AFL grand final: Darcy Moore on missing the Pies’ 2018 grand final ahead of 2023 showdown

Darcy Moore will lead Collingwood against Brisbane, however unlike plenty of other Pies, this will be his first time in the big dance. The Magpie captain reflects on missing out five years ago.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 25: Magpies head coach Nathan Buckley celebrates the win with Darcy Moore of the Magpies during the round 6 AFL match between Essendon and Collingwood at Melbourne Cricket Ground on April 25, 2019 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Dodge/Getty Images)

Collingwood’s inspirational first-year captain Darcy Moore has revealed he took a long time to come to terms with narrowly missing out on playing in the Magpies’ last grand final experience in 2018.

And his father, former Magpies’ great Peter Moore, isn’t the only one wondering if the result from five years ago might have been different if his son had been cleared to play.

Collingwood went down to West Coast by five points in a classic 2018 grand final when Dom Sheed kicked a miracle goal in the dying moments.

The undermanned Magpie defence struggled to contain the tall timber of the Eagles as a downcast Moore watched helplessly from the stands.

He had been plagued by hamstring injuries throughout that season but made one last attempt to prove his fitness through the finals, but the Magpies selection committee ultimately ruled him out, unwilling to take the risk given his lack of match fitness.

“Experiencing missing out on the 2018 finals, which was such an exciting one for the club, that was really hard to deal with,” Moore said ahead of his first AFL grand final on Saturday.

Nathan Buckley talks with Darcy Moore. Picture: Michael Klein

“It was something that took (me) a long time to get over and move on with my career.”

The Magpies’ then coach Nathan Buckley has conceded in recent years it was one of the hardest selection calls in his time and he wondered if they made the wrong call.

Darcy’s father Peter - who himself played in five grand finals for four losses and a draw - said it was a tough decision which might have cost the Magpies with the benefit of hindsight.

“He was so close (to playing in 2018),” Peter said. “Bucks was nervous about whether he could get through a game and it turned out to be pivotal because of the tall West Coast guys.”

“He (Darcy) had a tough run with those hamstring … it was tough to miss. If they (Collingwood) had their time again, I think with Bucks and Darc, I think he would have played. But that’s history now.”

Moore hasn’t looked back in the years since and has elevated himself to the same role that his father also carried into grand finals - Collingwood captain.

Peter experienced grand final heartache as a player, and famously threw away his 1981 runner’s up medal on the day that the Magpies went down to Carlton.

He had previously played in a draw in 1977, a loss in the 1977 replay as well as further losses in 1979 and 1980 before that fourth loss in 1981.

“It was my fourth runner’s up medal and I didn’t really need another one,” he said. “I had had enough of coming second.

“I did see Mick Malthouse after one of those losses against Brisbane (in 2002/2003) … his (medal) went in the bin in the players’ room.

“It was a demonstration to his players of not accepting coming second. Basically, there is no second place. There is only one prize.

The Daicos brothers and Moore at a press conference in grand final week. Picture: Getty Images

“It probably wasn’t my finest moment, but I don’t regret it. I was determined to back it up and give it another go.”

Darcy said of his dad: “He played in five grand finals and lost four of them and drew one of them. He tossed his runner-up medal into the crowd.

“He always speaks about that’s what you play footy for, to play in the big games and to stand up in the big moments.”

Sadly, Peter Moore never got another chance to play in a VFL grand final, and never played in a premiership of any sort in his junior or senior career.

But he did coach a senior premiership with Eltham in the Diamond Valley Football League (now the Northern Football League), a moment he rates as more special to him than winning the Brownlow Medal in 1979.

“I never played in a premiership in my whole footy career, from juniors all the way through,” he said. “Darcy has played in about 10 already, so he has got me there in juniors and whatever.”

“I know personally how hard they are to win. I coached one at Eltham after I retired and that was the biggest thrill of my career.”

And on Saturday he is desperate to see his son win the medal that he coveted and missed out on.