Graham Polak's back, to a mighty Tiger roarGlenn McFarlane | August 23, 2009
SOMETIMES a game of football means more, much more, than winning or losing.
At the MCG last night, it was one of those rare occasions: two teams with largely forgettable seasons made way for the emotional comeback of Richmond's "miracle man", Graham Polak.
Playing his first match in 422 days - since he was struck by a tram in an accident that almost cost him his life - Polak did what so many people thought he would never do again.
He played AFL football: maybe not the stunning comeback he might have dreamt of during the 14-month gulf between his 106th and 107th AFL games, but at least back on the big stage again.
And Polak's return (six possessions, a mark and two tackles) was punctuated by his attack on the ball, as if nothing had ever happened to him that dark June night last year.
Richmond lost the game, but Polak clearly won his battle to play again after undergoing months of rehabilitation from the serious brain injury he suffered in the accident.
It matters little what happens next. Last night was an achievement in itself.
While he wants to play next season, he knows he is out of contract and it will depend on what the next Richmond coach wants.
In a fitting sub-plot, Hawthorn had its own comeback theme last night, with injury-plagued ruckman Max Bailey playing his first game since the corresponding round three years ago after two knee reconstructions.
When Polak gave his first post-accident interview to the Sunday Herald Sun in November, in a Richmond cafe not far from the MCG, he was emphatic that he would run out on the ground again.
Few people thought it was anything more than wishful thinking, including some closest to him at Punt Rd, even a few of his doctors.
They let him hold that dream because it assisted him in his recovery, though not many thought he would reach it.
But it happened at 7.01 last night when, wearing the black helmet he has worn all season in the VFL, Polak was the penultimate Tiger to emerge from the race and make his way on the arena.
It brought a roar from the Richmond faithful.
His fiancee, Alyce Oksuz, mum Judy and three of his brothers were among the loudest - and proudest.
Tigers coach Jade Rawlings confirmed on radio before the game he would put Polak straight into the heat of battle, assigning him to the forward line, where he was initially picked up by Stephen Gilham.
Typical of the way he has always approached the game, Polak attacked the ball hard, yet he failed to gain a possession in the first 20 minutes before Rawlings gave him his first breather.
But when he reappeared six minutes later he took his first mark and gave off his first handball, one of three possessions he won for the quarter.
There was no doubting Polak's attack on the ball. He crashed into Jordan Lewis in the opening term, then helped to set up a Tiger goal in the second quarter with a tackle on Luke Hodge and a well-executed handball.
After having five possessions in the first half, he tired in the second half, adding only one more touch to his tally.
But no one could argue that, given the work he has undertaken to get to where he was last night, Polak did not deserve his strut upon the MCG stage.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,25968306-19771,00.html
