Why GWS star Brett Deledio’s 2017 season was heartbreaking

THIS shattering photograph says it all. If one thing’s for certain, you wouldn’t want to be Brett Deledio after last weekend.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 23: Alex Rance of the Tigers consoles former Tigers teammate Brett Deledio of the Giants after the Tigers made it through to the grand final in Deledios 250th game during the 2017 AFL Second Preliminary Final match between the Richmond Tigers and the GWS Giants at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on September 23, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Adam Trafford/AFL Media/Getty Images)

HINDSIGHT can be a beautiful thing.

But sometimes it can also tear you to shreds.

AFL star Brett Deledio has given everyone a brutal reminder of just how terrible your luck can be in professional sport.

The Greater Western Sydney midfielder hasn’t had a year to remember by any means. The 30-year-old was traded to the Giants in the dying seconds of the 2016 trade period after spending 12 years at Richmond.

Deledio had to wait 13 months on the sidelines with ongoing calf problems before making his debut with the Giants in August.

He then went on to help his new side finish in the top four with a debut GWS premiership looking on the cards.

“They’re just another club I’ve got a lot of great mates at,” Deledio said of the Tigers before the finals series. “I’m rapt for them that they’re playing good footy after the year that we had last year.”

“I’m rapt for my close mates that are there, that they’re getting to taste finals again. I keep in contact with a lot of them regularly. That’s about where it ends. We don’t talk about us versus them even when the Giants are playing the Tiges. It’s more about us being friends than us as opponents.

But former Port Adelaide coach Mark Williams says there’s no way around the disappointment Deledio must have felt after losing to his old side in the preliminary finals round.

Deledio played 243 games for the Tigers and failed to win a single finals game across 12 seasons. He then had to sit on the sidelines with the Giants and watch his former teammates bring home the yellow and black unit’s first flag in 37 years.

Who would have thought this would happen.

“I think of Brett Deledio more than anyone,” Williams said on SEN’s Afternoons.

“Everyone can have a bit of a chuckle and laugh, but the fact of the matter is, this destroys players. This is so personal and heartbreaking.

“Who’s looking after Brett right now? Who at the AFL has rang Brett, who at Tigerland has rang Brett, who at GWS, who are already on holidays, is thinking about Brett? Someone should be.”

Deledio took a pay cut to play with the Giants and gave the AFL’s youngest side their fourth former No. 1 draft pick alongside Tom Scully, Jonathon Patton and ­Lachie Whitfield.

“He made his choice, and the club probably was happy to say ‘yeah Brett had been injured and wasn’t delivering his salary and what his ranking in the world was’, so it made sense for the club,” Williams said.

“It was a great decision for the club and it has worked out for them.”