Former St Kilda ruckman Peter ‘Spida’ Everitt revealed the shattering feeling of missing out on playing in the 1997 Grand Final.
Everitt was a key player for the Saints that season, but a collarbone injury in the Qualifying Final win over Brisbane meant he missed the remainder of the finals series.
The St Kilda cult hero spoke of helplessly watching his side slide to a crushing 31-point Grand Final defeat to Adelaide from the stands, and the devastating nature of the loss which had a rippling effect on both the players and the long suffering Saints fans.
“It was hard, it was even harder the whole week leading in,” Everitt told Peter Donegan on This is Your Sporting Life for Tobin Brothers - celebrating lives.
“I did a lot of the publicity for the footy club that week, then sitting in the stands and watching us at half-time being up (by 13 points) and seeing Adelaide slowly come back.
“You kind of watch it and you just hope they can get up for the sake of the footy club and for the sake of all the Saints fans.
“You see them all and you listen to them all week and you see Adelaide slowly kick away, it was heart-breaking, but you always thought that there’s next year, we’ll get back there next year, but it never happened.”
The loss of the Saints big man to a heavy bump from Lions defender Darryl White was a monumental blow for the club in their quest to break a then 31-year premiership drought.
Being only 24 at the time, Everitt thought despite the Grand Final loss, there would be a chance of redemption on the horizon. Unfortunately that never came to fruition.
“I was shattered. You sit there today and you think would you have done anything differently,” he added.
“I kicked my second goal and was going back towards the centre, I got hip and shouldered by Darryl White who’s built like a goal post; there’s nothing on him.
“He flushed me beautifully and I broke my collarbone.
“Unfortunately from there I knew it was going to be four to six weeks for a collarbone and I kind of look at today’s footy and I think would you have put a screw and a couple of ties in there and played?
“From there I wasn’t a chance to play. It’s difficult, but at the age of 24 you’re thinking you’ve had a cracking 1997 but, oh well, I’ll get another opportunity.
“I didn’t look close to getting another opportunity so it was probably the hardest month of footy you will ever have to go through.”
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Listen to Peter 'Spida' Everitt's chat on This is Your Sporting Life with Peter Donegan in the player below, thanks to Tobin Brothers: