Travis Varcoe motivated by emotion in his Grand Final performance

AS HIS Collingwood teammates slumped to the turf, Travis Varcoe pointed up to the heavens. On his left bicep was a piece of tape with ‘MAGGIE’ a tribute to his sister who died in a footy accident last month.

Travis Varcoe looks up to the sky after the siren sounded. Picture: Getty

TRAVIS Varcoe didn’t look at it once. He didn’t need to.

On his left bicep was a piece of tape with ‘MAGGIE’ written in black pen. It was his own personal tribute to his sister, Margaret, who died after an accidental clash on the football field last month.

When the final siren sounded as his teammates slumped to the turf, Varcoe pointed up to the heavens.

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Travis Varcoe looks up to the sky after the siren sounded. Picture: Getty

Travis Varcoe with West Coast's Lewis Jetta and Willie Rioli. Picture: Michael Klein

He’d given everything, as had his teammates, just like he knew his sister did when she was playing back in Adelaide.

“My sister put it on the line for her grand final,” an emotional Varcoe said.

“It didn’t pan out our way and it’s heartache on a grand scale.

“I stuck it (tape) on, not once did I look as I knew it was there. She’s in my heart, she will forever be there.”

Margaret, 27, died after an accidental clash with one of her teammates while playing for Angle Vale Football Club.

She was playing in a grand final in the SA Women’s Football League when the incident occurred.

The tragedy has been an inspiration for her older brother who again was one of Collingwood’s best players, kicking the opening goal of the grand final.

“Everyone has different motivating factors and mine was emotionally fuelled,” he said.

“We both loved the game, we do it for the love. It doesn’t come down to can you get it out of your mind, in many ways it’s the closest we can be together.

“It doesn’t overwhelm me at all, it sort of sparks you.

“People deal with grief in lots of different ways, I look more to celebrate life like she would. I know she would be thinking that as she is a bit similar personality to me, you can’t go on forever, just get on with it.

“But it will be with you for the rest of your life.”

Varcoe, 30, said he’d been overwhelmed by the support from his teammates, football club and even opposition teams throughout the finals campaign.

“Sporting clubs and competitions are the best place to be around for a support network,” he said.

“You have got your family and your friends, they’re all grieving too and it was hard to lean on someone that has been touched and hurt so much.

“But when you come back to your team, it’s a little family and those boys would drop anything for you.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have 45 blokes, they love you, they’re hurting I guess but they’re one person removed from it.

Travis Varcoe is comforted by loved ones after the game. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Varcoe celebrates Mason Cox’s goal. Picture: Mark Stewart

“They hurt because you hurt, they see you ride the rollercoaster. It’s not what they say or do, just being there, sometimes that’s enough.

“This group has been unbelievable for me, then you go down to my old club Geelong and even West Coast.

“Shannon Hurn is a Central Districts boy (Varcoe’s original club), it was a gesture from them and then you chuck the whole competition behind it. It’s a humbling experience in a tragic way.

“We lost a game of footy today, a very important one with high stakes but that’s what it is really at the end of day. We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into it, a lot of people did.

“I’m feeling pretty heartbroken but we get to live another day, we get to fight again next year hopefully. We’ll go tonight and try and get around each other, lift each other off the ground.

“I think when you’ve been hit hard like that, it hurts and for me personally there is a different type of hurt there as well.”

Varcoe, who played in two premierships with Geelong before joining Collingwood in 2015, also kicked the opening goal of the 2011 grand final when the Cats defeated the Pies.

“It was a bit surreal, I don’t know what happened there,” he said. “They’re just little moments in games. When you win you look at them and you love them, when you lose you just chuck them out of sight.

“We lost something that was well and truly in our hands but we just got beaten by a better side, they’re a great outfit.

“There are a lot of great stories that come out of the game and there’s also a lot of heartache that comes out of it as well.”

None of those stories are more inspirational than his own.