GWS star Brett Deledio is no longer a prisoner of Richmond’s success or his failing body
GWS veteran Brett Deledio could feel like having a ‘whinge and bitch and moan’. But a family tragedy has given him perspective as he battles to fight on in his AFL career.
Chronic injury and the Richmond Tigers.
These are the two pieces of mental baggage which 18 months ago pushed GWS veteran Brett Deledio to the brink of packing it all up and quitting the AFL for good.
Deledio’s latest calf setback has robbed him of a rematch against his old club, Richmond, who won their historic flag the season he left as one of their favourite sons for a fresh start in Sydney.
But despite the same demoralising cocktail of emotions associated with his body and identity conspiring to resurface again this week, Deledio now refuses to feel sorry for himself.
Early last year, his family was left devastated when sister-in-law Sara, lost her battle with brain cancer.
Tragedy struck again just a few months later, when Sara’s little two-year-old boy, Alfie, also had his life cruelly taken by a rare form of brain cancer.
Deledio is still desperately chasing that elusive flag and has not given up on proving he can play on again in the AFL next year.
But never again will these concerns rule his life.
“You think footy is everything to you and you put so much into it. But in the bigger picture, when someone is fighting cancer and they have absolutely no say over it, especially a little boy, mate it’s unfair,” said Deledio.
“I can whinge and bitch and moan about how bad my calves have been, and yeah, I was unlucky that I left a club and then they went on to win a flag.
“Mate, that’s nothing in comparison to losing your life or losing loved ones.
“On the back of moving up here, being injured, my old club winning … it certainly gave me a bit of a kick up the ass to be honest.
“Stop worrying about such small picture things and focus on cherishing what you’ve got.
“I’m incredibly grateful for my wife’s health, and for my two daughters’ health.
“We’ve had some pretty ordinary things happen in my wife’s family, with Sara and Alfie … the biggest thing is perspective and your outlook on life.”
CAREER REGRETS?
After barely missing a game for most of his 12 seasons at Richmond, Deledio has managed just 16 matches in three years at the Giants.
Despite his cursed run — Deledio is adamant he does not regret his move to Sydney, only his reaction to Richmond winning without him.
“It’s been huge for Katie and myself as a couple more than anything,” said Deledio, who hopes to only miss two weeks with this latest injury.
“We haven’t had any support up here … but we’ve worked it out and learnt how to grow and lean on each other and it’s another chapter to our story.
“I was disappointed in the way I handled all of that (he escaped to Toronga Zoo instead of watching the grand final). I didn’t know how else to handle it. I didn’t know how to remove myself from it.
“(Over time) I started to realise that life is more about your friendships. Those will last forever over my footy career.
“(Now I) text (Richmond mates) about how I’m feeling for them, versus not speaking to them for a week because I was shitty about the result from the year before. Life gets put into perspective. Experience teaches you these things.”
HAVE GWS MISHANDLED HIM?
GWS have admitted failings with how they’ve handled soft-tissue injuries in the past and it’s the reason why the club is being so conservative with their treatment of Josh Kelly, Toby Greene and now Deledio this season.
But Deledio doesn’t blame the club for the ongoing saga he’s endured with his calf.
“I’m never going to throw our fitness guys or docs under the bus because they’ve only ever had my best interests at heart and they were trying different things to try and get it right,” he said.
“To be honest I’ve narrowed it down to the amount of work I’ve done over the years prior.
“I played every game for seven or eight years straight and we weren’t playing finals at Richmond, so I’d come back earlier than most. I never really allowed my body to rest. One year I went back and started training with my brother’s club because I thought it was the best way to stay fit and get an edge. I probably overtrained.”
GIVING IT AWAY
Deledio admits he has almost retired on multiple occasions over the past two years, but even despite the latest injury, he is now determined to fight on.
“My darkest days when you get bad news about injury and things were getting really tough with what was going on with our family, it would have been a hell of a lot easier to call it quits and pack up and move everyone home,” said Deledio.
“But I feel like I’ve still got more to give and I don’t feel ready to give up on footy just yet.
“I’ll just keep fighting and scrapping away until they say, ‘rightio, that’ll do.’”
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