, when he and Lycett were 17 and attending Henley High.
A promising West Adelaide footballer, Siemers was the innocent victim of a drag race and hit by a car while driving in Park Holme.
It happened five months before the national draft, where West Coast selected Lycett from the Port Magpies at pick 29 and Siemers would have been a prospect.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 years,” says Lycett, who is now at Port Adelaide and preparing to play for the All-Stars in Friday night’s Bushfire Relief game.
“I’ve been in the league 10 years at the end of the year – it’s unreal.”
Eyre Peninsula-born Lycett and Barmera-raised Siemers bonded after arriving in Adelaide to play footy and start Year 11 at Henley.
They were meant to catch up on the night of Siemers’ death, speaking on the phone two hours before Lycett got a call telling him about the crash.
A fortnight later, Lycett flew to Melbourne to play a state under-18 championships game against Tasmania on a Friday, returned to Adelaide the next day, then drove to Barmera to deliver a eulogy at Siemers’ Monday funeral.
“He was just like me, came from the country trying to play footy,” Lycett says.
“It was a rough one.”
Lycett not only messages Siemers but also stays in touch with his parents, Gina and Gavin.
“I still call them once every three or four months to see how they’re going and they appreciate it,” he says.
Photos around his house are among Lycett’s constant reminders of Siemers.
Growing a moustache helps the 93-game ruckman keep other mates on his mind.
Several of his friends, including former Port Magpies teammate and dual Sturt Magarey medallist Zane Kirkwood, revealed last year they were battling depression.
Lycett’s facial hair began as a Movember fundraiser but he wanted to keep raising awareness for men’s health so did not shave it.
“People keep asking me if I’m still growing the mo for Movember and I just say that ‘yeah, I am, but Movember isn’t over, men’s mental health is still an issue’,” he says.
“It’s a constant reminder that people need help or need to ask for help.”
Lycett will not only enter the season with a moustache but also the No. 1 ruck mantle at the Power – and more clarity about what is expected of him.
After impressing early last year in combination with Paddy Ryder, Lycett was dropped for Round 20 and spent two matches in the SANFL, raising eyebrows outside of Alberton.
He returned for Port’s final minor round win against Fremantle, which was Ryder’s last game for the club, then had an important post-season review with Ken Hinkley and other coaches.
“We sat down and talked, they got my thoughts on the season and they gave me theirs,” Lycett says.
“People might think it was a bad meeting … but it wasn’t that bad.
“Kenny gave me a couple of things that he thinks I can work on and he asks for some growth areas for himself, and I told him a few things, and then you move on.
“I’ve got no grudges or am holding anything against him.”
Ryder’s departure to St Kilda leaves Lycett as easily Port’s most experienced ruckman.
Peter Ladhams is 22 and has played five games, while Sam Hayes, 20, is untried at AFL level.
“I loved having 12 months with Paddy – he’s a really good bloke, a really good player and we actually got pretty close,” Lycett says.
“Towards the end of the year we had chats and he said he was going to move on.
“I didn’t really think too much about myself, but now that he’s not here … it’s a bit different because he brings that experience and leadership.
“I’ll try to take on a bit of that responsibility and try to give these young guys a bit of knowledge.”
Lycett will have a new ruck partner this Friday – Collingwood ruckman Brodie Grundy, who he will be pairing with for the All-Stars against Victoria at Marvel Stadium.
Playing in that game means Lycett will miss Port’s 150th anniversary gala dinner that night.
“It’s an honour to say I was an old Magpie and also I’m going to be helping Port Adelaide footy club celebrate 150 years in footy,” he says.
In retirement, Lycett says he will look back fondly on Port’s “pretty special year”.
In June, he will pause to reflect on 10 years without his mate.
“I still think about Corey a fair bit,” Lycett says.
“He could potentially be where I am right now.”